World Kid Lit Month

10 Best Sites for World Kid Lit Recos!

By Jackie Friedman Mighdoll

One of the things I love best about World Kid Lit is the community! I love the books, of course. But what has given me the greatest joy since I started editing the blog five years ago (!!!) is the people: the authors, illustrators, translators, publishers, reviewers, and fellow fans. Of course, you can find many of us on the World Kid Lit blog, IG, and Facebook. But you can find great writing about the world of children’s books elsewhere on the web, too. In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of World Kid Lit month, I offer you TEN great people/orgs to follow for World Kid Lit news.

  1. Lori writes for us at World Kid Lit. Look for her reviews this month! But the treasure trove that is My Kids Read the World is amazing. Lori, her daughters, and her students have spent the last 6 years touring the world using picture books. They have read books from or about 120+ countries so far. You can find picture and middle-grade book lists for each of the countries they have read.
  1. Are you on Instagram? You want to be following Chris Baker at Broadening the Bookshelf. Chris is a UK-based teacher and librarian who is passionate about making sure stories from around the world get into young people’s hands. He reviews both newer translated works as well as older gems that need to be back on people’s radars.
  1. Our friends over at the Global Literature in Library Initiative do reviews of books on World Kid Lit Wednesdays/Weekends. (You can also find adult book recommendations there.) Current writers include talented translators Nanette McGuinness, Lyn Miller Lachman and Jasmine Hongyu Zhu and librarian/teacher Katie Day. GLLI celebrates World Kid Lit month by going deep. This year is Japan!
  1. If you’re interested in the world of Chinese books, check out Chinese Books for Young Readers. They have interviews, event listings, and book news. What I appreciate most is their international lens on the topic. Recent book listings include a Nigerian-Chinese picture book and a trilingual Jamaican Creole-Mandarin-English one.
  1. Every year, Betsy Bird makes a list of ‘Best Books in Translation.’ It’s a spectacular round-up of great books from around the world. While you’re waiting for December to hear about her 2026 picks, take a look at 2025 Translated titles. And check out the Unconventional and Bilingual book lists, too.
  1. For those with an interest in illustration style and techniques, check out Let’s Talk Picture Books. Although not focused on global books exclusively, author/illustrator Mel Schuit covers many amazing books from around the world and includes interviews with international illustrators.
  1. The University of Arizona keeps a blog called the World of Words with reviews and discussions of both old and new books from around the world. I especially like their WOW Dozen lists where they compile a set of books on a topic, like this one on preparing, sharing and eating food.
  2. For great ideas on how to diversify the reading in your classroom and home, diverseclassroombooks from the UK and We Need Diverse Books from the US have good suggestions on IG.

9. I’m cheating a little on this one because it’s way more than one. But check out world kid lit publishers on IG: Transit Children’s Editions, Enchanted Lion Books, Levine Querido, Restless Books, Gecko, Pushkin Children’s, Groundwood, Elsewhere Editions, Tundra, Orca, Tapioca Stories, The Emma Press, Eerdmans, North South, Blue Dot Kids Press and follow the follows.

10. And last, not least, me! I write a Substack newsletter, On Beyond on world kid lit, translation, and writing challenges! I especially like to figure out what makes a book work and how it break boundaries or expectations. Check out–and join in–the comments. I love love love hearing what readers think.

Jackie Friedman Mighdoll is co-editor of this blog. She is passionate about discovering and sharing the diversity of the world with children. She writes books for kids and translates from Japanese to English. In a prior career, she founded a program teaching world languages to children, starting with newborns. She shares great finds On Beyond!