From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 17:30:17 -0600

Let's take a look at the 2000 ALSC Mildred L. Batchelder Award and Honor Books for the publishing houses responsible for publishing outstanding translated books as announced on January 17. The Mildred Batchelder Award rewards the hard work of editors and publishers who locate, evaluate, arrange for translation and then market books by authors usually without any name recognition in the U.S.A. The book has to be one never translated before, and it should not be a picture book or a folktale. We know usually most translated books do not ever sell enough copies to return the investment of the American publisher. That's why the award goes to the publishers who believes in these books and think there are young people in this country who will enjoy them.

Walker and Company is the 2000 Batchelder Award Winner for the U.S publishing of the novel "The Baboon King" by Anton Quintana, translated from the Dutch by John Nieuwenhuizen. The Honor Book publishers are: 1) R & S Books for publishing "Vendela in Venice" by Christina Bj?rk, translated from the Swedish by Patricia Crampton; 2) Farrar, Straus and Giroux for publishing "The Collector of Moments" by Quint Buchholz, translated from the German by Peter F. Neumeyer; and 3) Front Street Books for publishing "Asphalt Angels" by Ineke Holtwijk, translated from the Dutch by Wanda Boeke. Visit the ALA/ALSC website for more information about the Mildred Batchelder Award and the winning books (http://www.ala.org/alsc/batch.html).

Last night I watched a "60 Minutes" feature about how the mayor of Venice is trying to discouage tourists from flocking to this amazing city in Italy. Apparently there is so much congestion and pollution from tourist buses and all the other things tourists leave behind or do in a city that there is concern about the city itself. That's disappointing news for me, because after reading "Vendela in Venice," I had a renewed interest in such a trip. The book involves a Swedish girl of elementary school age and her father who spend a vacation week in Venice. You name it - this book is story, geography, history, art, travelogue. Accompanying Vendela's lively first person narrative one sees full color illustrations of the ride both enjoy in a vaporetto, images of lions, St. Mark's Square, the glass blowers' island of Murano, and finally the famous horses. There are maps, art reproductions, cross-sections of buildings, and images of posters and tickets. Guidebook style advice at the end of the book is hardly necessary because Vendela and her dad offer lots of ideas for an actual or an armchair trip. Has anyone else had a chance to see this book, or better yet - see how kids respond to it - or to any of the other books listed above?

Ginny Moore Kruse (gmkruse at ccbc.education.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/) A noncirculating children's and young adult literature library for adults School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Mon 20 Mar 2000 05:30:17 PM CST