Becoming Globally Competent Citizens Through Children’s Literature

The fundamentals for educating children to be global citizens are rooted in understanding human behaviors and actions that affect humans and the environment. This chapter introduces the concept of global competence aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2023. Boix-Mansilla and Jackson (2022) define global competence as the capacity to examine global and intercultural issues, to take multiple perspectives under a shared respect for human rights, to engage in open, appropriate, and effective interactions with people from different cultures, and to act for collective well-being and sustainable development. The chapter introduces the SDGs for 2023 to familiarize adults with these goals so they can encourage young children to interact with the SDG principles through curated children’s books from around the world that include developmentally appropriate activities. The readers will find fiction, non-fiction, and other genres that will help educate children about the SDGs.