A Young Adult's or Children’s Book from Every Country of the World
I found this idea on an author's website (adapting it here to create an opportunity to work with my students to complete this list! As a former Social Studies teacher LOVED the idea. I agreed with original website that most people read a disproportionate amount of American and European authors. Even though my own international travel has been limited (at this point) to only having visited two countries, I realized that I could do my part on promoting diversity through the cultures my students might experience in text. Inspired by Ann Morgan’s TED Talk and blog, A Year of Reading the World, this project is to read a young adult's or children’s book from every country of the world (using the UN list of member states). I found links to international children’s book sources on Ann Morgan's blog, and my other media friends have been very helpful, but if anyone has advice for finding more children’s books written by non-U.S. authors or has a favorite book that meets these criteria, please contact me:
1) the author at least grew up in that country, even if living elsewhere now
2) the book is available in English
Ideally, the books listed for each country should be reflective of the culture (which I interpret very broadly) or important events that happened there or be about current issues. For example, . I would like the list to be a mix of picture books and novels. Frankly, I’m not a fast reader and 200 children’s novels would take a long time to read on top of other reading, writing, teaching, traveling, and life in general.
As I gather books, I’ll list them here by country, author and title, and eventually, what I’ve learned -- the fascinating differences and the common denominator, humanity. Thanks for your help! Peace, Salam, Shalom.
1) the author at least grew up in that country, even if living elsewhere now
2) the book is available in English
Ideally, the books listed for each country should be reflective of the culture (which I interpret very broadly) or important events that happened there or be about current issues. For example, . I would like the list to be a mix of picture books and novels. Frankly, I’m not a fast reader and 200 children’s novels would take a long time to read on top of other reading, writing, teaching, traveling, and life in general.
As I gather books, I’ll list them here by country, author and title, and eventually, what I’ve learned -- the fascinating differences and the common denominator, humanity. Thanks for your help! Peace, Salam, Shalom.
Afghanistan -- Tony O'Brien and Michael Sullivan, AFGHAN DREAMS
Albania Algeria Andorra Angola -- Agostinho Neto, Western Civilization Antigua and Barbuda Argentina --Isol, PETIT, THE MONSTER Armenia Australia -- Boori Monty Pryor, SHAKE A LEG Austria -- Georg Rauch, UNLIKELY WARRIOR: A JEWISH SOLDIER IN HITLER'S ARMY Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium -- Aline Sax, THE WAR WITHIN THESE WALLS Belize Benin -- Raouf Mama, WHY GOATS SMELL BAD Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil -- Daniel Munduruku, AMAZONIA: INDIGENOUS TALES FROM BRAZIL Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi -- Traditional, A Heart Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon -- Claude-Joseph M’bafou Zetebeg, The Free Bird Canada -- Fanny Britt & Isabelle Arsenault, JANE, THE FOX AND ME Central African Republic Chad Chile -- Antonio Skarmeta, THE COMPOSITION China --
Comoros Congo, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Costa Rica Cote d'Ivoire -- Veronique Tadjo, The Song of Life Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic -- Petr Ginz, THE DIARY OF PETR GINZ Denmark -- Hafdan Rasmussen, A LITTLE BITTY MAN AND OTHER POEMS FOR THE VERY YOUNG (hilarious, and translated by Marily Nelson!) Djibouti -- Abdourahman A. Waberi, Nomadic Poem Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador -- Rene Colato Lainez, RENE HAS TWO LAST NAMES, RENE TIENE DOS APELLIDOS Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia -- Traditional, What a Fool He Is Fiji Finland France -- Evelyne Holingue, CHRONICLES FROM CHATEAU MOINES Gabon -- Traditional, Invocation to the Rainbow Gambia Georgia Germany -- Sebastian Meschenmoser, MR. SQUIRREL AND THE MOON Ghana -- Meshack Asare, SOSU'S CALL Greece -- Eugene Trivizas, THE THREE LITTLE WOLVES AND THE BIG BAD PIG Grenada Guatemala -- OUT OF THE DUMP, Writings and Photographs by Children from Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti -- Edwidge Danticat, MAMA'S NIGHTINGALE Honduras Hungary Iceland -- Andri Snaer Magnason, THE STORY OF THE BLUE PLANET India -- Padma Venkatraman, A TIME TO DANCE Indonesia -- Innosanto Nagara, COUNTING ON COMMUNITY Iran -- Anahita Teyourian, A BIRD LIKE HIMSELF Iraq Ireland Israel -- Uri Orlev, THE ISLAND ON BIRD STREET Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan -- Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah THE SANDWICH SWAP Kazakhstan Kenya -- Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton, FACING THE LION: GROWING UP MAASAI ON THE AFRICAN SAVANNAH Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait -- Maha Addasi, THE WHITE NIGHTS OF RAMADAN Kyrgyzstan |
Laos
Latvia Lebanon -- Zeina Abarached, A GAME FOR SWALLOWS Lesotho Liberia -- Ophelia S. Lewis, GOOD MANNER ALPHABETS: HOW TO BE A SUPER POLITE KID Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Madagascar Malawi -- William Kamkwamba with Bryan Mealer, THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico -- Duncan Tonatiuh, PANCHO RABBIT AND THE COYOTE Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands -- Guus Jiujer, THE BOOK OF EVERYTHING New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea Norway -- Stein Erik Lunde, MY FATHER'S ARMS ARE A BOAT Oman Pakistan -- Malala Yousafzai, I AM MALALA Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland -- Janina Porazinska, THE ENCHANTED BOOK Portugal Qatar Romania -- Karin Gundisch, HOW I BECAME AN AMERICAN Russia -- Samuel Marshak, HAIL TO THE MAIL Rwanda St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone -- Ishmael Beah, A LONG WAY GONE Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa -- Nelson Mandela (abridged by Chris Van Wyk), LONG WALK TO FREEDOM South (Republic of) Korea -- Yangsook Choi, THE NAME JAR South Sudan Spain -- Marta Altes, MY GRANDPA Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden -- Bea Uusma Schyffert, THE MAN WHO WENT TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON Switzerland -- Marcus Pfister, RAINBOW FISH series (classic) Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand -- Jane (Ngarmpun) Vejjajiva, THE HAPPINESS OF KATI Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom (UK) -- Frank Cottrell Boyce, COSMOS and of course JK Rowling's HARRY POTTER series United States of America (USA) -- Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, ALL AMERICAN BOYS Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City (Holy See) Venezuela Vietnam -- Tran Thi Minh Phuoc, VIETNAMESE CHILDREN'S FAVORITE STORIES (folk tales); Thanhha Lai INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN Yemen -- Nujood Ali, I AM NUJOOD, AGE 10 AND DIVORCED Zambia Zimbabwe |
Adapted to use here from: http://kathrynerskine.com/2016_project