World’s Largest 2SLGBTQI+ Picture Book Collection to Be Launched at IBBY World Congress

Reading with Pride: Stories for Everyone

Nearly 300 2SLGBTQI+ picture books collected by Honourable Senator Kristopher Wells and expanded through a national call by IBBY Canada will be debuted and showcased in Reading with Pride: Stories for Everyone, a landmark exhibition with an accompanying print catalogue, at the 40th IBBY World Congress in Ottawa from August 6 to 9, 2026. Believed to be one of the largest archival collections in the world, Reading with Pride spans the earliest 2SLGBTQI+ children’s books to modern works, including nearly 100 Canadian titles in both official languages.

Senator Wells, an award-winning educator and champion of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, who has advanced human rights in his home province of Alberta and around the globe, will give a spotlight talk on gender, sex, and sexuality in children’s picture books at the IBBY World Congress, a historic gathering of international children’s literature experts and reading advocates.  

“At their best, 2SLGBTQI+ children’s books do something beautifully simple and quietly radical,” Senator Wells writes in the introduction to the exhibition catalogue, “they tell queer children that they exist, they are loved, and there is room for them in the story and promise of the world around them.” 

Reading with Pride features books from Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. It includes award-winning titles that have been both widely celebrated and frequently challenged in schools and public libraries.

“Looking at both the titles Senator Wells collected to newer additions, we've been able to track representation of 2SLGBTQI+ children and families while discovering great books,” said catalogue co-editors Khary Mathurin, an editor at Annick Press, and Anne Shone, editorial director of the Tundra Book Group imprints of Penguin Random House Canada. “Core themes of family, community, history, self-discovery, and joy emerged, providing a structure for this catalogue of nearly 300 books.”

By showcasing Reading with Pride at Congress, IBBY Canada aims to inspire national and international tours of the collection, help establish a permanent, accessible home for the growing archive, and encourage the publication of more 2SLGBTQI+ children’s books around the world.

Cover Illustration: Mathias Ball