{"id":7080335,"date":"2026-10-08T21:37:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T21:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7080335"},"modified":"2026-10-08T21:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T21:37:30","slug":"celebrating-a-decade-of-world-kid-lit-month-world-kid-lit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7080335","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating a Decade of World Kid Lit Month! \u2013 World Kid Lit"},"content":{"rendered":"


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And just like that \u2026 another busy, bubbly and book-filled World Kid Lit Month is over! We\u2019ve been bowled over by the engagement online and offline, from blogs to Instagram, bookshops to libraries, schools to the publishing press. Here\u2019s a whistlestop tour of 10 highlights of World Kid Lit Month 2026\u2026<\/p>\n

1. Here at World Kid Lit blog<\/h2>\n
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World Kid Lit blog homepage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

As always, it was a frenetically busy month of book reviews and Around the World in 10 posts here at World Kid Lit! <\/p>\n

Our reviewers took us to Finland<\/a>, Spain<\/a>, Nigeria and Ghana<\/a>. We featured verse novels<\/a> from Ireland, Canada and New Zealand, and Freeman Book Award winners<\/a> set in Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam. Nanette McGuinness reviewed two Japanese nominees of the 2026 Eisner Comics Awards<\/a>, Laura Simeon took us to India via middle grade fiction<\/a>, and Lori danced us to Korea, Germany and Italy with Music Everywhere!<\/a> We had books about cats<\/a>, folklore and mythology<\/a>, neurodiversity<\/a>, and Girl Power Africa Style<\/a>!<\/p>\n

We also enjoyed celebrating some of our favorite bookstores<\/a> and World Kid Lit websites<\/a> with our Around the World in 10 lists.<\/p>\n

2. Booklists & reviews<\/h2>\n
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It\u2019s been great to see so many World Kid Lit Month book reviews and globe-trotting booklists, including 15 international books recommended by the School Library Journal<\/a>, 9 new books to read now at Words Without Borders<\/a>, three new European releases at European Literature Network<\/a>, and international picture books selected by Tacoma Public Library<\/a>. <\/p>\n

UK charity Empathy Lab selected these 9 recommendations<\/a>, for a range of ages, and lots of publishers shared translations and international highlights from their backlists, such as Walker Books<\/a> and Eerdmans Books for Young Readers<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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World Kid Lit Month at Words Without Borders: 9 New Books to Read Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

3. Children\u2019s publishing features<\/h2>\n
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Publishers\u2019 Weekly <\/em>published a staggering ten articles on global writing for young people this month<\/a> to celebrate the anniversary of World Kid Lit Month! <\/p>\n

These included picture books from Mongolia with Enchanted Lion Books\u2019 \u2018The Dreamcrafter\u2019 series<\/a>; Miriam Udel\u2019s Finding Timely Themes in a 1930s Yiddish Tale<\/a>; and Argentine cartoon classic Mafalda Comes to America<\/a> (with a Netflix series to follow in 2027!).<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss Ruth Donnelly\u2019s compelling feature Celebrating Batchelder Winner Azul L\u00f3pez\u2019s \u2018Croco\u2019 and Latin American Children\u2019s Literature<\/a> (SLJ).<\/p>\n

4. Translator insights<\/h2>\n
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As always, September is the perfect time to find out more about how books travel with the creative help of literary translators. Anam Zafar gave an insightful webinar on translating comics and graphic novels at CIOL<\/a> \u2013 available on demand for members and anyone who registered to watch it.<\/p>\n

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@agnesmonodg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Publishers Weekly<\/a>, Asymptote<\/a>, GLLI and The Week Junior (UK) all featured literary translation for children. Translator interviews this month included Kit Maude and Lindsay Turner<\/a> discussing their children\u2019s book translations for Tapioca Stories and Transit Children\u2019s Editions; Anam Zafar and Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp<\/a> on literary translation as activism; Jocelyne Allen<\/a> on her translation from Japanese of Colorful<\/em>; translators Sawad Hussain and Nour Jaljuli<\/a> taking us to Palestine with their new translation of The Necklace of Seven Souls;<\/em> and Avery Fisher Udagawa and Christopher Holmes comparing their two published translations of Sachiko Kashiwaba\u2019s Village Beyond the Mist<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

We always love seeing translators sharing their work in World Kid Lit Month, and one particular highlight was Agnes Monod-Gayraud\u2019s lovely insta reel<\/a> of her translations from Polish and French.<\/p>\n

5. Events and conferences<\/h2>\n
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Travelling by book: the Where in the World map game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It was wonderful to see bookshops hosting translation events such as the Spanish children\u2019s translation workshop at How Brave Is The Wren?<\/a> bookshop in Birmingham.<\/p>\n

We had a fantastic time talking global reading with librarians, and playing the Where in the World? books and map game at the National Literacy Trust\u2019s Inclusive Libraries Conference<\/a> in Sheffield and London this month. <\/p>\n

Huge thanks and kudos to the Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing at the University of Reading for hosting the inspiring Languages of Children\u2019s Books<\/a> conference. Online and in person, it offered an absolutely packed schedule of talks, workshops and publisher presentations, all on the theme of Celebrating Translation and Linguistic Diversity in the National Year of Reading.<\/p>\n

