Europe for Children 2026-2028

forthcoming

The project 'Europe for Children 2026-2028' is a collaboration between two organizations in the field of children's and youth literature: Latvian publishing house Liels un Mazs (LUM) and Lithuanian non-profit NGO Centre for School Improvement (CSI), which is dedicated to educational and cultural innovation. LUM will translate, publish, and promote 13 literary works from 9 lesser-used languages: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Estonian, Czech, Polish, Finnish, and Ukrainian, and 2 'big' languages – German and French. All selected works offer wide versatility in forms and styles of literature for children: 2 picture books, 3 comics, 1 chapter book for early readers, 4 chapter books for fluent readers, and 3 YA titles. Cooperation with the project partners will strengthen cultural ties between Latvia and Lithuania and increase the prominence of project book authors, illustrators, and translators in the Baltic book market. CSI will expand its program by bringing 12 authors, illustrators, and translators to the festival events 'Creator's Island' and 'Children's Book Island' in Vilnius.  The project encourages translators to focus on children's literature, providing opportunities for discussion on language changes, especially spoken language and slang youth use and contemporary language developments, and take it as a professional challenge. The project's implementation will educate youth and their families, educators, and librarians who work in the field of children's literature and reading promotion. It will also broaden the availability of high-quality literature representing the culture, art, and languages of different parts of Europe to children. The project will reach new groups of readers for whom high-quality books have been lacking and continue to build connections with the already existing.