It’s September 1st which means … it’s World Kid Lit Month! Read on to find out what it’s all about, how you can get involved and what to look out for here on the blog.

What is World Kid Lit Month?

World Kid Lit means global or international literature for young people, and September is the month to broaden our horizons and discover books from and set in other countries, and translated from other languages.

Children’s literature is for everyone, so anyone can join in no matter what age you are!

How to celebrate? You could …

Read a book from another country, or translated from another language. Share what you read on social media #WorldKidLitMonth!

Share a resource to help others explore global books for young people. Our website is absolutely packed with reading ideas: lists, book reviews, interviews, and links to other recommended sites. Delve in and get sharing, and if it inspires you, use this year’s theme of #AroundtheWorldin10

And if you’d like a larger project … set yourself a World Kid Lit Explorer Challenge! You can use our bingo charts for inspiration, and use the Canva template to create your own. It could be a solo challenge, a project for the family, for your class at school, or your team mates at work. Share how you get on and inspire others!

Schools’ International Reading Award

Today is also the launch of the 2nd year of the Schools’ International Reading Award: a competition for schools to encourage young people to read for pleasure, to explore international perspectives and global citizenship, and see the value of a second language as a cultural and creative asset.

The reading project could be of any scale from a one-day Drop Everything And Read to the launch of a whole-school, year-long readathon. Schools plan their own projects, and the award is for the most imaginative, innovative or inclusive ways that pupils/students share and reflect on what they’ve read. It could be a display, a presentation, or a feature in the school’s newsletter or social media. See here for full details on how to enter, and please share the info with the teachers and school librarians in your life!

Events coming up

September is also East and South East Asian heritage month in the UK: search the events calendar for a fabulous programme of events throughout the month, including kid lit and creative events for children and families. The amazing Global Literature in Libraries Initiative has a whole month of Japanese kid lit lined up!

We’re thrilled to be representing a world of reading at the National Literacy Trust’s Inclusive Libraries Conference in Sheffield and London this month. Come and find us if you’re there!

And a very special event is happening on 17 September … the Languages of Children’s Books conference: Celebrating Translation and Linguistic Diversity in the National Year of Reading.

The packed schedule at the University of Reading and online features translation workshops, panels with leading voices in the world of inclusive children’s publishing, and a bilingual book launch for When You Were a Cloud by María José Ferrada and Azul López, translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel (The Emma Press). Don’t miss it!

What’s on here at the blog?

As always we have a exciting, global array of books for you to discover this month, from verse novels, graphic novels, and picture books about music, cats and neurodivergence, and Girl Power Africa Style! We have middle grade from India, folklore and mythology from around the world, and the winners of Freeman Book Award for South East Asian kid lit.

We’ll be featuring stories from Korea and Vietnam, Spain and Finland, Canada, Sierra Leone and Kenya, and many other countries in between! Subscribe to the blog by email and follow us on social media so you don’t miss out. And if you enjoy an article, please share it with a friend!

Support World Kid Lit!