6. Global Literature in Libraries Initiative (GLLI)<\/h2>\n

The month-long Japan feature at GLLI curated by Avery Fischer Udagawa and Holly Thompson was simply phenomenal. The month\u2019s posts were arranged by target age, so that we encountered books for older readers as the month progressed, opening with board books for the very youngest readers<\/a>. Picture book reviews included Surreal Worlds in Japanese Picture Books<\/a> (by our co-editor Jackie!); the inimitable Shinsuke Yoshitake<\/a>; Funny Books that Nurture the Soul<\/a>, Four Challenging Picture Books Created with Purpose<\/a>; Whimsical Picture Books from Japan to Explore<\/a>; and Rainy Weather From All Angles<\/a>. <\/p>\n

For middle grade readers, we were introduced to yokai comics master, Shigeru Mizuki<\/a>; sports and competition in manga<\/a>; Summer Adventures and Goodbyes<\/a>; Middle-Grade Books on War and\u00a0Memory<\/a>; and a review of the new volume 2 of Kiki\u2019s Delivery Service<\/em><\/a>. A fascinating read is translator David Jacobson\u2019s reflection on Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Teen and YA lit features included 4 Japanese novels about relationships<\/a>; a wartime memoir<\/a>; cats, cafes and cozy fiction for teens<\/a>; fantasy and history in graphic novels<\/a>; and 2 YA novels from a Zainichi Korean perspective<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The amazing reviewers at GLLI also feature international books for young readers every Wednesday (World Kid Lit Wednesday), this month taking us to Afghanistan<\/a> with the graphic novel Papa Drew a Thousand Birds<\/em> (translated from German by Marianne Martens).<\/p>\n

7. World Kid Lit in bookshops and libraries<\/h2>\n

What can we say, other than how awesome is it to see World Kid Lit Month displays popping up in bookshops and libraries around the world? And great to see librarians\u2019 excitement as they discovered #WorldKidLitMonth and took part for the first time this year.<\/p>\n

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@PostcardBookshop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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@BristolLibraries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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@bromleylibraries<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

8. World Kid Lit Explorer Challenge<\/h2>\n
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@BookBankRegentPark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s been wonderful to see so many people start an Explorer Challenge, printing out or adapting our bingo charts. (These are available here<\/a> all year round and you\u2019ll also find a Canva link to an editable version!) <\/p>\n

Our star World Kid Lit champion in Aotearoa, Annie Coppell, reviewed an incredible 30 books inspired by the Explorer Challenge bingo chart: see all the books on Annie\u2019s blog<\/a> and on Bluesky. And even now in October, she hasn\u2019t stopped: this month it\u2019s October Kiwi Kids Books<\/a>!<\/p>\n

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@kidsreadtheworld<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

We loved seeing the World Kid Lit Month Explorer Challenge run by Book Bank Regent Park in Toronto, and this lovely post about Lori\u2019s family reading project. <\/p>\n

9. Instagram action<\/h2>\n
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@MamaFilz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

As always, there was an amazing range of picture book recommendations including Lori\u2019s 30 second book reviews<\/a> (@KidsReadtheWorld) and international middle grade from Chris (@BroadeningtheBookshelf<\/a>). We loved this reel from @ParrotStreet<\/a>, and posts from @mamaFilz<\/a>, and illustrator @anya_glazer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The #AroundtheWorldin10 series was a big hit on Instagram; we might continue this into the next year as it\u2019s a great way to showcase the diversity of international children\u2019s books in English at a glance. It was fabulous to see teachers and children\u2019s book reviewers share World Kid Lit recs with the #8BrilliantBooks<\/a> hashtag, too!<\/p>\n

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@MrsBrownsBookBox<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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@https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DdM6o58PfhO\/<\/a>mrs_mckenziereads<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
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10. September is also\u2026<\/h2>\n
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2026 is a milestone not just for World Kid Lit, it\u2019s also the 40th anniversary of the International Youth Library\u2019s incredible annual White Ravens<\/a> catalogue which spotlights outstanding new publications in international children\u2019s and YA literature. This September also marked the 10th anniversary of literary translator Helen Wang\u2019s must-read blog, Chinese books for young readers<\/a>. This month, Helen spotlighted the Chinese selections from the 2026 White Ravens list<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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September is also Latine\/x Heritage Month and East and South East Asian (ESEA) Heritage Month, so the internet has been bursting with fantastic recommendations of must-read authors, illustrators and books, many in translation. Particularly on Instagram, you\u2019ll find so many great children\u2019s book recommendations with the hashtags #ESEAheritagemonth<\/a>, #latinxheritagemonth<\/a> and #latineheritagemonth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Recent Instagram posts with the #LatinxHeritageMonth hashtag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Buy Books and Support World Kid Lit!<\/h3>\n

Over at our World Kid Lit online bookstore<\/a>, you will find dozens of curated booklists for young people from 0-18, covering themes such as Read Africa, Read Asia, Read the Americas, Read Europe, Read Oceania, the USBBY Outstanding International Books, Batchelder Award winners and honor titles<\/a>, the IBBY Honor List<\/a>, Children\u2019s poetry in translation<\/a>, mythology<\/a>, Spanish Kid Lit<\/a>, Chinese Kid Lit<\/a>, and more. <\/p>\n

We earn a small commission every time you buy books via the affiliate links on our site, or via our booklists at UK Bookshop.org<\/a>. This helps support our charitable work as a non-profit community interest company such as donating free international book bundles to schools and running the Schools\u2019 International Reading Award<\/a>. Thank you!<\/p>\n

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