Tried and true—and translated
When we publish books in translation, we can choose books that we already know children love. We’ve seen how they are enjoyed in their original language and watched them travel through other countries and cultures.
Susanne Strasser creates board books with a snowballing narrative that are popular with children from Brazil to Vietnam as well as in her native Germany. Junior fiction series The Pinchers has travelled from Sweden all around Europe, from Estonia to Italy, as well as into film and television. Each of the books below began life in another language and has resounded beyond it.
Books in translation bring the whole world into our libraries, living rooms and classrooms. They can remind us how much we are the same, even as we might notice our differences. I love that they help us feel part of the whole world, not just our corner of it.
Books in translation make up 90% of our list at Gecko Press—Lerner’s international imprint—and two or three selected delights each year in the Graphic Universe comics imprint.
We’ve shared 10 books below for toddlers through to YA, written variously in Dutch, French, German, Swedish and Māori. Readers of too many other languages to list here have gobbled them up. It’s delicious fare. Why wouldn’t we want to serve it up in English too!
—Rachel Lawson, Gecko Press publisher-at-large
So Tired, So Wide Awake
Interest Level: Preschool – Kindergarten
Written by Susanne Strasser, translated from German by Melody Shaw. In this funny sleep book for wide-awake children (and tired parents) the animals leave the bed one by one for a last goodnight kiss—only a cheeky surprise gets them back to their own bed at last.
Jump!
Interest Level: Preschool – Grade 1
Written by Tatsuhide Matsuoka, translated from Japanese by Cathy Hirano. This lively book gets children joining in the fun of each animal’s jump—sharing the sounds and actions. A frog jumps. Boing! A kitten jumps. Boi-ing! A dog jumps. Boi-oi-oi-oi-oing! . . . “And I jump too—BOING!”
Miro / I Look
Interest Level: Preschool – Grade 2
Written by Gavin Bishop, translated by Darryn Joseph and translated from te reo Māori by Zab. This arresting board book of first words in both Spanish and English by award-winning Gavin Bishop pairs family and toys to show connections while building vocabulary for shapes, colors, and objects.
Bear’s Lost Glasses
Interest Level: Preschool – Kindergarten
Written by Leo Timmers, translated from Dutch by David Colmer. The nearsighted, cheerful Bear finds a parade of remarkable animals when he goes walking to find his glasses. This playful picture book by children’s favorite Leo Timmers sparks laughter and imagination.
Diggers, Dozers, and Dumpers
Interest Level: Preschool – Grade 3
Written by Ole Könnecke, translated from German by Melody Shaw. This original picture book about construction vehicles combines facts and details about excavators, trucks, cranes and more with funny stories about the animal engineers operating them, sure to delight machine enthusiasts of all sizes.
The Remarkables
Interest Level: 1 – Grade 5
Written by Clotilde Perrin, translated from French by Daniel Hahn. Picture book and comics combine in this imaginative encyclopedia of 38 imaginary children with superpowers. An electric child, a flying child, a stone child, a cake child—each spread celebrates uniqueness and individuality. What superpower would you wish for?
The Pinchers and the Curse of the Egyptian Cat
From the Series The Pinchers
Interest Level: Grade 1 – Grade 4
Written by Anders Sparring and Per Gustavsson, translated from Swedish by Julia Marshall. Theo and his sister Ellen accidentally break an ancient cat statue and unleash a curse that turns thieves into honest people and honest people into thieves. Suddenly Ellen can’t lie and Theo is becoming a criminal. Can they break the curse?
The Giants: Erin and Yrso
From the Series The Giants
Interest Level: Grade 4 – Grade 8
Written by Lylian and Paul Drouin, translated from French by Montana Kane. When a colossal force of nature named Yrso awakens from its ancient slumber, it asks young Erin for protection. To save the world, they will have to unite in a special kind of harmony . . . .
Magda, Intergalactic Chef: The Big Tournament
From the Series Magda, Intergalactic Chef
Interest Level: Grade 5 – Grade 8
Written by Nicolas Wouters and Mathilde Van Gheluwe, translated from French by Ann Marie Boulanger. Twelve-year-old Magda’s gift for inventing unique and delicious dishes earns her a spot in the famous intergalactic cooking tournament, but she discovers a conspiracy to rig the competition and steal the prize: the world-healing Nectar.
Trumpets of Death
Interest Level: Grade 9 – Grade 12
Written by Simon Bournel-Bosson, translated from French by Edward Gauvin. One rainy night, Antoine gets dropped off at his grandparents’ house in the middle of the woods. While foraging with his grandfather, he has an encounter with mysterious natural forces that changes everything for both of them.
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