Artie and Julie, a picture book written and illustrated by Taiwanese author Chen Chih-yuan (陳致元), has been selected as one of 10 notable children’s books of the year by a US teachers organization, a publishing source said yesterday.
The English-language book about two friends — Artie the lion and Julie the rabbit — was selected one of the top children’s books by the Children’s Literature Assembly of the US National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) for its Notables Award, said Heryin Publishing Co, which published the Chinese edition of Artie and Julie in 2006.
Artie and Julie will be featured, along with 29 other books, at the NCTE Convention in November and at the International Reading Association (IRA) Convention next year, as well as in the Autumn 2009 edition of the Journal of Children’s Literature, said Chou Yih-fen (周逸芬), editor-in-chief of Heryin Books.
The 30 children’s titles, which include fiction, non-fiction, poetry and picture books, demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style, involve word play, word origins, or the history of language, and invite child response or participation, the Children’s Literature Assembly said.
Having received glowing reviews from the US-based Kirkus Reviews, the English edition of Artie and Julie, published in the US last year, was introduced as “a good book worthy of having,” Chou said.
Chen, 34, has produced illustrated children’s books, including Guji Guji — a story about a crocodile who thinks it’s a duck after it is raised by a duck, On My Way to Buy Eggs — about a little girl running an errand for her father, The Featherless Chicken and The Best Christmas Ever.
Guji Guji made it to the New York Times bestseller list in 2005.
The Pingtung-born Chen is the only Chinese-language writer and illustrator to have won repeated international recognition for his work, including a best children’s book award presented by the US trade magazine Publishers Weekly in 2003 and a best children’s book award presented by the Japan Library Association in 2006.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address