The Nordic Bookworm is a project to promote reading that provides inroads into the world of Nordic children’s literature. By producing educational support material for current Nordic picture books, the project puts children into contact with the treasure trove that is Nordic literature, with the help of adult readers. The project is now launching support material for the first 22 books on its website, free of charge, and in all the Nordic languages.
“The educational material for a book consists of questions of varying degrees of difficulty. These provide inroads to discussion about the book with young children and children of primary school age. With the help of the educational material, we’re building a model that promotes reading for the children of up to 12 years of age,” says Mikaela Wickström, project manager and children’s librarian at Nordic Culture Point in Helsinki.
The rationale behind The Nordic Bookworm is to promote the reading of Nordic children’s literature in all the Nordic countries, and to open up children and young people’s literature for both adult readers and children.
“The Nordic Bookworm is a much-anticipated and sought-after initiative with regard to Nordic picture books. Many high-quality picture books are published in the Nordic countries, but unfortunately the books rarely make inroads outside of their home countries. Now that the Nordic Bookworm is creating educational material about Nordic picture books, it’s possible for both children and mediators in different countries to enjoy each other’s picture book art. The project has the potential to become a real boost for the field of children’s literature,” says Maria Österlund, specialist researcher in literary studies and a member of the project’s steering group.
The selection of books is based on the picture books nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize. All the support material is available in Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic, as well as in Northern Sami, Faroese, and/or Greenlandic for selected books. In total, about fifty books will be given educational tutorials on the website.
Nordic Culture Point has initiated and is running the project, which has been granted three years of funding from the Nordic Council of Ministers. The support material is produced by a Nordic working group consisting of children’s librarians, illustrators, authors, educators, a reading ambassador, and other reading promoters. The impact of the project will be evaluated in a follow-up research project, with the final report expected in May 2023.
Read more about the project and download the support material at www.bokslukaren.org
For further information, please contact:
Mikaela Wickström
Project manager and children’s librarian at Nordic Culture Point
mikaela.wickstrom@nordiskkulturkontakt.org +358 105 831 011
Heidi Orava
Head of Communications at Nordic Culture Point
heidi.orava@nordiskkulturkontakt.org +358 50 306 1977
