I know the Caldecott Medal and Newbery Awards are kind of a big deal, and they should be! But did you know there’s also an award for a children’s book originally written in another language outside of the US that a publisher thought was so amazing people in the US should be able to read it in English? It’s called the Mildred L. Batchelder Award and it’s given each year to “an outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States.”
This year “Houses with a Story: A Dragon’s Den, a Ghostly Mansion, a Library of Lost Books, and 30 More Amazing Places to Explore” is the 2024 Batchelder Award winner. Originally published in Japanese as “Houses with a Story,” the book was written by Seiji Yoshida, illustrated by Seiji Yoshida, translated by Jan Mitsuko Cash and published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams.
“Three Honor Books also were selected: ‘“The House of the Lost on the Cape,” published by Yonder, an imprint of Restless Books, written by Sachiko Kashiwaba, illustrated by Yukiko Saito and translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa; “Later, When I’m Big,” published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, written by Bette Westera, illustrated by Mattias De Leeuw and translated by Laura Watkinson; and “Pardalita,” published by Levine Querido, written and illustrated by Joana Estrela and translated by Lyn Miller-Lachmann.”
Thank you to the American Library Association for recognizing deserving children’s literature every year, and for the information contained in this post!
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Kids Read the World 