Postcards and books around the world

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Sandhya made a great suggestion in the comments on my previous post – to put up a list of all the countries from where we had families participating in the postcard swap. That would have been too easy (!) so in addition to the list of countries, I’ve added a link or two to interesting bits and pieces about children’s literature or individual books for each country. These are not meant to be representative of children’s literature in the given country – it’s more of a pot pourri sort of approach – hopefully you’ll discover some new gems and have your appetite whetted for some world literature!

Argentina



  • A selection of Argentinian books from Travel for Kids
  • On hunting for genuine Argentinian kids’ books by DadWagon
  • A brief biography of Argentinian illustrator, author and Singer, Isol


    • Australia (we had participants from New South Wales, Norther Territory, Victoria, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Western Australia)

  • The Book Chook – a fantabulous kids’ books’ site from an Australian author passionate about literacy
  • A brief history of Australian children’s books from the Australian Government
  • Children’s Book Council of Australia



    • Bahamas



  • The House in the Sky: A Bahamian Folktale



    • Bermuda



  • An extensive list of books about Bermuda, including non fiction, books for adults, cookery books and more


    • Brunei



  • An article about a recent book fair in Brunei



    • Bulgaria



  • Images of Bulgarian stamps issued in April this year featuring children’s books
  • A selection of highly regarded children’s literature from Bulgaria from the International Children’s Digital Library


    • Canada (We had participants from Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan)

  • Information on a brand new book – the first major history ever on Canadian children’s illustrated books



    • Czech Republic



  • An article about the magical world of Czech children’s book illustrator Štěpán Zavřel


    • England



  • Booktrust – an independent UK-wide charity dedicated to encouraging people of all ages and cultures to enjoy books.



    • France



  • The National Centre for Youth Literature (in French)



    • Germany



  • The picture book museum Burg Wissem in Troisdorf
  • Litrix – Your Portal for the Worldwide Promotion of Contemporary German Literature.



    • India



  • Pratham Books – a non-profit trust that aims to provide high quality children’s books in regional Indian languages for children across India
  • Fabulous Picture books about India – An Amazon Listmania List



    • Israel



  • New Perspectives on Israel From Three New Picture Books
  • Children’s Literature in Hebrew, from the Jewish Women’s Archive



    • Italy



  • An introduction to Italian Children’s Books – in pdf
  • Andersen – The Journal of Children’s Books (in Italian)



    • Japan



  • Japanese Picture Books – An Amazon Listmania List
  • The Uninhibited Brush – A thousand years of Japanese picture books.
  • Picture Books for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Part 3 (Japan), from Jama Rattigan



    • La Réunion



  • Alex Gauvin – a writer (for grown ups) from La Reunion
  • Daniel Vaxelaire – a writer based in La Reunion who writes for children as well as adults
  • Perhaps the coolest link on this page – Asterix in Reunion creole!



    • Marshall Islands



  • Surf War!: A Folktale from the Marshall Islands



    • Morocco



  • The Bachelor and the Bean – A Moroccan Jewish story
  • The Butter Man – A Moroccan theme picture book
  • Laila Lalami Discusses Moroccan Children’s Literature
  • A list of Moroccan / Moroccan themed books, including children’s books, from Friends of Morocco



    • New Zealand



  • Learning About New Zealand through Picture Books – for full text click through to the word document
  • New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults



    • Pakistan



  • Pakistani / Pakistani themed books from Asia Book Room
  • Children’s Books in Pakistan by Rumana Husain



    • Poland



  • A Polish picture pick from Bookseller.com



    • Republic of Ireland



  • Ireland names Siobhán Parkinson first children’s laureate
  • Children’s Books Ireland



    • Scotland



  • Scottish Book Trust/
  • Itchy Coo – an imprint which publishes bestselling books in Scots for children and young people



    • Singapore



  • A selection of children’s books from Singapore
  • Jessie Wee – an author of children’s books from Singapore
  • Hedwis Anuar Children’s Book Award



    • South Africa



  • 100 Representative South African Books for Children and Young People 2007
  • “The Best of South African Picture Books”



    • Spain



  • A selection of kids’ books about Spain from Travel for Kids



    • Switzerland



  • Reference to an article titled “A Selection of Swiss Picture Books in American Translation” – if anyone has access to this article, could them let me know 🙂
  • Swiss books and their illustrations, from the Swiss Arts Councils
  • Swiss Institute for Children’s and Youth Media (which includes literature!)
  • A selection of Swiss children’s books



