Initiated in 2021, UWM’s new collection of international children’s and young adult books highlights experiences from outside of the United States through literature, both in original languages and in translation.  The growing collection will showcase the richness of children’s literature around the world, as well as the wide and often disparate range of publishing and access, where reading may be for pleasure, for literacy, or where books in local languages are scarce or non-existent.  The collection is also intended as a resource for the local immigrant and refugee communities in Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin.   

The Curriculum Collection will house two copies of each title, one in a research collection, and another available for lending.  At present, represented languages include: Spanish, English, Turkish, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Japanese, French, Korean and Greek, with forthcoming purchases including Arabic, Swahili, Xhosa, Zulu, Afrikaans, Burmese, Karen, Farsi, Chinese, Somali, Hmong, Swedish, German, Italian, Slovenian, Polish—25 languages and counting!  Watch the ICYAL book collection grow over time on this Google Map.  

To complement the collection, watch the space below for engaging in-person and virtual programming about international children’s books for teachers, students, librarians, parents, and the community.  

Upcoming Programs

2022

November 17 Collection Opening Celebration (5:30-7pm, UWM Libraries)
Brazilian illustrator and writer, Roger Mello, winner of the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration with international children’s book specialist Junko Yokota

2023

March 2 (9am)
Virtual interview with Palestinian-Jordanian writer and publisher Taghreed Najjar 
Register HERE

Cosponsors 
A collaboration of UWM Libraries, the Center for International Education (CIE), and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  CIE and CLACS are designated Title VI National Resource Centers, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education.