Welcome to Outside In World (OIW)
the organisation dedicated to exploring, promoting and celebrating children's books from around the world
in translation to English

We find the most exciting books from all over the world and introduce them to English-speaking audiences, enabling them to broaden their reading experience and to explore different cultures through books.

How to use the site

Click on the Education Zone to find out about: 

The OIW Children’s Collection of Books in Translation at the University of Portsmouth Library and see our new promotional video to showcase its unique collection of 1,600 titles translated from many world languages into English – the largest of its kind in the UK.  The collection is part of Near and Far World Books at the University of Portsmouth Library (NFWB@UoP). Educationalists, students, publishers, researchers as well as the local Portsmouth community are encouraged to visit the NFWB@UoP in Portsmouth to access, enjoy and learn from the collection.

Our partnership Webinar programme with the University of Reading.

You can find new book reviews added to the website in our Latest Book Reviews, a range of Booklists and Articles as well as information about our past projects and research which includes Reading the Way: Inclusive Books from Around the World; Reading the Way2 and Reading Round the World. Find out how it all started with the publication of the Outside In Guide or visit Information and Resources where you will find yearly OIW statistics for translated books and reports of seminars and events.

The OIW website is a major, well-respected resource on international children's literature which features an extensive database of over 2,000 children's and YA titles that have been translated into English. Book Browse allows you to search for books in different ways - by title, author, country, continent, age range and keyword. Or you can Explore the World using our maps to search countries for books.

In the Professional Zone, you will find information for Publishers and Translators.

You can visit our Windows on the World, a gallery of international children’s book illustrations.

Find out About Us

And if you want to keep in touch with what we do please email us to sign up to our Newsletter.

‘Our children need to be exposed to a world of voices so that the whole world becomes their home’
                          (David Almond, ‘Moving Through Borders’, Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation, School Librarian, Spring 2003)