Translating the World, One Picture Book at a Time by Kristine Gatchel

Stop what you’re doing for just a minute and think about the titles that line the shelves in your home library. As writers, we are aware of the need for to include an accurate depiction of the diverse world we live in. In order to do so, we need to bring that same diverse world into our reading habits. So how diverse are your shelves really? Do any of those titles cross borders? What about languages?

Last February I watched a TED talk by British author Ann Morgan in which she explains her project to read a translated novel from every country in the world in the space of a year. Afterwards, I found that similar to Morgan, American and British authors dominated my shelves. Yes, there was diversity of characters and cultures inside those stories. Sadly though, I found myself to be lacking in stories from around the world, written by authors from other countries in their own language.

Inspired by Morgan, I decided to launch a project of my own. I’m working on earning my degree in Children’s Literature at Eastern Michigan University, and I pitched the idea to one of my professors about an independent study on translated picture books. She immediately jumped onboard and we began determining the parameters of the project.

The first step was to track down books, which at first proved challenging. Only three percent of all titles, not just children’s literature, published annually in the United States are translated texts. Very few books note anywhere other than the copyright information that they are translated and many translators, sometimes deemed invisible storytellers, do not receive credit for their work.

The old adage is “you write what you know.” If our reading habits do not include diverse global perspectives, then how can we accurately and authentically write about it? One way to adequately provide our readers with a true representation of diversity is to start with what lines our own shelves.

If you want to expand your own habits as they relate to Children’s Literature, here are some of the places I suggest starting:

• Mildred L Batchelder Award: This annual award is given by the Association for Library Services to Children for a book originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, translated and published in the United States. In Great Britain, the equivalent is the Marsh Award.

• International Board on Books for Young People: IBBY’s biennial Honour List promotes work by writers, illustrators and translators who encourage international understanding through children's literature.  IBBY also gives the Hans Christian Andersen award, the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children's books.

• United States Board on Books for Young People: USBBY’s annual Outstanding International Book List features international books from that calendar year first published outside the United States.

• Outside In World: This site from the UK features global titles, an interactive map, an artist gallery and resources for parents and those in the book industry.

• Book Riot put together a great list of 100 titles in honor of September being World Kid Lit month.

After using these resources as a launching point, I discovered many more translated titles. I have now compiled a list and have read well over three hundred books for my project, filling out my own library along the way! Many books are available at your local library and I found Michigan’s MeLCat library service to be very useful in tracking down some rarer titles.

Personally, my journey culminated in September with the launch of my blog, Translating the World One Picture Book At A Time. Since then I have received an overwhelming amount of support for the children’s literature community, educators, parents and friends full of suggestions, comments and even actual books! I’ve discovered that it’s not a lack of interest in translated materials or even the “otherness” that the publishing industry seems to fear that causes readers to not seek out a translated title, but rather a lack of information. It’s hard to feel deprived of something you weren’t aware of to begin with.

I often remind my readers of my disclaimer that I’m just a student with an interest. I don’t speak any other languages and I had only one translated text on my shelf when I started this. If your mental picture of your own library is similar, consider this an invitation to knock down the borders and diversify your own shelves.

When not lost in the world of translation, Kristine Gatchel is a wife, mom of the Dynamic Duo, known as NJ and the Bean, a children’s literature student who dreams of one day being the professor and a bookworm extraordinaire. Follow her journey on her blog:
https://translatingtheworldwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/








Coming up on the Mitten blog: A recap of our fall conference, a picture book workshop, the making of a book trailer, another Writer Spotlight, and much more. But first, a new blog banner created by our new Featured Illustrator - stay tuned!

SCBWI-MI news: It's time to apply for Shutta's Scholarship to the SCBWI Annual Winter Conference in New York. The deadline of October 20th is fast-approaching. Learn more here.

http://michigan.scbwi.org/2016/10/29/the-scbwi-annual-winter-conference-shutta-crum-scholarship/