2025 Trends in K-12 Global Literature

By Kathy G. Short, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Each year, we report the annual trends in global literature for young people after updating the annual global recommended reading lists. These lists consist of books published and/or distributed in the U.S. between July 2024 and July 2025. What is interesting this year is that the major trend is the lack of dominant trends in themes, topics, genres and countries.

The updated K-12 global recommended reading lists are published on the Worlds of Words website, organized by grade level bands, K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-10 and 11-12, with separate fiction and nonfiction lists. The lists are organized around broad themes, including strength through relationships, forced journeys, taking action, locating self in the world, adventures and mysteries and mythological quests. Books that remain in print are kept on the lists each year, while new books from 2024 and 2025 are added. Continue reading →

English to Korean, Korean to English: New Trends in Korean and English Children’s and YA Literature in the U.S.

By Yoo Kyung Sung, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

The U.S. children’s literature market remains one of the most conservative in embracing international titles, especially when compared to other countries. Many Asian nations publish significantly more translated books from Western countries than the U.S. does in reverse. Short (2018) highlights that while organizations such as the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) promote global literature through initiatives like the annual Outstanding International Books (OIB) list, translated works still make up only 3 to 4 percent of U.S. children’s book publications. Although this marks an improvement from earlier estimates of 1 to 2 percent, it remains a stark contrast to the 30 to 40 percent typical in many European nations. Even among the international books available in the U.S., English-language titles from countries like the UK, Canada, and Australia continue to dominate (Short, 2018). Continue reading →

Introducing Intellectual Freedom to Elementary Library Patrons

By “Ms. Smith”, School Librarian, Southwestern U.S.

“Why do you love banned books?” – 3rd grade students

During library classes, the most common questions I receive at my circulation desk are in reference to my “I ♥ Banned Books” plaque. I always respond with some variation of “I believe everyone should be able to read whatever they want,” or “Banned books are great books!” This draws puzzled looks and sometimes the reply “But they are BANNED!” As a service provider for an elementary library, these questions were the impetus behind my passive library display for Banned Book Week (October 5-11th, 2024). The response the display garnered was both more basic and more in-depth than I had planned for and will guide my displays going forward in the coming years. Continue reading →

Holding Space for Story, Reflection and Voice

By Junko Sakoi, Tucson Unified School District, Multicultural Curriculum Integration Coordinator

Censorship remains a significant issue affecting schools across the United States, with ongoing debates over educational content, children’s rights and academic freedom. In 2024, the American Library Association (ALA) documented 821 attempts to censor library materials and services, involving 2,452 titles. While this represents a decrease from 2023’s record of 1,247 challenges and 4,240 titles, the numbers remain significantly elevated compared to pre-2020 levels, which averaged 270 titles challenged annually between 2001 and 2020.

The ALA attributes the 2024 decline to factors such as underreporting, often linked to concerns about retaliation and controversy. In addition, evolving state legislation has influenced the availability of books featuring LGBTQIA+ characters, characters of color and themes related to race and racism. Continue reading →

Launching a Successful AP Seminar

By Deborah Dimmett, Tucson Magnet High School, Tucson, AZ

A fresh beginning of a new school year has presented this 41-year veteran of teaching with a new challenge that few in would take with only three years remaining before retirement. Teaching AP Seminar for the first time and to a class of 39 eager Sophomores promises to test my ability to incorporate every best practice in this project-based English class.

AP Seminar, offered as an English option, incorporates literature with real-world problems and issues that students investigate through a wide range of perspectives. For example, Night, the classic memoir authored by Elie Wiesel, allows students to investigate human rights issues such as genocide, war crimes, and a myriad of human rights issues through sociological, ethical, and political perspectives to name a few. Students can explore complex issues around collective identity and faith through cultural, religious, and political frameworks. They can engage in a comparative study of the issues raised in the novel with one or more real-world issues that include perspectives on resilience, trauma, and the impact of oppressive regimes on individual groups. Continue reading →

2024 Trends in Global Literature: Food as the Language of Love

By Kathy G. Short, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

One of the most interesting (and mouthwatering) trends in the 2024 recommended global books lists are books focused on the role of food within families, particularly related to memory and culture. Food connects children across generations to their families, serving as a source of comfort and a means of passing on cultural traditions. Food is also a source of hope in times of despair and can invite cross-cultural connections and relationships.

