Children’s books are where languages are passed on, and they are also where languages are lost. A child who never sees their language in print learns, quietly, that it belongs to speech and not to the written world. A new collection announced by UNESCO and IBBY brings together nearly 170 children’s books representing more than 150 Indigenous and endangered languages, drawing on around 500 submissions. UNESCO announced the initiative on 30 July and updated its account in August.
Why children’s books matter for languages
A language survives when children learn it at home and use it in daily life. Books support that by giving the language a place in reading, in school and on the shelf. They also give young speakers something their parents may never have had: material written for them, rather than for linguists. That shift, from documentation to use, is one of the practical goals of language revitalisation.
What the collection contains
The books, published between 2018 and 2025, span forms including graphic narratives and non-fiction. That range is deliberate. A collection limited to folk tales would reinforce the impression that these languages are suited only to traditional stories. Including contemporary formats signals that they are living languages used for modern subjects, from science to adventure.
The difficulty of publishing in a small language
Publishing in a language with few speakers faces structural problems. The market is small, printing costs are similar to those for a major language, and distribution is difficult. Authors may lack editors and reviewers who know the language well. Despite these obstacles, communities produce books, often with public or philanthropic support, because the alternative is a generation of children with no reading material in their own tongue.
The selection process
Receiving around 500 submissions and selecting nearly 170 implies a curation process with criteria. Such processes raise questions about who judges quality and by what standard, particularly when evaluators may not read the languages involved. The collection’s value depends partly on how those judgements were made, and the source material is the place to look for details.
Visibility is a starting point
A curated collection can help readers, librarians and publishers learn that a title exists. It does not mean every book is available in every market or language edition. The source provides a route to explore the collection and investigate individual titles, rather than treating the list as a universal shopping catalogue. Its immediate contribution is discovery.
The role of international organisations
UNESCO and IBBY can convene, publicise and lend legitimacy, and they cannot create a market. Their contribution is most useful where it connects publishers, libraries and communities that would otherwise work in isolation. Whether the collection leads to translation, reprinting or new commissions will be the test of its longer-term effect.
How endangered languages are assessed
Linguists assess language vitality using factors such as the number of speakers, the age of fluent speakers, intergenerational transmission, domains of use and the availability of written material. A language with a large but ageing speaker population is more endangered than a smaller one that children still learn at home. Assessments are contested, because they involve judgement about what counts as fluency and because communities may disagree with outside classifications. The collection’s focus on written material addresses one factor among several.
The role of libraries
Libraries are where collections become usable. A list of titles is a beginning; a library that acquires and lends them, and that has staff able to catalogue them, is what gives children access. In many communities, school and public libraries are the only places where books in a minority language are available at all. Supporting those institutions, and training staff, is often more consequential than producing additional titles.
Digital publishing
Digital distribution reduces some of the barriers that small-language publishers face, because it removes printing and shipping costs. It introduces others, including the need for devices, connectivity and payment systems, and the risk that digital editions are not preserved. For communities with limited infrastructure, print remains essential, and the most useful strategies combine both rather than assuming that digital solves the problem.
The role of translation
Translation can widen a book’s reach, and it also changes it. A story translated into a dominant language may find a larger audience and lose some of its specificity. For minority-language publishing, the tension is real: translation brings visibility and income, and it can also accelerate the shift toward the dominant language if the original becomes secondary. Communities and publishers make these decisions case by case, and there is no universal rule.
Collections of this kind are most useful when they are treated as a working tool rather than a trophy. If publishers, libraries and communities use it to find partners, commission translations or argue for funding, it will have done its job. If it remains a list on a website, it will be a well-meaning gesture. The difference depends on the institutions that pick it up.
Sources
- UNESCO. New collection celebrates children’s books in Indigenous and endangered languages. unesco.org
Image: scbailey · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons.