Books that were originally written in a language other than English and subsequently translated into English (e.g. Heidi, which was originally published in German in Switzerland in 1881)

Books that were originally written in English, but in a country other than the United States of America (e.g. Peter Pan, which was originally published in England in 1904)

Books that were originally published in a country other than the United States of America in a language other than English and subsequently published in the US in the original language (e.g. The Little Prince/Le Petit Prince which was published in French originally)

The movement for the international children's literature was founded by Jella Lepman of Germany, who organized, in 1946, a traveling exhibit of children's books from all European countries. In 1949, following a successful tour, this exhibit became the foundation of International Youth Library, which is located in Munich, Germany.

While some professionals adhere to above definition, others extend it to include the following:

Books written/illustrated and set in another country other than the one the author
resides in (e.g. Over the Green Hills  (Greenwillow, 1992) written and illus. by Rachel Isadora).

Books written/illustrated by immigrants to the United States (e.g. Gennady Spirin, who immigrated from Russia and Peter Sís, who was born in Prague in the Czech Republic.)

Outside Looking In: Portrayal and Authenticity

As library professionals an important issue that we must consider as we strive to develop our collection of international children's literature is that of authenticity. This subject often entails a two-fold debate over the cultural/ethnic background of the creator of a piece of children's literature AND the cultural/ethnic background of the reviewer of that piece of children's literature. Some of the important questions that we must consider are whether a children's book about a certain culture is more authentic if it is written by an individual from that same culture? If authors were to research or submerse themselves into a culture that is not their own, can they produce a piece of literature that validly presents that other culture? Also, is it important for the reviewer of a children's book to have the same cultural background or extensive knowledge/experience with the culture or ethnic group being represented in the book they are reviewing? Can an "outsider" understand and appreciate all of the cultural norms being presented in the book? Although these questions may seem unanswerable it is important to be reasonably aware of your stance on this subject so that you can determine how to build a biased-free and culturally sensitive collection.

More than One Way to Say Hello: Translation

Translation is not the mere process of transposing one word from one language into another. It is a far more complex procedure that involves, apart from very good knowledge of both languages, a sense of the spoken and written words and their associations, a solid cultural background and some amount of creativity. There is an old saying that equals translation with treachery. The greatest endeavor of translators consists of coming up with an accurate version of the original work, in such a manner that it also captures its spirit. Cathy Hirano, who translated the 1997 Batchelder Award Winner, The Friends by Kazumi Yumoto from Japanese into English, offers a very interesting and thought provoking perspective on the translating issue: "Translation of literature is far from mechanical, and […] requires fairly strenuous cultural and mental gymnastics." Apart from the challenges posed by the grammatical structure, which often differs from one language to another, there is the writing style. It reflects ways of thinking and cultural approaches that are pertaining to one language and sometimes are very hard to be placed in a different context and reference frame. In the case of literature, the form and the content are equally important to both the reader and the author and, accordingly, the translator needs to capture, at the same time, the essence, the style and the tone of the writer in the source language and then make them understandable to someone with a different background and culture. As Hirano puts it, the translator must have the ability "to become the author in another language." There are instances when a simple word is loaded with a great amount of cultural significance that does not have an easy equivalent in the other language. Sometimes, in order to remain faithful to the original tone and spirit of the story line, the translator needs to be creative in terms of transposing a meaningful aspect into its closest equivalent in the other language, due to the simple fact that there is no "perfect" parallel. Humor can often be hard to adapt, when it appears in the form of culturally specific jokes or puns. Sometimes the translator needs to go to such extremes as to erase parts of the original joke and replace it with different things, which can convey the original spirit in a more meaningful manner.

In general, nonfiction is considered to be easier to translate than fiction, having more readily accessible language equivalents than fiction. Poetry appears to be the most difficult, because of the specific rhyme, rhythm and language patterns that characterize it as a genre (Freeman, 2001).

The issues of translation are very well touched upon by M. D. Roger in Children's books in Translation: The Situation and the Problems: "there is a responsibility of interpreting and translating the language so it remains faithful to the original text, yet has meaning for the reader. There is a voice of the translator that gives cohesion to the translation, an art form in itself, a voice that captures the sense and feeling of the original book smoothly, with no awareness that it is a translation."

Defeating the Purpose: Americanization

Americanization is a process of altering a foreign text to suit an audience in the USA. Even British and Australian English is generally modified for American readers, which some find unnecessary and demeaning to children. A good example of this issue is the case of the Harry Potter series.  In his article, "Foreign Goods: An Essay" Michael Patrick Hearne quotes Arthur A. Levine, publisher of the Harry Potter series in America as stating, "I wanted to make sure that an American kid reading the book would have the same experience that a British kid would have" (Hearne 2000). However, by removing British phrases and idioms he did EXACTLY the opposite. A better way to circumvent this issue is including a glossary written in the character's voice, which HarperCollins did with Louise Rennison's Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (2000). It is almost as much fun to read Georgia's glossary as it is to read the book.

While perhaps beneficial to a publisher's bottom line, removing references and images of a foreign country defeats the purpose of international exposure. In a provocative two part article, "This is Not What I Wrote!" that appeared in the Horn Book in 1996 author Jane Whitehead decries the process after seeing a book she had written that had been "Americanized" for children in the United States.

Crossing Borders: How International Books Come to the USA

In Children's Books From Other Countries Carl Tomlinson says that the journey to the United States for most children's books is challenging. Indeed, there are many obstacles in the way. Not only are there language barriers, but there are also licensing and publication rights. However, in the Internet age, why wait for an American publisher to bring you books from other countries, why not visit other countries on your own and make purchases via your computer!

There are three principle ways books enter the United States:

TRANSLATION

As discussed above translation is not just a process of transposing word for word a book from one language into another. The reputation of the translator is as important as the reputations of others involved in the publishing process. While written in English, books from other English speaking countries, such as Canada, Australia, and England fall under this category. See cautions about Americanization above.

COPUBLICATION

Copublication is an agreement between two or more publishers, who agree to share initial costs, such as production and advertising. Two successful arrangements in the United States are Front Street Books, who has an agreement with Lemniscaat in the Netherlands and Farrar, Straus & Giroux, who works with R & S books, which is the American counterpart of Rabén & Sjögren in Sweden.

BOOK FAIRS

For many international titles the journey at international book fairs. One of the most popular and well known book fairs for children's literature is the Bologna Fair in Italy. There are also book fairs in London, the Czech Republic, Zimbabwe, Frankfurt (Germany), and Buenos Aires in Argentina. Literary agents, publishers, and editors attend book fairs and negotiate licensing rights and publication deals at book fairs.

Selection & Collection Development

When selecting and purchasing international children's literature there are many issues to consider. As discussed earlier, authenticity is very important. Some professionals believe that children want to be exposed to books and situations from around the world. Others believe that children want to read about people that are like themselves, and thus justify "Americanizing" books. Whatever you believe it is important to keep in mind the following:

Is the portrayal of the characters accurate? The same issues that apply to multicultural literature can be applied to international literature.

Are the illustrations authentic to the setting of the book?

Will this book appeal to American children? Don't be afraid to expose children from the USA to ideas and cultures different from their own.

Has the text or illustrations been "Americanized"? As stated above, removing references and images of a foreign country defeats the purpose of international exposure.

Not all translations are successful. Avoid titles with stilted narrative. This may be an indication of a hastily translated titled or a title in which little care was taken.