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A children’s book is a world in itself – and a country’s literature is a whole universe. What an adventure it would be to dip a toe in each of the 196 literary universes that neighbor your own!
Sadly, young readers who venture boldly into exotic literature are treading in largely uncharted territory. Despite the multiverse of words and ideas, only 2-4% of books published in English are translations. How can you learn about other cultures if your own culture mostly celebrates itself?
The ToyZone team mapped the highest-rated children’s book from a local writer in every country.
The team compiled a list of children’s writers from every country using Wikipedia and pulled data on every single one of their books from Goodreads, including rating, number of ratings, and number of reviews.
For each country, TheToyZone defined the most popular as the highest-rated among the 20 books with the most user ratings for that one country.
The stories we read as kids stick in our hearts and minds well into adulthood. Whether it’s a fantasy novel or a Christmas classic, the ToyZone team wanted to find the most popular books from every country. It’s no surprise to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the top books from the United Kingdom. But look around the globe, and you might discover some classic works that you had no idea existed.
Europe
Europe has a long and rich history of fairy and folk tales, but Tomo, the second picture book in the Moomin series written by Tove Jansson, is the oldest book on this map. It was first published in 1960 and is the most popular children’s book in Finland.
North America
Anne of Green Gables is the oldest book here, going all the way back to 1921. But it’s a more modern book that’s the most well-known. Wonder, published in 2012, is the USA’s favorite children’s book. R.J. Palacio’s modern classic is about embracing the beauty that’s all around us.
South America
Papelucho by Marcela Paz is the most popular children’s book in Chile, and it has been rated more times than any other book on this map. It’s also the oldest book here, published in 1947. The most recent book was only published in 2020: El encargo by Claudia Rueda.
The Middle East & Central Asia
Samad Behrangi portrayed the lives of poor children and used allegorical themes to criticise the Shah’s regime. His book One Thousand Peaches (ﮏﯾوﻠھرازھلھ) tells the story of two friends who find a peach and decide to plant its seed.
Rest of Asia & Oceania
Then, written by Morris Gleitzman, tells the story of Jewish orphan Felix and his best friend Zelda, who have been captured during the Nazi occupation of Poland during the Second World War. It’s the most popular children’s book from Australia and sits alongside some wonderful stories in this region.
Africa
Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor is Nigeria’s most popular kids book, and with almost nine thousand ratings is the most well-known book on this map. With 496 pages, it’s the longest book here. If you’re looking for a quicker read, E Is for E-Waste (Zambia) is short and sweet at only nine pages.
