The Dot by Gulnar Hajo was originally published in Arabic by Bright Fingers Publishing House in Syria. The English translation by literary translator Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp is available through Darf Children’s Books, an independent children’s publisher based in the UK. The Dot opens, appropriately enough, with a dot, a mere speck in the big broad universe. This … Continue reading The Dot
Walk with Me
A young girl asks a lion to accompany her on the long walk home from school. On the way, we learn about the hardships facing her and her family and her unique way of dealing with them. This is one of those wonderful picture books where words and illustrations combine to create a story of … Continue reading Walk with Me
A Celebration of World Kid Lit!
September is #WorldKidLit month, a celebration of children’s literature from around the world, with a focus on diverse books and books in translation. I am excited to have been asked to contribute to the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative site this month and look forward to sharing my passion for global children’s literature with you. … Continue reading A Celebration of World Kid Lit!
World Languages Review: Alle vier Jahreszeiten by Katrin Wiehle (Germany)
This is a beautiful large-scale nonfiction board book for young children. Each double spread depicts a glorious scene set in a particular season, with individual words picked out on the page. Spring, for example, has a title reading "Im Frühling wird es draussen grün" (In Spring, outside everything turns green) and picks out words like … Continue reading World Languages Review: Alle vier Jahreszeiten by Katrin Wiehle (Germany)
Review: When It Rains by Rassi Narika
Oh no, its raining! Again. Why does it have to rain everyday? I wanna go outside. When will it stop?If you have a young one complaining incessantly about a downpour, you’ll enjoy reading Rassi Narika’s picture book When It Rains. It follows the Dora-esque* journey of Kira and her friends through a rainy day, showing … Continue reading Review: When It Rains by Rassi Narika
Examining cultural messages in Japanese picture books — by Kirkus YA Editor Laura Simeon
May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 22 Editor's Note: Soon after Laura Simeon became Kirkus' YA Editor in January, she penned the following appeal for more translated literature: I clearly remember the first YA book in translation I ever read: Kazumi Yumoto’s 2002 title The Letters, translated from the Japanese by Cathy Hirano. … Continue reading Examining cultural messages in Japanese picture books — by Kirkus YA Editor Laura Simeon
Selected Japanese Picture Books — by Andrew Wong
May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 18 Picture books anyone? I confess, I don’t remember reading many picture books in my childhood. I recall keeping a prized collection of The Adventures of Tintin and The Adventures of Asterix (eventually given away), but not many other kinds of stories told in pictures. Having missed out of … Continue reading Selected Japanese Picture Books — by Andrew Wong
International Publisher Spotlight: Rubinstein (The Netherlands)
From the Rubinstein website: For over 30 years Rubinstein has been working with love and attention, expertise and craftsmanship on beautiful, often book related products. Rubinstein was founded in 1985 by Maurits Rubinstein as a publisher of audiobooks. A large number of audiobooks and music productions are still recorded and mastered in our own studio … Continue reading International Publisher Spotlight: Rubinstein (The Netherlands)
Choctaw Culture Graces Every Page of Picture Book About an Artist in the Making
When you know that every day some 86,000 people go online to study the Choctaw language, it makes it a little easier to understand why one of the best things about Sherri Maret’s new picture book The Cloud Artist may be that it can be read in both English and Choctaw. In … Continue reading Choctaw Culture Graces Every Page of Picture Book About an Artist in the Making
Publisher Spotlight: Archipelago Books
Archipelago Books is a not-for-profit press devoted to publishing excellent translations of classic and contemporary world literature. In our first twelve years, we have brought out over 120 books from more than thirty languages. Artistic exchange between cultures is a crucial aspect of global understanding: literature can act as a catalyst to dissolve stereotypes and to reveal a common … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Archipelago Books
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 