Thinking Children become Thinking Adults
Who We Are & What We Do
When children learn to question and interpret teaching stories for themselves instead of being told what they mean, they discover an inner voice that stays with them for life. This independent mindset not only prepares them for deeper adult literature, but also transforms them into proactive, real-world problem-solvers.
The vision behind Hoopoe Share is to help children become not only literate, but thoughtful and able to question, reflect and understand the world around them. Reading matters, but literacy alone is not enough; children also need to build thinking, comprehension, empathy and judgement. Because children learn differently, Hoopoe Share offers stories and learning materials in many forms, including books, audio, illustrations, animations and subtitles, so every child can engage in ways that suit them best. Through stories from different cultures and socio-emotional themes, children learn to understand themselves and others, fostering tolerance, compassion and emotional growth. By making materials available online, Hoopoe Share brings meaningful learning to families worldwide at the touch of a button. At the heart of the vision is story-based learning: stories teach gently, encouraging reflection without confrontation or judgement.
The Hoopoe Bird is the XXXXX
Hoopoe Share Literacy Fund brings together two connected arms of our work: Hoopoe Books, founded in 1996, and Hoopoe Share, our growing digital platform, which began taking shape in 2023.
Hoopoe Books is our publishing arm, creating printed children’s books with a focus on literacy, storytelling, social-emotional learning, and multicultural education. For more information, please click here.
Hoopoe Share is our digital and outreach platform, home to an online library where our stories can be experienced in multiple ways — read online, listened to as audiobooks, watched as animations, and enjoyed through songs with supportive learning resources.
“A Hoopoe Book saved my life.”
Darya
Afghanistan
In 2006, our work began in Afghanistan where children, and particularly girls, are forbidden from attending school.
We started by printing and warehousing books around Kabul which were then hand carried by teams of distributers, often at their own personal risk, to families in the area. An astounding 5 million books were distributed in this way, many to children who had never held a book in their hands. But the process was expensive and stressful, and monitoring the program was challenging.
We took a step back. How could we do better?
And the kernel of a thought grew into a project that has consumed us for the last 3 years. The result is the Hoopoe Share online library.
In a world increasingly concerned about the time young minds spend on screens, our experience suggests a different possibility. With 32 books and counting online, the ability to offer multiple formats in multiple languages, the benefits are compelling:
Reach: We can offer the library directly into the homes of those we are most trying to reach - women and girls and children where books and learning are a rarity.
Data: With embedded analytics we can better understand which books and languages are most popular and the frequency of site visits.
Unlimited: Rather than supplying one book, which will eventually get damaged, lost or stolen, we can offer unlimited titles with no additional distribution costs.
Refresh: With new titles constantly added, the library is always growing.
Read, watch, listen: Families can have access to hard books but also animations and narrations in their native tongue - beamed directly into their homes.
Choice: Fun support materials, activities, songs, audio files and on-screen subtitles in English are all included.
“Reading has become my adventure. I look forward to every visit of the Camel Library”
Bilal, Sindh Province
The Camel Library
For almost twenty years, we have partnered with the non-profit Alif Laila Book Bus Society in Pakistan, helping stories travel to children who might otherwise never encounter them.
Together, we have printed and distributed more than 300,000 books across the country, reaching some of Pakistan’s most disadvantaged and remote communities.
These books travel in remarkable ways.
They are carried in the paniers of yaks and camels across mountainous regions, transported by motorbike along narrow roads, and delivered through travelling bus libraries that bring stories directly into villages and communities.
The children who receive them are typically between the ages of four and fourteen and for many, these books become treasured companions.
Available in Pakistan’s major languages with beautiful dual-language editions, the books come with extensive teacher training and learning resources.
“My Ukrainian family loved the books, one little girl just read them over and over again. They made her feel loved.”
UK Host Family for Ukrainian Refugees
Ukraine
While the bulk of our work is focused on building teams on the ground and a long-term commitment to communities, we also possess the agility to respond to fast-moving global events. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a good example. Anticipating a flood of refugees, Hoopoe fast tracked the translation and printing of 90,000 dual language books in German and English paired with Ukrainian.
These books were donated to libraries, schools and host families in both countries who opened their doors to refugee children. For families fleeing their homes, often with no possessions, to find a gifted book in their own language was extraordinarily powerful.
Hoopoe Timeline
2000
Two new books, The Old Woman and The Eagle, are published
2002
The Clever Boy and the Terrible Dangerous Animal, are chosen by the Library of Congress for its US Holiday Programme
US Holiday Program donates free books to underserved children in the US
Children in Brooklyn celebrate World Book Day with Hoopoe Books
2007–2008
250,000 copies of The Lion are distributed in Afghanistan in Dari/Pashto
2010
US Department of State federal assistance award granted for a 21month project
2016
Books distributed to underserved children in the US, Mexico, and Guatemala reaches 650,000 copies
Hoopoe’s first 11 titles are made available as e-books
Hoopoe’s Urdu-English books are left at bus stops, cafes and cycle stands in Pakistan as part of a coordinated book drop with Alif Laila Book Bus Society; gifting reading material to people irrespective of their class, caste or any other discrimination
4,000 schools in Balochistan and Sindh receive Hoopoe books
2018
US Holiday programme donates 24,800 books to underserved children in the US making a total of 700,000 books donated to this programme since 2002
Hoopoe books distributed by tricycle motorbike libraries in villages around Jalalabad, Afghanistan
Hoopoe’s ‘Reading Together’ program is a big hit with teachers from low-income schools in Maryland, USA
2020
The Camel Library is set up in Baluchistan, Pakistan
2022
Madonna reads Hoopoe Books with her children
April: First 12 titles in English/Ukrainian are published
May-August: 27,000 dual language Ukrainian/English books are printed and distributed to refugee families in the UK
September: 20,000 English/Ukrainian books distributed in Poland
October: 7,000 English/Ukrainian books sent in convoy to western Ukraine
2024
12 new titles are added to Hoopoe Share’s library
2026
Hoopoe Share starts the groundwork to launch in 5 new countries