An organization for and by international educators. Kibi came out of the belief that every learner deserves to find themselves and connect with others in a good book. As librarians and language teachers, we know first-hand the challenges of finding diverse and accessible global literature that informs and inspires. Our mission is to bring these books to you and your readers.
Here’s the thing about our readers
Regardless of where and who your readers are, one thing is for certain: they belong to a global world. Even though most of us are working in English-speaking environments, of the almost 1.5 billion speakers of English worldwide, only 400 million are native speakers. Over two thirds of the world’s English speakers communicate in English as an additional language. And yet despite this, the vast majority of English books for young people are written for a native speaking audience.
Our readers come from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. 43% of them are multilingual. Even though all of them have rich family histories and traditions, many live as migrants, expats, or members of diaspora communities, or feel disconnected from their heritage.
Our young readers are growing up in a rapidly evolving world. As parents and educators we’re all becoming increasingly aware of the skills and attributes necessary for young people to thrive and take action in an uncertain future.
Kibi meets our readers where they’re at
We’re here to help you meet the needs of your readers. We do this by:
- Curating and promoting great books that align with our mission, from authors and publishers across the globe.
- Facilitating events, meetups, and online forums to help librarians and teachers collaborate and connect to global publishers and authors.
- Writing and publishing our own Kibi collection of books written especially for diverse readers.
Kibi is all about books.
Our site gives you access to the latest literature published for young readers from all over the world. We don’t sell books, but we help you select them, and tell you where you can find them (depending on how you choose to buy, we may receive a commission for some purchases). Our books are:
- Accessible. Kibi books have accessible language and vocabulary for English learners, but they’re not graded readers or abridged versions: your readers deserve books that look and feel like real books.
- Global: Our goal is for every one of your readers to discover engaging books written in their home languages, by authors from their own regions. We connect you with international publishers, enabling access to quality books from all around the world, regardless of your location.
- Inspiring: Kibi books inspire readers to be curious about their world, to learn about new cultures and traditions, and to take action to care for present and future generations.
- For the Middle: We love middle grade (grades 5 – 8) and we know just how challenging it can be to find the right books for these discerning readers. While we plan to extend to younger and older readers in the future, for now our target audience is right in the middle.
