Today’s post comes to you from Dr. Vashalice Kaaba & Dr. Annette Goldsmith. GLLI Executive Director Dr. Vashalice Kaaba and GLLI board member Dr. Annette Y. Goldsmith attended a much-anticipated #ReadingAfrica Week panel on translation and have together written this reflection on what they heard. Dr. Kaaba introduces the panel and shares her takeaways on … Continue reading #ReadingAfrica: Language as Movement
Today’s post comes to you from Kris Feller. Naa-Adei Kotey: The Author Bringing Pre-Colonial African Leaders to Middle Grade Shelves This September, the American International School of Lagos (AISL) welcomed Nigerian-Ghanaian author Naa-Adei Kotey to share her 2025 debut, Sumanguru: Sorcerer King of Sosso, with our students. Sumanguru Kanté was a thirteenth-century king of the … Continue reading #ReadingAfrica: Meet Naa-Adei Kotey
Today’s post comes to you from Judie Oron. Thirty-five years ago, I found myself huddling in the passenger seat of a run-down Ethiopian government taxi. We were parked beside a tiny kiosk in a dusty market town in the north of Ethiopia. I was negotiating payment for an Ethiopian child slave named Wuditu and I … Continue reading #WorldKidLit: Ethiopian Purchase
Today’s post comes to you from Maryaan Kimutai There is something interesting about growing up in Africa and reading about the rest of the world. Through books, we become familiar with places we have never visited, people we have never met and societies we have only encountered through the imagination of writers. We learn to … Continue reading #ReadingAfrica: Finding Africa in its Literature
Today’s post comes to you from Tayla Mocke Crossing Pages, Crossing Borders: An Exploration into the Movement of People, Stories, and Ideas #ReadingAfrica turns 10 this year! Catalyst Press launched the campaign back in 2017 because we wanted to celebrate just how vast and varied African literature really is. And every year since, more teachers, … Continue reading #ReadingAfricaWeek 2026 thanks to The Catalyst Press
Today’s post comes to you from Vashalice Kaaba Welcome, everyone, to Reading Africa Month at the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative! As Executive Director, I am delighted to welcome you to a month of discovery, conversation, and appreciation for African literature. Throughout November, we will celebrate the continent’s authors, publishers, and storytelling traditions, while also … Continue reading #ReadingAfrica: Stories That Remember: A Welcome to Reading Africa Week & Month
Equal parts Our Bodies, Ourselves, Margaret Mead, and biology/history explainer, Born a Girl: It Takes Courage is an approachable feminist manifesto for today's teens that embraces difficult topics. Organized around the fictionalized stories of five teenage girls---one each from Nepal, France, Afghanistan, Kenya, and Mexico---this nonfiction YA illustrated book lays out a frank, sympathetic description … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Born a Girl: It Takes Courage
By Allan Pinto & Kim Tyo-Dickerson Introduction to a Queer, Black Brazilian Reading Life by Allan Pinto During my time in middle and high school, I can barely remember Black authors being mentioned in the annual book lists given out by the school. Many Black and queer authors used to be called “autores malditos” or … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: Brazilian YA: An Exploration of a Postcolonial Literary Tradition by and for the Diaspora
Written by Habel Amolo Green Environment Through Reading Advocacy I am excited to share with you today the story of Professor Wangarĩ Maathai, a Kenyan Nobel Laureate who was passionate about preserving our environment, leading to her starting an environmental movement called the "Greenbelt Movement”. Wangarĩ authored several important books which showcase her big WHY … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: Wangarĩ Maathai
Written by Annie Harris I’ve spent most of my career exploring children’s literature and finding ways to connect my students to stories. However, over the last ten years, I’ve had a shift in my overall understanding of how and why students connect. Growing as both an educator and a person, I’ve realized the importance of … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: West African YA – Two Coming-of-Age Stories
