Kanon Książek dla Dzieci i Młodzieży (Literary Canon for Children and Teenagers) is published by 24 Polish publishing houses which form Porozumienie Wydawców (Publishers' Agreement). The canon lists 50 titles selected by the votes of readers and experts on children's literature. Next to world classics such as H. Ch. Andersen, the Grimm brothers, A. Lindgren, C. Collodi, A. de Saint Exupery or A.A. Milne, the list includes contemporary Polish writers: Irena Jurgielewiczowa (Ten obcy), Ludwik Jerzy Kern (Ferdynand Wspaniały), Katarzyna Kotowska (Jeż), Joanna Kulmowa (Wio, Leokadio!), Małgorzata Musierowicz (Szósta klepka), Edmund Niziurski (Sposób na Alcybiadesa), Ewa Nowacka (Małgosia contra Małgosia), Anna Onichimowska (Dobry potwór nie jest zly), Joanna Papuzińska (Wędrowcy), Krystyna Siesicka (Chwileczkę, Walerio), Dorota Terakowska (Córka czarownic), Piotr Wojciechowski (Poniedziałek, którego nie było), Maciej Wojtyszko (Bromba i inni).
The pillars of the Polish Literary Canon for children - Pan Kleks by Jan Brzechwa, Lokomotywa by Julian Tuwim or Koziołek Matołek by Kornel Makuszyński - will reach the young readers with the exquisite illustrations of Jana Marcin Szancer, Olga Siemaszkowa and Marian Walentynowicz. The canon series also aims to present contemporary Polish illustrators.
The Canon includes five books (from France, Israel, Canada, Slovakia and the USA), which will be translated into Polish for the first time. Initiated by the Polish Chamber of Books, the project aims at popularising the habit of reading among children and teenagers and is the first step towards defining a world canon of children's literature. The Polish Chamber of Books will propose the development of such a Canon at the 40th International Bolonia Children's Book Fair.


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