by Lori Hetherington The old woman finished peeling a chestnut and, after handing it to the youngest of her grandchildren, began to speak with her sweet voice and the pure accent of Tuscany’s mountain people… Stories told by an old grandmother exist in virtually every culture. Some are part of the oral tradition, some are … Continue reading #ItalianLitMonth n. 16: Translating Tuscan Tales
If your daily walks are becoming a bit same-ish, then perhaps you ought to consider doing things the cat way. The Cat Way is a 66-page picture book neatly divided into two parts. It opens with a child of about 9 years of age taking their unnamed pet cat for a walk. Unfortunately, things don’t … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Cat Way
On a hot day, how wonderful it is to be able to sit outside in the shade of a tree! And how terrible to be deprived of the opportunity by one person’s greed and selfishness. In The Shade Tree, renowned picture book creator Suzy Lee retells a traditional Korean folk tale. As the story goes, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Shade Tree
Review by Lyn Miller-Lachmann Having escaped his narrow-minded and isolated village in Palestine, Saeed moves to the city, marries, opens a bookstore, then returns with his pregnant wife. She gives birth to twin girls – Shams and Qamar – but the family is exiled to the village outskirts, accused of bringing a curse. Although they … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands
I read this book during last year's #WomenInTranslation Month (August 2021), a tradition started 10 years ago by Meytal Radzinki. It is thanks to Meytal and the #WIT twitter community that I have read as many books as I have. If you are on Twitter, look for the hashtag #WiTmonth and follow people like TranslateWomen, MillieMargretta and Read_WIT and @GlobalLitIn. It is especially … Continue reading Armenia 🇦🇲: Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Narine Abgaryan, tr. Lisa.C. Hayden
In a Nutshell: This book was published in 1986 and it was translated into English and published a couple of years ago. It tells the story of the children, now adults, who survived the Nazi invasion on the eastern front of WW2. This book documents the memories of children who survived. Over 100 testimonies, which … Continue reading Belarus 🇧🇾: Last Witnesses: Unchildlike Stories by Svetlana Alexievich, tr. Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky
Back in 2o19, I was living in Tanzania. The week before Christmas, my husband and I were visiting family and friends in the UK. On one of the final days of our trips, I went Christmas shopping, the final stop was in Daunt Books in Marylebone, London, I was just about to pay for my … Continue reading Italy 🇮🇹: The Little Virtues by Natalia Ginzburg, tr. Dick Davis
Observations: The Eighth Life (for Brilka) is the 2020 winner of the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation. For more about the prize, read here. I read this wonderful book whilst away on holiday with my husband, I was 3-4 months pregnant, we were on a road trip around Cambodia: visiting Chhlong/Kratie, Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri. This … Continue reading Georgia 🇬🇪: The Eighth Life (for Brilka) by Nino Haratischvili, tr. by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin
As everyone knows, a nose is a very useful appendage. But just how useful? In Genius Noses,* a non-fiction picture book aimed at readers ages 6-12, you’ll discover the multiple uses and benefits of the probosces, snouts and beaks of no fewer than 100 different animals! The contents page is split into neat sections like … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Genius Noses: A Curious Animal Compendium
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 