The books have to stand on their own as works of children’s literature, of course. But if they can also stimulate enquiry in young minds, then we’re doubly happy.
Each year at Frankfurt I see wonderful children’s books, award-winning children’s books, big-selling children’s books, innovative, memorable and challenging children’s books. But Australian children are likely to read only a fraction of them merely because these books were originally published in a language other than English.