    • The Netherlands



  • An amazing collection of images from Dutch Picture books from 1810 to 1950
  • A Dutch picture book available in English well worth a look!
  • Dick Bruna’s Miffy – Dutch Bunny Love
  • The Dutch Children’s Book Museum



    • USA (We had participants from IN, WA, ID, NC, TX, VA, FL, MA, AZ, ME, VT, MO, CA, OH, MS, AK, AR, LA, CO, CT, DC, IA, KS, MD, MI, NY, OK, OR, PA, UT, WI)



  • The Caldecott Medal Home Page!
  • The American Picture Book: Prologue to the Golden Years



    • Wales



  • Publishing for children in Wales – a pdf document
  • Tir na n-Og Awards from the Welsh Book Council

    • 15 Responses

    1. Fiddler
      | Reply

      These are great–I especially look forward to checking the resources for the countries from which we received postcards. Thank you!

      Another idea for the U.S.–here is a website that lists children’s books by state:

      http://www.mrsmcgowan.com/projects/flags/states_books.htm

    2. Mari-Ann
      | Reply

      Go Bermuda!! 🙂 Thank you so much for hosting this swap, Zoe. We had a lot of fun receiving postcards from all over the world!

      Warmly,
      Mari-Ann
      Counting Coconuts
      http://www.countingcoconuts.blogspot.com

    3. Choxbox
      | Reply

      Wow! Awesome swap!

      And here are some more links for books from India:

      Tulika Books – http://www.tulikabooks.com/

      National Book Trust:
      http://www.nbtindia.org.in/innerPage.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/books_catalog2.aspx

      Childrens Books Trust: http://www.childrensbooktrust.com/cbt.html

      Tara Books:
      http://www.tarabooks.com/

    4. Concetta at Glittering Shards
      | Reply

      What a great idea, thanks for all your work Zoe!

    5. Zoe
      | Reply

      Hi Fiddler – thanks for the great link!

      Choxbox – you always come up trumps!

      Mari-Ann – can you suggest anything more by way of Bermudan books for kids?

    6. Tweets that mention Postcards and books around the world | Playing by the book -- Topsy.com
      | Reply

      […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Catherine, Zoe Toft. Zoe Toft said: Latest post – dipping our toes into children's literature from around the world http://bit.ly/9edFqN […]

    7. Amy
      | Reply

      What a great idea, thanks for all your work Zoe!

    8. Alex
      | Reply

      Great post! I haven’t posted our postcards received yet, but will soon.
      thanks for putting this swap together, it was wonderful!

    9. Emma Davidson
      | Reply

      Thanks for a great postcard swap and this fantastic list of book resources!

      Here’s another one from Australia:
      http://kids-book-review.blogspot.com/
      Reviews of books for Australian children, including some reviews by kids as well as by authors, artists, and mums who love books.

    10. sandhya
      | Reply

      Thanks, Zoe, for this post. Here are some more links to books from India.

      http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/aboutus.aspx

      http://www.karaditales.com/

    11. Zoe @ Playing by the book
      | Reply

      Thanks Emma and Sandhya for your links!

    12. Mozi Esmes Mommy
      | Reply

      What a great list! I’m wanting to walk through the globe with my daughter next year – this could be fun!

    13. BookishIma
      | Reply

      Fantastic list! I’m looking forward to perusing.

    14. Natalie
      | Reply

      It’s too bad that I missed the swap, but you solved my geography searches once and for all 🙂

    15. Natalie
      | Reply

      Wow!! What a wonderful list!! I blog at http://www.theeducationaltourist.com and write about traveling with the kids and making it educational. I love reference lists like these!

      I feel that reading about a destination before visiting is a great way for kids to create a schema in their mind so that later information can be retained longer and understood deeper. For this reason I also have lists of kids’ books on destinations throughout the world! I think they would make a great addition to this list.

      Caribbean – http://theeducationaltourist.com/caribbean/

      San Francisco – http://theeducationaltourist.com/kids-books-set-in-san-francisco/

      Canada – http://theeducationaltourist.com/kids-books-set-in-canada/

      Italy – http://theeducationaltourist.com/kids-books-set-in-italy/

      Greece – http://theeducationaltourist.com/kids-books-set-greece/

      London – http://theeducationaltourist.com/kids-books-set-in-london-reading-list/

      Paris – http://theeducationaltourist.com/kids-books-set-in-paris/

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