Schools’ International Reading Award

The Schools’ International Reading Award is a free competition for schools celebrating international and inclusive reading!

Run a reading project in your school with an international dimension
Make a display or presentation responding to what you read
Enter by 10 October and your school could win a bundle of books from every continent!

The Award was launched in 2025 and is intended to …

promote reading for pleasure across the school community
share ideas with your school for books you might not have come across before
help young people explore international perspectives and global citizenship
help readers see the value of a second or other language as a cultural and creative asset

There are many ways to interpret the international dimension of the books selected (here are a few ways we interpret ‘world literature for young people‘ here at World Kid Lit, for example).

The Award is for the most internationally diverse reading projects, and the most imaginative or innovative presentations where participants share what they read with others.

Students could share their thoughts and reflections with the school community e.g. in a live or recorded presentation, library display, or online using social media. We’re looking to reward projects that share an enthusiasm for reading in the community.

Reading projects can take place at any time of the year, but many schools choose to run a project during September, World Kid Lit Month.

The Award will be open to enter via an online form between 1 September and 10 October 2026, but why not start your reading project now? Here’s a great place to start for reading ideas.

This year, the Award is open to schools anywhere in the world for young people of any age up to 18. The only restriction is that English should be one of the school’s main languages of instruction, but the presentations or project evidence submitted for the award do not need to be solely in English.

The three prize categories are:

Younger category (0-6 years)
Middle category (7-12 years)
Older category (13+

Free book bundles for school libraries!

To celebrate our 10th year of showcasing children’s and YA books from around the world, we are giving away ten book bundles in summer 2026, in the run up to World Kid Lit Month #10 this September.

Each book bundle is a starter pack of 10 books from 5 continents, many in translation from other countries, to help schools and school libraries offer a diverse range of international children’s literature, in September and all year round. They can form the basis of an international reading project which students can enter for our Schools International Reading Award.

Please nominate a school here. Schools nominated will be entered into a draw and two schools will be selected in June, July, August and four in September. Any schools not selected will be added to the draw for the following month. Please share this page with the librarians and teachers in your life!

The 2025 Award

The winners of the inaugural Schools International Reading Award were:

Braeburn Primary and Nursery Academy in Yorkshire, United Kingdom – younger category
York Elementary School in North Carolina, USA – middle category
The British School in The Netherlands – older category

The judges of the inaugural International Reading Award 2025 were Leila Rasheed, UK-based author and founder of Megaphone Writes, Nanette McGuinness, USA-based literary translator and opera singer, Avery Fischer Udagawa, literary translator and Thailand-based teacher, and Josephine Murray, UK-based literary translator, writer and former languages teacher.