Today’s post comes to you from Andria McKnight: There’s something about getting lost in the secret world of animals that captivates children’s imaginations. If you think back on your childhood, I’m sure you can recall a favorite book that had a family of talking rabbits, big fluffy kitties walking around in a town full of … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month: Whimsical Picture Books from Japan to Explore
Today's post comes to you from Deborah Iwabuchi: When it comes to weather, Japanese children’s books contain lots of it. Today, I present three books on rain that have been translated into English. While each book is structured around a day full of precipitation—pre-rain, rain, and post-rain—the actual stories are completely different. Every Color of … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month Focus on Japan: Rainy Weather From All Angles
Today’s post comes to you from Susan E. Jones: A wide range of books from Japan for the youngest readers are waiting to be discovered. Baby and toddler books, especially interactive board books with pop-ups, sliding panels, and manipulative features, entice Japan’s youngest readers into the literary world. While toddler-level picture books may be outnumbered … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month: Books from Japan for the Youngest Readers
Welcome to the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative (GLLI) Focus on Japan month! We are author Holly Thompson and Japanese-to-English translator Avery Fischer Udagawa. In tandem with #WorldKidLitMonth, for the month of September, we’ll be sharing posts highlighting favorite Japan books for young people in English translation. We’ll open with board books for the very … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month: Focus on Japan
Today’s post comes to you from Hwee Concerning My Daughter is a South Korean novel written by Kim Hye-jin, translated by Jamie Chang, who has also translated popular novels like Kim Ji Young : Born 1982. The book has also won the prestigious Shin Dong-yup Literary Award in 2018. The book is about an ageing mother … Continue reading #WITMonth: “Concerning My Daughter” by Kim Hye-jin
Today’s post comes to you from Brenda Rupp Few heroines in historical fiction fight for survival as fiercely as Catrin in Midnight Blue. Catrin is thrust into survival mode after the death of her abusive husband, leaving her to manage the farm alone while rumors swirl through the village surrounding his death. Still grieving the loss … Continue reading #WITMonth: “Midnight Blue” by Simone van der Vlugt
"Deep in the forest sat a little house. The witch who lived in the house was very old. She was so old even her wrinkles were wrinkled. But one day she went for a walk and never returned.” So starts The Little House That Needed a Witch, a whimsically charming picture book for readers age … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Little House That Needed a Witch
Today’s post comes to you from Angie Erickson The dinner party may be one of literature’s most easily translated pressure chambers. Four people sit down intending to perform friendship, coupledom, sophistication, and hospitality; by dessert, the performance has collapsed. This is the setup of Just a Little Dinner, Katherine Gregor’s English translation of Cécile Tlili’s 2023 … Continue reading #WITMonth: “Just a Little Dinner” by Cecile Tlili
Today’s post comes to you from DiAnna Pantano There is something particularly unsettling about the dystopian worlds Agustina Bazterrica creates. Worlds that are close enough to our own to unsettle us, but ambiguous enough that we can never quite pinpoint how, or when, everything went so wrong. The Unworthy follows in the footsteps of Tender Is … Continue reading #WITMonth: “The Unworthy” (Las indignas)
Today’s post comes to you from Kimberly Wong Supersaurio by Meryem El Mehdati is a smart, searing, and painfully relatable workplace satire. Originally published in Spanish in 2022, its English edition was translated by Julia Sanches and released in November 2025. The novel, categorized as autofiction, follows Meryem through her internship in the corporate offices of … Continue reading #WITMonth: Supersaurio by Meryem El Mehdati
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 