Today’s post comes to you from Laura Simeon: This marks the 21st year that the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY), a division of the International Board on Books for Young People, has selected some of the very best titles from around the world for children and teens. Our dedicated committee of … Continue reading #WORLDKIDLIT: USBBY’S OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL BOOKS 2026
What has no color, but can be any color? What has no shape, but can take any shape? Why, water, of course. Almost Nothing, Yet Everything is a wondrous exploration of water by multi-award-winning creative duo Hiroshi Osada and Ryōji Arai. Aimed at readers ages 4-8, this picture book pairs Osada’s beautiful, lyrical ode to … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Almost Nothing, Yet Everything: A Book About Water
I’ve always had a soft spot for mice. Not the computer kind, nor the kind that were supposed to make Victorian women shriek and fall into a dead faint. (Probably because their corsets were too tight….but I digress.) No, the cute, cotton, and cuddly kind. So I fell hard for Torben Kuhlmann’s imaginative historical fiction … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: Three picture books by Torben Kuhlmann: “Lindbergh,” “Armstrong” and “Edison”
Do you remember not being able to read? I certainly don't... Most of us have been reading for so long that we can't remember what it felt like not to be able to understand everything we saw around us. Nor do we have any inkling of what the mysterious world of visual symbols looked like … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: Lines, Squiggles, Letters, Words
Parisian teenager Lou has an IQ of 160, OCD tendencies, and a mother who has suffered from depression for years. But Lou is about to change her life-and that of her parents-all because of a school project about homeless teens. While doing research, Lou meets No, a teenage girl living on the streets. As their … Continue reading USBBY Outstanding International Book Pick: No and Me by Delphine de Vigan
The book's protagonist is Michel, an eight-year-old Parisian boy. His brother Martin, who's twelve, detests him, and he detests Martin right back. This summer, Michel will go away alone, which really means without his mom, to stay with his grandparents while his parents move apartments. To add to the horror, Michel's older boy cousins will … Continue reading USBBY Outstanding International Book Pick: The Bathing Costume, or The Worst Vacation of My Life by Charlotte Moundlic
The Table that Ran Away to the Woods tells the tale of a writing desk that one day 'grabbed two pairs of shoes, ran downstairs, and took flight', escaping into the countryside with its owners in barefoot pursuit. This is the first time the story - first published in a Polish newspaper in occupied France … Continue reading USBBY Outstanding International Book Pick: THE TABLE THAT RAN AWAY TO THE WOODS by Stefan Themerson
Award-winning author Gerelchimeg Blackcrane has written a compelling novel, set in Tibet, Mongolia and China, about the adventures of a fiercely powerful yet lovable Tibetan mastiff that is sure to join the ranks of other much-read classic dog stories. Kelsang, a Tibetan mastiff, is just a tiny puppy when his mother dies after a vicious … Continue reading USBBY Outstanding International Book Pick: Black Flame by Gerelchimeg Blackcrane
A run-down hotel on a bare plain: the only hiding place for a girl in the rain. Once inside, a fox offers her a chair. A suspicious rat acts like he has met her before. But she can't remember anything. Not even her own name.... At the hotel she finds more questions than answers. She … Continue reading USBBY Outstanding International Book Pick: Departure Time by Truus Matti
Anton wants to do some magic. He wants to make something disappear... First Anton tries to make a tree vanish, but it s too big. He manages to make a bird disappear, and even his friend Luke. But where did Luke go? Anton Can Do Magic is a perfectly simple and hilarious picture book about … Continue reading USBBY Outstanding International Book Pick: Anton Can Do Magic by Ole Könnecke
