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Malathi Michelle Iyengar, author of Romina's Rangoli, will be a presenter at one of my favorite conferences, Reading the World, in San Francisco on the weekend of March 28-29, 2009. Her presentation is entitled, "Tan to Tamarind: Brown is Beautiful!" She will be talking about her new book, Tan to Tamarind: Poems About The Color Brown.  She will share a bit about her motivation and process for writing the poems, and then talk about ways for teachers to use these poems in their classrooms.

The Reading the World conference is open to the public, and is an exceptional conference for multicultural literature. There is always such a huge density of amazing authors and illustrators walking around and speaking, and the venue is so intimate, that you feel like you really get to know all the speakers as well as the other attendees. I love the palpable love of books that permeates the hallways like electricity.

The mission of the Reading the World conferences is:

"To create a forum welcoming scholars, students, authors, illustrators, librarians, teachers, editors, book sellers and anyone interested in the field of literature for children and young adults. The main topic for this forum is the presentation, study, analysis and celebration of books of literary and artistic merit created for children adn young adults that present the human experience with respect for its multiplicity and diversity and that specifically promote un-learning biases and prejudice, counteracting racism and exclusion, fostering solidarityand respect for all human beings and protection of all living beings; books that question and address problems, that do not propose merely happy endings but responsible solutions, that in short, invite children and young adults to see themselves as protagonists of their own human experience and unite them to embrace it with trust, love and hope to contribute to the creation of a world of equality, justice and peace."

"Tan to Tamarind: Brown is Beautiful!"
Reading the World Conference
March 28-29, 2009
University of San Francisco School of Education
2350 Turk Blvd.
San Francisco, California
Registration Form

Malathi Michelle Iyengar, author of Romina's Rangoli, will be speaking at the California Association for Bilingual Education annual conference on February 26, 2009. Her session will be entitled, "Rangoli!  Language, Content and Culture via a Traditional Indian Art." In the session, Malathi will be sharing ideas for using rangoli projects to promote first and second language develpment and to teach various CA state standards in the core curricular areas. She will be on hand to sign books afterward.

The California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) is a non-profit organization incorporated in 1976 to promote bilingual education and quality educational experiences for all students in California. CABE has 5,000 members with over 60 chapters/affiliates, all working to promote equity and student achievement for students with diverse cultural, racial, and linguistic backgrounds. CABE recognizes and honors the fact that we live in a rich multicultural, global society and that respect for diversity makes us a stronger state and nation.

Rangoli!  Language, Content and Culture via a Traditional Indian Art
February 26, 2009 2:30-3:45
CABE 34th Annual Conference
Long Beach Convention Center
Long Beach, California