Reclaiming the Future through the Power of Stories
The Scheherazade Foundation is proud to announce One Billion Books – a bold, visionary campaign to gift one billion illustrated books of traditional stories and ancient wisdom to the one billion children under the age of ten across the world.
In a time of social fragmentation and relentless digital noise, we believe that children need more than passive entertainment. They need roots. They need access to the shared cultural treasures that have shaped human civilisation for centuries – folktales, teaching-stories, and moral parables passed down over time and across continents.
These are stories that do not preach. They nourish. They spark imagination, strengthen emotional intelligence, and foster the values children will need most as they grow – empathy, courage, critical thinking, and a grounded moral compass.
At the heart of One Billion Books is the belief that every child, no matter where they are born, deserves free and open access to the stories that form the heritage of humanity. Each book will be:
• Beautifully illustrated, with artwork created by local artists who are rooted in the traditions and visual language of the cultures from which the stories come.
• Freely available in digital form, in dozens of languages, accessible on any smartphone, computer, or tablet – bringing the wisdom of ancient stories into the hands of children everywhere.
• Printed on sustainable paper, and distributed physically to schools, community centres, refugee camps, hospitals, libraries, and homes – wherever children are gathered and stories are needed most.
• Selected and adapted with great care, to ensure cultural authenticity, age-appropriate storytelling, and universal relevance.
This is not simply a campaign about books. It’s a global movement to revive the wisdom traditions of the past, and offer them to the next generation – not as relics, but as living, breathing sources of strength and joy.
We are working in partnership with governments, leading NGOs, educators, storytellers, translators, illustrators, literacy experts, and environmental publishers. Together, we are building a vast, multilingual library of wonder – one that spans both continents and centuries.
One story at a time.
One child at a time.
One moment of transformation at a time.
Because the future deserves the wisdom of the past.
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