Press release 24.1.2022

Press release: New publication offers perspectives on increasing diversity in the children’s book market

Do children's books reflect society’s diversity? In the publication In Our Own Words: BIPOC Perspectives in Children's Literature, the Goethe-Institut Finnland and its partners share perspectives on how to increase diversity in the children’s book market.


Children’s books shape a child’s view of the world. Children need to identify with ways of illustrating and telling stories and to explore the reality around them in a variety of ways. Do children’s books in Finland and Germany reflect our diverse everyday lives – or are some young readers invisible?

Created by the Goethe-Institut Finnland and its partners in north-western Europe, the DRIN project stresses the need to empower and enable everyone to contribute to society. In children’s literature, how can we include voices, images, and ways of telling stories that are underrepresented? What good examples can we share? What could the different players in the book market learn from each other?

Since 2018, the project has been organizing online training sessions, workshops, and seminars for book production professionals in various European countries to network and share resources. These experiences led to the publication of In Our Own Words: BIPOC Perspectives in Children's Literature (2021), which brings together visions of more diverse storytelling and children’s literature from different BIPOC perspectives. The publication gives a voice to people involved at all stages of a book’s life: from training to writing and illustration, from publishing to use in libraries and schools.

The publication is edited by illustrator Warda Ahmed from Finland, with two Germans, illustrator Jasmina El Bouamraoui (El Boum) and writer Chantal-Fleur Sandjon: the expert consultants on the DRIN project.

“In Our Own Words will continue to communicate long after the project has ended. We hope the publication will inspire change in the book industry and contribute to a more inclusive children's book market that reflects the diversity of our society,” said Isabel Hölzl, Director of the Goethe-Institut Finnland.

The DRIN project is supported by Allianz Kulturstiftung and the publication, by the Aue Foundation.

Download the publication (PDF)

Translation of the press release: Kate Sotejeff-Wilson