Complete a 'Reading Around the World' challenge
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Learning Objectives
- 1Plan a Reading Around the World challenge with a target list of countries and continents
- 2Pick one book per country that was written by an author from that country
- 3Keep a reading passport with country, author, book title, and one thing learned
- 4Share three discoveries with a partner after each completed country
Mini Lesson
A READING AROUND THE WORLD CHALLENGE is a long reading project where you choose books from many different countries and read your way across the map. The goal is not to read fast. The goal is to step into stories, voices, and places that are not your own — and to come back with a passport full of new ideas. By the end of the challenge you will have a stack of books and a record of what each one taught you.
Four steps to set up your challenge
- PICK YOUR MAP — choose a target. Six continents in six books, ten countries in ten weeks, or one country per month for a year.
- PICK ONE BOOK PER COUNTRY — search for a book written by an AUTHOR from that country, not just a book set there.
- OPEN A PASSPORT — a small notebook with one page per country: country, author, book title, and what I learned.
- SHARE AS YOU GO — after each country, tell a partner three things you discovered and add a stamp or sticker to that page.
How to pick a book that truly fits the country
- AUTHOR FIRST — check that the author was born or lives in that country. A British author writing about India is not the same as an Indian author writing about India.
- CHECK THE BLURB — the back cover should mention the country, its people, or its setting in a real way.
- CHECK YOUR LIBRARY — ask your librarian for the international or world fiction shelf; many libraries label these.
- BALANCE THE LIST — across the challenge, mix continents, mix male and female authors, and mix older and newer books.
What to write on each passport page
- COUNTRY — the country the book represents.
- AUTHOR — the author's full name and the country they come from.
- BOOK TITLE — the title and the year it was published.
- WHAT I LEARNED — one or two sentences on a custom, place, food, or idea you did not know before.
Do not pick a book just because the cover looks foreign. A book set in a country but written by an outsider can carry old stereotypes. The whole point of this challenge is to hear a country in its OWN voice — so always start with the AUTHOR.
Pin a paper world MAP on your wall and color in each country as you finish its book. Watching the map fill in is what keeps the challenge moving when a book gets slow.
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