Children love hearing stories, but that doesn’t mean that all stories have to be made up. In fact, often the most awe inspiring stories come from the lives of real people. Biographies in illustrated narrative form seem to be big in the United States and lately they have also appeared, albeit very slowly, on our market, …
in translation
FRENCH FRIDAY FABULOUS FIVE! Marianne Dubuc presents Five Fabulous Books About Friendship
Today I am thrilled to welcome Marianne Dubuc for a French Friday/Fabulous Five mash-up, so to speak. Marianne is from Québec and is the author and illustrator of the internationally acclaimed The Lion and the Bird, published by Book Island and translated from French by translator extraordinaire Sarah Ardizzone. The Lion and the Bird tells the story of an unlikely …
Meet at the Ark at Eight!
If you are an adult reader of children’s literature, you will undoubtedly be used to snarky comments about why you are still reading “kids’ books”. I am not sure anyone has yet forgiven Martin Amis for his comments on writing children’s literature either: that having an audience in mind inevitably brings limitations and that “fiction is …
FRENCH FRIDAY: Hélène Druvert & “Paris Up, Up and Away”
Take a night flight in the Parisian skies alongside the Eiffel Tower , and enjoy the stunning sights. From bridges over the Seine to Notre Dame, from the Opéra to Paris’ famous department stores, Paris Up Up and Away (Paris s’envole, translated by Jill Phythian) is Hélène Druvert’s début picturebook and is a paean to the Ville Lumière, …
A picturebook a week: If I Were A Book
José Jorge Letria (text) & André Letria (illustrations) Se Eu fosse um Livro, Translated from Portuguese by Isabel Terry (Chronicle Books) Always partial to picturebooks that celebrate the wonders of reading, it is with great delight that I have discovered this little gem.Rather than a narrative, readers are treated to 28 poetic musings beginning with “If …
A picturebook a week: Mr Miniscule and the Whale
Julian Tuwim (text) & Bohdan Butenko (illustrations) Pan Maluśkiewicz i Wieloryb, translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Book Island) Translated children’s literature is still, sadly, a rather rare occurrence in this country, and though Library Mice tends to focus on children’s literature translated from the French, for obvious reasons, it is always with great joy …
April the Red Goldfish
Marjolaine Leray “Avril le poisson rouge”, translated from the French by Sarah Ardizzone (Phoenix Yard Books) April the fish is an unusual kind of red goldfish*. She lives on her own in her fish bowl and spends a lot of time contemplating the meaning of life. Her parents don’t care much for her woes and …
FRENCH FRIDAY: The Good Little Devil – a special guest post
The Good Little Devil and Other Tales Pierre Gripari, with illustrations by Puig Rosado Le gentil petit diable et autres contes de la rue Broca, translated by Sophie Lewis (Pushkin Children’s Books) A French classic from the 1960s, this collection of thirteen eccentric short stories taps into our cultural heritage of fairy and folk tales and offers …
Ernest & Celestine: The Picnic
Gabrielle Vincent “Ernest et Célestine vont pique-niquer”, translated by Sam Alexander (Catnip Publishing) Ernest has promised Celestine they will go on a picnic and the little mouse is very much looking forward to it. When it pours down with the rain the next day, Ernest cannot bear to see Celestine disappointed. So, undeterred by the torrential rain, off …
FRENCH FRIDAY: Bayard Box Magazine series
Magazine reading is a big thing in France, much more than here, and it shows in the quality of magazines that are available, which is far superior to much of the stuff found on our shelves here. Bayard Presse is one of the three major children’s magazine publishers in France (along with Milan Presse and …