How often are children really exposed to voices different than their own? When perusing a bookstore or library, we generally encounter picture books written and published in the USA with American, English-speaking children as the intended audience. When we do encounter books that were originally published elsewhere in the world, they have often been edited prior to US publication to better accommodate our language and sensibilities. Global Voices: Picture Books from Around the World provides us with a wonderful opportunity to broaden our own and our children’s worldview and discover picture books which legitimately represent cultures, voices and experiences from around the world.
At first glance, this title presents as a straightforward bibliography, but the author goes beyond that by including thoughtful commentary on the importance of reading books from other countries, as well as the existence of different cultural interpretations of common picture book themes. For example, we are led to consider how depictions of war and conflict in picture books may differ from place to place because of the unique historical background of that country or culture, such as the experience of living in a Latin American police state as depicted in The Composition by Antonio Skármeta, or the experience of living in Cambodia during Pol Pot’s dictatorship as depicted in A Song for Cambodia by Michelle Lord. Eleven author and illustrator profiles are also included which help us connect with international authors and illustrators with whom we may not be familiar, such as award winning Australian author and illustrator Shaun Tan or international book artist Suzy Lee. Each profile provides a short biography, as well as images of the discussed individual and some their works.
It certainly can be argued that illustrations in children’s books are as important as the story. Global Voices includes a chapter that discusses the differences in illustrations and aesthetics that may exist between cultures and countries as a result of accepted cultural norms. Images of children in American picture books are often representational of the American childhood experience. Many picture book illustrations also include visual indicators of the setting of the story. Signage in Hebrew is visible in The Key to My Heart by Nina Harel and Passing By by Yona Tepper, both books originating in Israel. The Kenyan book On a Road in Africa by Kim Doner depicts a vehicle with the driver on the right side of the car and the car on the left side of the road. American children also may not be unaccustomed to different styles of non-Western art. Marilyn Nelson’s folktale Ostrich and Lark is illustrated with paintings by artists indigenous to the Kalahari Desert. Blia Xiong’s Nine in One, Grr! Grr! is illustrated in the style of Hmong story cloths, the traditional art of the Hmong people of Laos.
The bibliography itself is conveniently broken into sections according to world region, and then, within each region, the list is further organized according to country. Over 50 countries are included. Some are represented with a single entry such as Somalia, Slovenia and Nepal. More space is devoted to countries with more extensive publishing industries, such as Canada, the UK and Australia. South American countries were the least represented, with only a small section included in the Latin America and the Caribbean chapter. Before the bibliography for each part of the world, the author provides an analysis of the history and current status of children’s book publication as it relates to that region. We come to understand that South America is not strongly represented in Global Voices because children’s books have not been traditionally published in South America nations, but are instead often imported from Spain or Portugal. These analyses also include statements about the political, economic and geographic factors that may influence publishing, such as the post-apartheid efforts to expand the variety of children’s books published in South Africa. These details are very helpful in establishing context.
This reference work is well organized and easy to navigate by both the subject index and the author/illustrator/title index. There is also a list of book distributors included to assist librarians in locating and purchasing the international picture books. The majority of the individual book entries detail books that are currently in print and were published within the past 15 years. Each of the over 300 entries provide us with a clear plot synopsis, as well as comments about the illustrations and, where necessary, explanations of unfamiliar terms.
In an age where we encourage multiculturalism and diversity, collections could be greatly enhanced by the inclusion of a wider variety of international picture books. This resource would be most useful to academic libraries serving pre-service teachers and children’s librarians. It could also be useful for programmes related to publishing and general children’s literature. In elementary school and curriculum libraries, the inclusion of these resources could encourage cross-disciplinary studies. You can easily imagine combining reading and literacy lessons with social studies lessons on geography, culture and world history. Public libraries serve diverse patron groups, and this resource could help children from all different ethnicities and backgrounds find a story about a character they recognize in themselves. Global Voices is a great reminder that we all individually look at the world through a certain lens and may not realize that our library collections reflect that lens as well.
