Every September is World Kid Lit Month: an annual celebration of international literature for young people. It's the perfect time to read beyond your borders, and to explore children’s books from other countries and translated from other languages.
This month we’re taking a global tour of children’s and YA publishing with recommendations by SCBWI members. Today, we head to Europe! We’ll have a speedy whistle stop tour of the continent, followed by a longer linger in France, Italy and Portugal for our SCBWI members' picture book and middle grade tips.
Europe is a continent of hundreds of languages, and across the EU zone, a region of free movement for goods and people. But the availability of translation funding is not consistent across the continent, and this affects what is translated and its visibility. Despite the funding challenge, for almost every European country there has been at least one kid lit export in recent years. How do we know? Besides being a SCBWI member, I’m one of the team of volunteers at World Kid Lit, where we keep an annual list of children’s books and YA translated into English.
Let’s start in Scandinavia to see what the landscape is like with well-funded literature promotion agencies and a strong culture of literary agents. Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Finnish translations are particularly well represented in middle grade and YA, a difficult sell to English-language publishers unless there’s a full or very lengthy sample translation – itself challenging without national translation funding.
A few years old now, but one absolute must-read is The Murderer’s Ape from Sweden (Pushkin Press), a page-turning murder mystery that takes readers on a fabulous journey from Lisbon to Bombay. From Arctis, there have been several YA fantasies and thrillers such as Mats Strandberg’s The End. The brilliant Norwegian non-fiction graphic novel Smash the Patriarchy won last year’s GLLI Translated YA Book Prize. Scandinavian picture books famously deal with weighty topics for even the youngest readers; particularly recommended comes Batchelder Honor book Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost about dementia (Enchanted Lion).
Dutch and Flemish children’s books also punch above their weight, and translators such as Laura Watkinson and David Colmer translate a steady stream of classics. Bette Westera and Mattias de Leeuw’s picture book Later, When I’m Big (tr. Watkinson, Eerdmans) was also a Batchelder Honor title.
Translations from France account for around 200 of 1400 – or an astonishing 14% – of the translations for young people published in the last 8 years (N.B. we’re updating our list all the time at World Kid Lit; please let us know of any we’re missing!). Germany and Spain are close runners up with about 5% of the translated kid lit market share each.
Another big hitter is Italy, worth a visit for Just A Girl, a tender story of a Jewish girl’s life under fascism in the 1930s, perfectly pitched for younger children (a Batchelder Award winner), and Glowrushes: a 1980s Italian gem brought to English by the hard work and determination of translator Leah Janeczko.
Heading east to the Balkans and Greece, another recently reissued classic, from 1963, is The Wildcat Behind Glass, by Alki Zei and translated from Greek by Karen Emmerich (Restless Books). Central and Eastern Europe has given us many much-loved picture books, and Slovenian kid lit has been given a boost by the translations of Olivia Hellewell, including PEN-award winning Felix After the Rain. There has been a welcome flurry of translations from Ukraine recently, making up for too many years of nothing, including fabulous illustrated non-fiction from graphic artists Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv, Oleksandr Shatokhin’s wordless beauty Yellow Butterfly, and the bilingual picture book series from UK independent Pineapple Lane.
Finishing up this speedy tour in the Baltic states, definitely keep an eye out for Adam Cullen’s many translations of surreal Estonian kid lit, especially the marvelously relatable Oskar and the Things (The Emma Press). And head over to Jill! youtube channel to hear a lovely bilingual reading by translator Kotryna Garanasvili of Little Apples of Eden by Bite Vilimaite, a Lithuanian classic out now from Kurumuru Books.
Now let’s linger a while in France, Italy and Portugal…
France
Harriet’s Reflections
written and illustrated by Marion Kadi, translated from French by Marion Kadi & Abram Kaplan
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2024
Recommended by Jackie Friedman Mighdoll (SCBWI San Francisco/South)
Jackie says ...
"When an old lion dies, his reflection gets bored and goes searching. He discovers Harriet who isn’t happy about going to school, jumps in a puddle, and becomes her reflection. Harriet, on seeing her new reflection, feels fierce and has a wonderful time at school playing, eating, growling, and napping. But the next day, when she gets into trouble for her actions, she starts to wonder: Is the lion really her or not? With illustrations as fiery, fun and reflective as the text, this is a colorful exploration of identity."
Italy
Ellie In First Position
by Brian Freschi, illustrated by Elena Triolo, translated from Italian by Nanette McGuinness
Recommended by Nanette McGuinness (SCBWI SF and East Bay)
Nanette says ...
"A graphic novel for middle grade readers, ELLIE IN FIRST POSITION is a funny, positive story about persistence, self-love, moving, bullying and friendship. After her parents’ divorce, Ellie’s mom moves the family to a new town. Her mom wants her to make friends by joining a team... except Ellie is atrocious at sports. Plus she keeps getting bullied at her new school. One night, Ellie goes to the ballet. Enchanted, she realizes that she wants to dance more than anything else. But her mom doesn’t approve. By the end of the book Ellie not only learns to dance but also makes new friends, has her first crush, and manages to deal with her bullies too.”
Portugal
Calvin and the Sugar Apples
by Iñes F. Oliveira, illustrated by Vanessa Balleza
Published by The Collective Book Studio, 2023
Recommended by Gloria Amescua (SCBWI Austin, Texas) and Amanda Davis (SCBWI New England)
“I’m recommending Calvin and the Sugar Apples by Iñes F. Oliveira set in Portugal where she lives. I’m so glad a friend recommended it. This book is beautifully written with an emotional and poetic feel that’s perfect for middle grade kids.
“Amelia confides everything to her pet chinchilla, Calvin. After Calvin disappears, Amelia doesn’t want to accept that loss. Finally, she talks about her sadness. Calvin always listened and loved her, but her family and friends do, too.
“Middle grade kids are often dealing with their big feelings about friendships, confidence, worthiness, loneliness and sadness. This story weaves all these feelings in a compelling story. It will capture their hearts as it did mine. I’m looking forward to Oliveira’s future books.”
Amanda says …
“Often a child's first experience with death is with a beloved pet and in this sweet story, readers get to journey with ten- year-old Amelia as she processes the loss of her pet chinchilla, Calvin. How will she navigate life without her best friend? Told in a lyrical voice with bits of humor and lots of heart, Oliveira makes the essential topic of grief and death accessible to young readers while giving a glimpse into the beauty of the Portuguese landscape and exploring the promise of friendship and new beginnings.”
***
Gloria Amescua’s picture book biography, Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua, received a Pura Belpré Author Honor Award, ILA Awards, SCBWI Golden Kite finalist, RISE Top Ten Feminist Book Project, and co-winner of the Américas Award.
Amanda Davis is a teacher, artist, writer, and innovator who uses her words and pictures to light up the world with kindness.
Eisner-nominated, Harvey-winning translator, opera singer and podcast host Nanette McGuinness has translated over 100 books and graphic novels for children and adults from French, Italian, German and Spanish into English.
Jackie Friedman Mighdoll is a writer, educator, translator and entrepreneur. She is passionate about nurturing the next generation of global citizens. She currently serves on the board of World Kid Lit and on the steering committee of SCBWI’s Impact and Legacy Fund.
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