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And we’re off! Day one of our World Kid Lit Challenge.

Book one is one of the kids’ favourites, the fabulous 10 Little Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental and Joëlle Jolivet, translated from French by Amanda Katz (Abrams Books for Young Readers).

Emma: It’s nice because it has things on it you can pull and drag. I like counting the penguins. My favourite number is four, because I am four!

Dominic: I like it because it has flaps that you can twist and drag and I like the big surprise at the end, because it looks like there’s no penguins but actually there’s 10 and they’re just playing a trick. It’s a small but interesting book. It’s a bit weird thinking it was a French book first, because it just looks like an English book. I imagine they might have had to change a few words from it.

At the start of this book, there are 10 penguins. As you turn each page, one penguin has an unfortunate accident and disappears. What will happen to the penguins in the end?

We have had this book since Dominic was a baby and it’s been one of our favourites for years. I must admit, it’s been one that we kept high up on a shelf to try to make sure it doesn’t get damaged, but perhaps this just added to the excitement of reading such a special book. It is now a little dog-ear and damaged, but the kids still love poring over the fabulous mechanisms and making the penguins move – my favourite is the last penguin who gets on the bus! The rhymes on each page sing along and the children love shouting out the relevant number of penguins at the prompt at the end of each page.

A great little book to start our 30 days!

So, the books have arrived and we’re ready to begin our World Kid Lit Challenge: 30 books in 30 days. Over the next month, my resident book experts, Dominic (7) and Emma (4) will be helping me to review a book a day from around the world. Our books include translated picture books and chapter books, as well as stories written in English but from different countries and cultures. I will also be including some amazing young adult titles which have yet to be translated, as well as one gripping YA novel from the USA.

Come and join us tomorrow as we begin our global journey through books.

We had a lovely afternoon out in Nottingham, stopping to play on the “beach” and run through the fountains on the square. Our other task was to call in at independent bookshop Five Leaves (www.fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk). Having ordered a handful of books for our World Kid Lit Challenge at the end of last week, their speedy service meant they were ready for collection within just a few days. Thanks Five Leaves! Now home to enjoy our latest additions…

With #WorldKidLit Month coming up, my resident children’s book experts, Dominic and Emma (7 and 4) will be helping me to review a book a day throughout September. Focusing on books in translation or English-speaking writers from different cultures, we hope to read some fascinating and entertaining literature from across the globe.

Email me to tell me your favourite children’s book from around the world and we’ll try to feature it. If it’s German, Spanish or French we can go for the original, otherwise we’ll need a translation.