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Reflections of Realities and Renewals: USBBY’s 2020-22 Outstanding International Books (OIB) Text Sets

2/8/2022

 

By Bettie Parsons Barger and Jennifer M. Graff

For so many of us, books can feel like best friends, close family members, long-lost relatives, or trusted mentors. We gravitate toward them through our desire to connect or understand, to be inspired, or to experience a new or fresh perspective. As educators and literature advocates we also strive to help youths develop relationships with books, often relying on their curiosity about themselves and the unknown to help forge those connections.The United States Board of Books for Young People’s Outstanding International Books (OIB) lists are excellent resources for such pursuits. Shared in previous CLA Blog posts, each OIB list highlights 40-42 international books that are available in the United States. In 2021, the OIB committee read over 530 books prior to selecting the 42 titles for the 2022 list. These titles represent outstanding literature from 24 different countries and 2 indigenous territories in Canada.
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OIB Selection Criteria*
*Not every book will meet every criterion equally.*​​
  • represent the best of children’s literature from other countries
  • introduce readers in the U.S. to outstanding artists and writers from other countries
  • help children in the U.S. see the world from other points of view
  • provide perspectives or address topics otherwise missing from children’s literature in the U.S.
  • exhibit distinct cultural flavor, help counteract stereotypes, bridge cultural gaps, build connections, and engage and prove accessible to young readers in the U.S.

​See the USBBY website for additional content and presentation considerations.

​As we look at the past three years of OIB lists, we recognize how our current realities are reflected in the committees’ selections. Julie Flett’s (2021) We All Play/ Kimêtawânaw illustrates humans’ innate connection to nature and the joyous experiences of playing outdoors, as the current pandemic has encouraged. The Elevator (Frankel, 2020) speaks to the power of humorous storytelling to unite strangers who unexpectedly find themselves in close quarters. The current Ukrainian-Russian tensions mirror the conflict in How War Changed Rondo (2021). Silvia Vecchini’s (2019) graphic novel, The Red Zone: An Earthquake Story, and Heather Smith’s (2019) picturebook, The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden, are stirring testimonies about ongoing global natural disasters, such as the recent volcano eruption and subsequent earthquake and tsunami that have devastated the Pacific nation of Tonga.

Partnering the beliefs that books including hostile and traumatic events “can provoke reflection and inspire dialogue that sensitizes readers . . .” (Raabe, 2016, p.58) and that “stories are important bridging stones; they can bring people closer together, connect them, and help overcome alienation” (Raabe & von Merveldt, 2018, p.64), we created a sampling of five text sets that can be readily used in K-12 classrooms.
A Sampling of Outstanding International Books Text Sets (2020-2022)
(Book covers are organized by younger-to-older audience gradation.)
Wars and Revolutions
(civil, border, global, & cultural)

2022 OIB Books
Book cover: The Story of Bodri
Book cover: How War Changed Rondo
Book cover: Soul Lanterns
Book cover: When the World was Ours
Book cover: War
Book cover: Freedom Swimmer
Countries represented: Sweden, Ukraine, England/Germany, Japan, Austria/Poland/England, Portugal, China
​2021 OIB Books
Book cover: Maurice and His Dictionary
Book cover: Mexique: A Refugee Story
Book cover: War is Over
Book cover: Catherine's War
Book cover: Crossing the Farak River
Countries represented: Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Myanmar
​2020 OIB Books
Book cover: A Sky Without Lines
Book cover: The Taste of Rain
Book cover: Our Castle by the Sea
Book cover: Questions I Am Asked about the Holocaust
Book cover: Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black
Book cover: Bone Talk
Countries represented: US/Mexico Border, China, United Kingdom, Sweden, United Kingdom, Philippines
Human Resilience
(civil, border, global, & cultural)

