Book Island – Greet Pauwelijn

Rosalba Hojer talks to publisher Greet Pauwelijn of Book Island

 
“Stories on the move – Making translation in children’s literature visible” is the objective of this year’s Action Lab Project by Outside in World and the Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing. As an intern searching for material to benefit the project, I have interviewed ten different translators and publishers whose answers will offer you a peek behind the scenes of translated children’s books.

My interview with Greet Pauwelijn was all about how she finds unique and interesting books to publish for Book Island and why books with seemingly more niche topics can be very successful in their own right.

As a children’s books publishing house, why is it so important to you to publish so many translated children’s books?

It’s my mission as a children’s publisher to expose as many English-reading children – and adults – as possible to stories from other countries as it gives them a window to the wider world. Many of the English-speaking countries - think about the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland – are very insular in many different ways, not only because of their geographical situation. Picture books from other countries can help them connect with the rest of the world.

What challenges does it involve to publish this many translations?

Our main challenge is that our authors and illustrators don’t live in the UK, which means they can’t help with the promotion of their books. Publishing in translation is an easy way to publish new titles without much risk, as the books have already been tested and approved in their country of origin and other places. Often, they’ve won multiple awards too.

Have there been any books which you thought were quite niche but performed surprisingly well once published?

Over the years I learnt that picture books about challenging topics such as loss, trauma, and politics, which are regarded as being niche, can do very well if pitched to the right audiences.

                      


What is your approach to translated picture books, do you aim to stay as close as possible to the original version or do you care more about how the book will be perceived by the target audience?

This is a decision that I leave up to our translators. Each one of them are professionals who have been translating picture books for decades. Their aim is to make sure that the translation reads as an original text.

Is it necessary/important to you to have the translator’s name on the book cover as well as the author’s and illustrator’s names?

I think it’s very important that the translator’s name is mentioned on the cover. This is very easy to do for adult fiction titles, while not always possible on the covers of picture books, because of the original artwork. When possible, we now add the translator’s name. Last week Flanders Literature announced that they will give publishers who put the name of the translator on the cover a bonus of €250. This wonderful initiative will encourage many publishers to acknowledge the translator's work without whom the translated book wouldn’t exist.

How do you find such unique and interesting stories, like the picture book about dictatorship for instance?

Publishers like me use the following ways to find new titles:

• I meet agents and publishers at international book fairs.
• They pitch new titles to me via email.
• There’s an invite-only publishers portal called dPictus where new titles are being pitched.
• When I was travelling (pre-Covid) I used to check the picture book sections in foreign bookshops to see if there were any titles that would be suitable for Book Island.
• I saw This Is a Dictatorship for the first time in its original Spanish edition at the International Children’s Book Fair in Bologna in 2016. I then bought the whole series in Polish when I was visiting Poland the year after. In 2020, after one of Boris Johnson’s many undemocratic decisions, I felt the timing was right to publish the book in English.

November 2022

The interview was conducted via email by Rosalba Hojer, a German Erasmus+ scholar studying French in the UK and intern working for Dr Sophie Heywood from the University of Reading.

Greet Pauwelijn is the founder of Book Island which is a children’s books publishing house based in Bristol. Their translated books often address challenging or unusual topics, such as This is a Dictatorship by Equipo Plantel and translated by Lawrence Schimel, and make them approachable for
young readers. 

You can read an article by Ed Zaghini – Book Island: A view from a Children’s Librarian here

Book Island titles reviewed on our website

Ready, Steady, School, Marianne Dubuc (2021)
This is a Dictatorship, Equipo Plantel (2021)       
The Garden of Inside-Outside (2020)      
The Bird Within Me, Sara Lundberg (2020)       
The Golden Cage, Anna Castagnoli (2019)      
Emmett and Caleb, Karen Hottois (2018)       
Little Wise Wolf, Gijs van der Hammen (2018)       
Up The Mountain, Marianne Dubuc (2018)       
Witchfairy, Brigitte Minne (2017)    
Virginia WOLF, Kyo Maclear (2017)      
It's My Pond, Claire Garralon (2017)       
Mr Postmouse Goes on Holiday, Marianne Dubuc (2017)       
One House for All, Inese Zandere (2017)       
Fox and Goldfish, Nils Pieters (2016)       
Here Comes Mr Postmouse, Marianne Dubuc (2016)       
Azizi and the Little Blue Bird, Laila Koubaa (2015)       
The Umbrella, Ingrid & Dieter Schubert (2015)       
The Lion and the Bird, Marianne Dubuc (2015)       
The Big Question, Leen Van Den Berg (2014)       
Mr Miniscule and the Whale, Juliana Tuwim, (2014)       
Follow the Firefly, Bernardo Carvalho (2014)       
The Rabbit and the Shadow, Melanie Rutten (2014)       
Maia and What Matters, Tine Mortier (2013)       
Bernie & Flora, Annemie Berebrouckx (2012)       
Sammy & the Skyscraper Sandwich, Lorraine Francis (2012)    
Sir Mouse to the Rescue, Dirk Nielandt (2012)