WKL Blog co-editor Kelly Zhang interviews Nick Thomas, Executive Editor at Levine Querido KZ: Hi Nick, it’s so wonderful to have you here. Could you give us a brief background/introduction to Levine Querido–who you are and where you’re based? Which age groups and book genre(s) do you focus on?  NT: We’re an independent children’s book publisher based in the U.S. We’ll be 5 years old come April! We’re based in Hoboken, NJ, right across the river from Manhattan. We have two focuses: publishing previously underrepresented voices, and books in translation. Taken together we’re just trying to ..read more

Here at World Kid Lit, we aim to connect young readers with world literature. That can mean all kinds of things: stories, poetry, nonfiction and graphic novels published in other countries besides our own, books written in English from beyond our shores, or books written in other languages and translated into English. We place a particular focus on translations into English, because they tend not to get the critical coverage they deserve, and because they represent a vibrant and diverse section of children’s publishing. We’ve been keeping a list of published translations every year since 2017 ..read more

by Amanda Bird In recent years, classmates, family friends, and now an international student living with our family have put Korea increasingly on our radar. Friends have introduced us to K-pop rock, K-pop opera, and serialized TV K-dramas. The books below offer another window on recent history and contemporary life in Korea.  When Spring Comes to the DMZ  Written and illustrated by: Uk-Bae Lee Translated from Korean by: Chungyon Won and Aileen Won Published by: Plough Publishing House, 2019 Target Age: 5–8 years Lee has crafted a bittersweet meditation on the wildlife that flourish ..read more

By Paula Holmes I always find it interesting what brings joy. For me, maps have that gift. Any type, atlases, historical maps, folded maps, huge maps on floors. I am extremely partial to ones in books. Maybe my love of maps comes from a childhood of seeing the world through library books.  A map in a book, whether based on fact or fiction, brings incredible excitement as it puts me into the story, I am the navigator! A map can tell a story of a journey between two kingdoms, demonstrate the topography of a small city that was devastated by a tsunami, or describe the story of one intersecti ..read more

From the dawn of time, humans have turned their gaze towards the heavens, searching the skies. They have told stories about what the changes in the moon meant. They used the stars to guide their ships, and they wondered what was out there. Today Lori introduces us to a selection of picture books from around the world that help us understand what’s out past Earth’s atmosphere… by Lori From December-February my girls learned about space at their Montessori pre-school. My oldest was very interested, giving us a report about what she had learned when she arrived home each day. She also started ask ..read more

By Jen Kraar   Quality picture books create magical moments. As a reader, you enter into a world with a child and share more than a story. You turn the pages and often experience a strong array of feelings, anything from joy to a poignant sadness. Oftentimes you cannot define your emotional journey. Instead of giving emotions a name, a story may create a unique experience.   Our children are pandemic-weary and trying to understand the complex emotions of our troubling times. Schools in the U.S. are now including Social Emotional Learning (SEL) goals in their curricula. They are tryin ..read more

Welcome to our monthly round-up for March 2022. What a month it’s been! Here’s your one-stop digest of news from the universe of world literature for younger readers. News There are a few changes happening here at Project World Kid Lit. Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp is stepping down as co-editor of the blog, but fear not, she isn’t going far. She will still be on Twitter and Instagram, and working behind the scenes, focusing on schools and libraries outreach as well as looking at the organizational side of things. We are delighted to welcome Johanna McCalmont to the editorial team! Johanna has been a lon ..read more

Welcome to February’s monthly round-up. It may be the shortest month but there’s still plenty going on in the world of translated books for younger readers. If you see anything for our next installment, please do get in touch. News The Shortlist for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award has been announced: Authors: Marie-Aude Murail from France, María Cristina Ramos from Argentina, Fatima Sharafeddine from Lebanon, Peter Svetina from Slovenia, Annika Thor from Sweden, and Margaret Wild from Australia. Illustrators: Beatrice Alemagna from Italy, Ryoji Arai from Japan, Iwona Chmielewska from P ..read more

Welcome to November’s monthly round-up. It’s that time of year again where we start to see lots of “Best of 2021” articles. We’d love to hear what your best translated books of 2021 are. Share your favourites with us via social media @worldkidlit! News UK charity Outside In World (OIW) announced two major academic partnerships that will bring their work on translated children’s literature to a broader audience. Their extensive book collection, comprising over 1,600 titles translated into English from many world languages, has been given a new home at the University of Portsmouth, and is availa ..read more

Welcome to this bumper #WorldKidLitMonth special edition of the monthly round-up. News It’s been such a fantastic September celebrating world literature for young people, and so exciting to see the #WorldKidLitMonth hashtag growing and taking on a life of its own. We encourage you to go and explore social media, searching under the #WorldKidLitMonth hashtag. See what new books, blogs, publishers or platforms you can discover. A massive THANK YOU from the whole World Kid Lit Team to everyone who has been involved in this month-long celebration. A few special mentions to our fantastic blog cont ..read more