At Home in a Strange Land:
The Need for Children's Books in Translation

At Home in a Strange Land: The Need for Children's Books in Translation, a London Book Fair seminar on children's books in translation, organised by Booktrust in association with Outside In World, took place at the London Book Fair in 2010.

The session was chaired by Sarah Ardizzone

Speakers included:

Axel Scheffler, Illustrator
Klaus Flugge, Anderson Press
Alexandra Strick (Co-founder of Outside In World and Booktrust Consultant)

Some of the topics discussed included: A brief introduction/summary of the state of the translation and translated children's books in those countries represented by each of the panel members - i.e. any info they can share on numbers/proportions of books which are translated, popularity/awareness of translated books, publishing attitudes.

How do we think this compares with the UK?  Why?   Some of the key challenges and problems faced by publishers in the UK – and ideas and possible solutions. Are there any lessons to be learned from other countries' publishing and translating systems?  Some of the interesting issues around translation. Anglicising books during translation and the practice of replacing foreign names with familiar ones?   Or perhaps…. how important is it for books to actually share something of their country's original culture/setting, as opposed to just sharing a good story?  Practical ways to enthuse and engage children about books from around the world.