2022 OIB Books
Book cover: Peter Lee's Notes from the Field
Book cover: Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost
Book Cover: We Dream Medicine Dreams
Book cover: Wounded Falcons
Book cover: The Big Bad Wolf in my House
Book cover: The Sour Cherry Tree
Book cover: The Caiman
Book cover: The Star Outside My Window
Book cover: Carry On: Poetry by Young Immigrants
Countries represented: Canada, Denmark, Canada: Northwest Territories, Mexico, Canada, Canada, Venezuela, UK: England, Canada
​2021 OIB Books
Book cover: All the Dear Little Animals
Book cover: Weekend Dad
Book cover: Some Days
Book cover: The Barren Grounds
Book cover: Migrants
Book cover: Blood Moon
Countries represented: Sweden, Canada, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom
​2020 OIB Books
Book cover: The Moose of Ewenki
Book cover: Angryman
Book cover: The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden
Book cover: Girl of the Southern Sea
Book cover: The Red Zone: An Earthquake Story
Book cover: Vanishing Colors
Book cover: Lubna and Pebble
Book cover: Paws and Edward
Book cover: Caravan to the North
Countries represented: China, Norway, Japan, Indonesia, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom, Norway, El Salvador/US
Telling Stories and Sharing Memories
(personal, biographical, cultural, geographical, historical, traditional, philosophical, intergenerational, visual, epistolary)

2022 OIB Books
Book cover: Comings and Goings
Book cover: My Words Flew Away like Birds
Book cover: Sona Sharma, Very Best Big Sister
Book cover: Sakamoto's Swim Club
Book cover: Thao
Book cover: Too Small Tola
Book cover: Africa, Amazing Africa: Country by Country
Book cover: The Caiman
Book cover: Living with Viola
Book cover: All the Colors of Life
Book cover: Carry On: Poetry by Young Immigrants
Book cover: Freedom Swimmer
Countries represented: Greece, Canada, India, Canada, Vietnam/Canada, Nigeria, Entire Continent of Africa, Venezuela, Canada, Norway, Canada, China
​2021 OIB Books
Book cover: Letters from Bear
Book cover: The Magic Doll
Book cover: The Lady with the Books
Book cover: Under the Great Plum Tree
Book cover: A Story About Afiya
Book cover: The Elevator
Book cover: The Time of Green Magic
Book cover: Music for Tigers
Book cover: The Barren Grounds
Book cover: Catherine's War
Book cover: Gamayun Tales I
Book cover: The Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River
Countries represented: Belgium, Central African Republic, Canada, United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Argentina, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Russia, China
​2020 OIB Books
Book cover: The Happiest Tree
Book cover: Thukpa for All
Book cover: The Girl and the Wolf
Book cover: Hicotea: A Nightlights Story
Book cover: Riding a Donkey Backwards
Book cover: The Parrot and the Merchant
Book cover: The Apartment: A Century of Russian History
Book cover: The Girl Who Rode a Shark
Book cover: Perception: A Photo Series
Book cover: This Place 150 Years Retold
Countries represented: South Korea, India, Canada, United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Iran, Russia, Canada, Canada, Canada
Connecting with Nature
(accentuating humans’ relationships with the natural world)

2022 OIB Books
Book cover: We All Play
Book cover: This is How I Know
Book cover: Little Bird's Day
Book cover: Ducks Overboard!
Book cover: 189 Canaries
Book cover: Wounded Falcons
Book cover: The Sour Cherry Tree
Book cover: Seasons: A Year in Nature
Book cover: Almost Nothing, yet Everything
Book cover: Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright!
Countries represented: Canada, Canada: Anishinaabewaking, Australia, England, Germany, Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, United Kingdom
​2021 OIB Books
Book cover: The Barren Grounds
Countries represented: Finland, West Africa, Portugal, Canada
​2020 OIB Books
Book cover: The Farmer
Book cover: Birdsong
Book cover: Along the Tapajos
Book cover: Hicotea: A Nightlights Story
Book cover: The Moose of Ewenki
Book cover: The Grizzly Mother
Countries represented: Switzerland, Canada, Brazil, United Kingdom, China, Canada
Creative Outlets
(Playful approaches to familiar topics, how play and curiosity can foster connections and community, and the role of imagination in creating new possibilities and realities, benefits of unexpected journeys)