The many roles of food within children’s lives are evident in four new picturebooks on mangoes set in different global cultures. Mango Memories by Sita Singh and Nabi Ali (2024) is set in India where a young girl is finally old enough to help harvest mangoes from her favorite tree. Each family member shares a favorite mango memory as they work, while the girl worries that she will not have a memory to add to the family lore. This book pairs well with How to Eat a Mango by Paola Santos and Juliana Perdomo (2024), in which a young Venezuelan girl dreads having to pick up the sticky mangoes that fall from a tree. Her Abuelita shows her how to appreciate the fruit by using her senses to listen, feel, smell, and see mangoes, and then finally to taste the joy of eating a mango. In Julie and the Mango Tree by Sade Smith and Sayada Ramdial (2023), a young Jamaican girl is on a quest to convince her favorite mango tree to share its delicious fruit. When the wind drops too many mangoes, Julie joyfully shares the fruit with her community. The Mango Tree/La mata de mango by Edel Rodriquez (2024) is a wordless book in which two boys spend their days playing in a mango tree until one day a storm sweeps one of the boys and the tree into unknown waters. The illustrator engages readers in a fantastical take on his childhood experiences as a Cuban immigrant. Continue reading →

2024 Trends in K-12 Global Literature

Kathy G. Short, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

This month’s WOW Currents focuses on trends in global literature for young people published and/or distributed in the U.S. between July 2023 and July 2024. Each year, we identify new books published during this time period, examining the books and consulting book reviews to determine which texts are of most interest to K-12 educators. In this process of updating our global reading lists, we also gain a sense of current trends in the themes, topics and genres of global books being published for children and teens. Continue reading →

Is Reading Aloud Common Ground for WOW and LETRS?

by Mary L. Fahrenbruck, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Author’s Note: The thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog post are my own and do not represent the Worlds of Words Center. The content is based on my professional experiences in WOW and in the LETRS professional development training sessions.

My response to the question posed in the title above is that reading aloud has the potential to become common ground between Worlds of Words (WOW) and Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) (Lexia, 2024). Despite their different focuses – Worlds of Words on global literacies and literatures for all readers and LETRS on professional development training for prek-3 educators and administrators – this common ground exists. This blog post is my attempt to reconcile my theoretical groundings in constructivism, socio-psycholinguistics and Reader Response theory with the LETRS training permeating school districts in New Mexico (NM) where I reside. Continue reading →

What Do WOW and LETRS Have in Common?

by Mary L. Fahrenbruck, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Author’s Note: The thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog post are my own and do not represent the Worlds of Words Center. The content is based on my professional experiences in Worlds of Words and in the LETRS professional development training sessions.

At first glance, WOW (Worlds of Words) and LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) (Lexia, 2024) seem worlds apart. After all, Worlds of Words is an organization focused on global literacies and literatures for all readers while LETRS is a professional development training for pre-k-3 educators and administrators. However, a closer inspection reveals a few surprising theoretical similarities that are worth discussing in WOW Currents. This comparison becomes particularly relevant as educators navigate the evolving shifts in reading instruction. Continue reading →

An On-going Struggle for Equal Voting Rights

By Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, Westminster College, retired, and Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words, University of Arizona, Tucson

Jane Goodall recently outlined, “Every vote matters, more this year than perhaps any time in history.” As voters from the United States to South Africa, Mexico, India and beyond enter a major election year, Jane urges anyone who will listen to pause and consider each candidate’s record on a single issue–her/his/their efforts to support the health of our Earth. Yet we know U.S. voters will ponder additional issues, ranging from the economy and democracy to immigration, reproductive rights, foreign policy, gun rights, equality and more. Continue reading →

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