About Where In The World Books
Why this exists
Kids learn the shape of the world long before anyone teaches them geography. They learn it from the stories they hear at bedtime, and from which places those stories happen to be set in.
That is the reason this collection exists. The original Where In The World Books About page put it better than we could now:
“I’d like to see a new generation of kids who grow up to know as much about Guatemala as they do about gluten or GMOs, as much about Finland as about fracking, as much about Sri Lanka as about standardized testing.”
It is discouraging to watch a student try to make sense of a conflict on the news when they have almost no idea where the country is. Books fix that earlier, and more gently, than a map on the wall ever will. A child who has loved a story set in Ghana has somewhere to put Ghana when it comes up later.
Where we came from
Where In The World Books started as an online bookstore at whereintheworld-books.com, and as a bookstand at the Fenton Street Market. Selling books off a table teaches you things a catalog cannot. You find out fast which titles a parent picks up, and which ones a seven year old actually wants to hear twice.
The original store has closed. The catalog was the part worth keeping, so we kept it: more than 500 titles, still organized by age, region, and theme, now free for anyone to browse.
How we choose books
Every title here earned its place against four standards:
- Cultural authenticity. We look first for books written and illustrated by people from the cultures they portray. Lived experience shows up on the page.
- Honest representation. Cultures are not monoliths, and we pass on books that treat them that way. The good ones show a specific family in a specific place.
- Age-appropriateness. Every book sits in an age band we would actually hand it to. Only you know how long your child will sit still for a story, so treat the bands as a starting point.
- Storytelling that holds up. A book can be worthy and still be dull. These are the ones kids ask for again.
Not every book about a place is a good book. We would rather point you to a dozen titles about West Africa that are worth your evening than list forty for the sake of the number.
How to use the collection
Browse by age group, by region, or by category if you want something specific like folk tales, biographies, or bilingual books. The reading guides are the place to start if you would rather somebody else narrowed it down for you.
When you find a book you want, the buttons take you to Amazon or Bookshop.org. We earn a small commission on those purchases, at no extra cost to you, and that is what keeps this site free. Full details are in our affiliate disclosure.
If you cannot find what you need, or you know a book we are missing, please tell us. Recommendations from parents, teachers, and librarians are how this collection grew in the first place.
Ready to explore? Browse the collection and find your next family favorite.