“Immigrants of Us All”: Experiencing Migration and Movement through Batchelder Award-winning Translated Books

Abstract

How do cultural identities such as religion, social class, and gender enable or restrict the freedom of characters in award-winning translated books for children? The movement of characters within a set of recent books recognized with the Batchelder award provides a global perspective on freedom and human rights and calls attention to contemporary and historical struggles of people around the world. This study suggests high quality titles that may help librarians and teachers develop children’s understanding of other cultures and the physical and metaphorical borders that constrain freedom of movement.