2022 OIB Books
Book cover: Moon Pops
Book cover: We All Play
Book cover: Agnes's Place
Book cover: Inside the Suitcase
Book cover: On the Other Side of the Forest
Book cover: Anita and the Dragons
Book cover: Time is a Flower
Book cover: Molly and the Mathematical Mysteries
Book cover: Walking in Two Worlds
Countries represented: South Korea, Canada, Norway, France, Canada, Dominican Republic, Canada, United Kingdom, Canada
​2021 OIB Books
Book cover: All Along the River
Book cover: Cannonball
Book cover: Everybody Counts
Book cover: Little Fox
Book cover: There Must Be More than That
Book cover: Sound
Book cover: The Wanderer
Book cover: The Land of Roar
Countries represented: Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands, Ukraine, Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom
​2020 OIB Books
Book cover: One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller
Book cover: Count on Me
Book cover: The Boring Book
Book cover: Daniel and Ismail
Countries represented: United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Chile
​2022 OIB Bookmark & Annotations
2021 OIB Bookmark & Annotations
2020 OIB Bookmark & Annotations
Featuring over 100 OIB books from the 2020-2022 lists, including all of the 2022 books, these text sets are intentionally broad in scope and varied in format to enable numerous groupings or pairings. Here are a couple of possible groupings.
Creative Outlets
Making Friends and Building Community through Play ​
Engaging Math Explorations ​
​
  • Agnes’s Place (OIB 2022)
  • All Along the River (OIB 2021) 
  • Cannonball (OIB 2021)
  • Daniel and Ismail (OIB 2020)
  • Moon Pops (OIB 2022)
  • Count on Me (OIB 2020)
  • Everybody Counts (OIB 2021)
  • Molly’s Mathematical Mysteries: Ten Interactive Adventures in Mathematical Wonderland (OIB 2022)
  • One Fox: A Counting Thriller (OIB 2020)
Wars and Revolutions
WWII and Holocaust Survivor Stories ​​
Family Separations ​
​
  • Catherine’s War (OIB 2021) 
  • Maurice and His Dictionary: A True Story (OIB 2021)
  • Questions I’m Asked about the Holocaust (OIB 2020)
  • The Story of Bodri (OIB 2022) 
  • Soul Lanterns (OIB 2022)
  • When the World Was Ours (OIB 2022)
  • A Taste of Rain (OIB 2020)
  • Crossing the Farak River (OIB 2021)
  • Freedom Swimmer (OIB 2022)
  • Mexique. A Refugee Story from the Spanish Civil War (OIB 2021)
  • Our Castle by the Sea (OIB 2020)
  • When the World Was Ours (OIB 2022)
  • Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black (OIB 2020)
We hope these possible text sets and sub-groupings serve as a springboard for additional text sets that center international stories in our academic and personal lives and help us not only better understand the past but also negotiate the present to help build a more informed, inclusive, and joyous future. 

For more information about OIB books and USBBY, please join us in Nashville, Tennessee, March 4-6, 2022 for USBBY’s Regional Conference. 


​References
Rabbe, C. (2016). “Hello, dear enemy! Picture books for peace and humanity.” Bookbird: A Journal of Children’s LIterature, 54(4), 57-61.

Rabbe, C. & von Merveldt, N. (2018). “Welcome to the new home country Germany: Intercultural projects of the International Youth Library with refugee children and young adults.” Bookbird: A Journal of Children’s LIterature, 56(3), 61-65.
Bettie Parsons Barger is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education Core at Winthrop University and has been a CLA Member for 10+ years.

Jennifer M. Graff is an Associate Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia, is a former CLA President and Member for 15+ years.

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