Pushkin Children's Books
Adam Freudenheim

Rosalba Hojer talks to publisher Adam Freudenheim of Pushkin Children’s Books.

“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.

In my interview with Adam Freudenheim from Pushkin Press, he talks passionately about his love for translated children’s books from around the world and the beginnings of Pushkin Press. One thing is for sure, you won’t leave this interview without a few book recommendations!

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

I started Pushkin Children’s specifically to publish books from around the world, mostly in translation.  I announced the imprint in the summer of 2012, and we published our first book translated from Icelandic The Story of the Blue Planet in May 2013.  One of our earliest breakout successes was the Dutch classic The Letter for the King which came out in the autumn of 2013 and went on to sell over 100,000 copies for us, was made into a Netflix series, and led to us translating and publishing three further titles by author Tonke Dragt.  I have a passionate belief in the importance of finding and publishing great stories – classic and contemporary – from around the world.

What challenges does it involve to publish this many translations and why is it worth going the extra mile to do so?

Well, first you have to find them!  This involves liaising with a network of international editors and publishers, translators, attending the children’s book fair in Bologna, etc.  We also have a wonderful network of translators, too, who provide reader reports and sample translations, and sometimes bring us suggestions of books to translate. And of course, we have the support of cultural institutes in several countries – particularly Holland, Norway and Finland, to name a few. It’s worth it because, through all of these, we find terrific books which are resonating with English-speaking readers.

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

Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais is one example. The Wanderer – wordless, but by Flemish author Peter van den Ende and originally published in Holland – has been a huge success and is our first ever book to be shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal this year!

Do you have a favourite translated picture book among the many that you have published at Pushkin Children's Books? And if yes, why?

We’ve only recently begun to focus seriously on picture books – until now our focus has been more on middle-grade titles with some Young Adult titles as well.  I love all our picture books, but there’s a special place in my heart for What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking from Poland (October 2022).  It’s beautiful, also very moving and will resonate widely with adults and children, I hope. I adore it!

When publishing a translated picture book, do you find that there are often changes to the covers/illustrations/book design/size of the translated version?

So far, we have only made minor changes to covers, etc.  We have changed titles – for example, The Secret Lives of Farts is a title our wonderful translator Annie Prime came up with!

What is the most unusual translated children's book that you have published, culturally, in terms of the concept/content etc?

Hmm, good question!  I think part of what has driven me – and continues to drive me – is that most children’s books that we do really resonate universally or at least very widely and aren’t limited by their cultural contexts.  At least I hope not…

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?

We try to stay as close to the original in all our translations, though as mentioned above sometimes titles do change.

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 believe it is hugely important to credit translators, and we always do this in our books and all our publicity and social media posts. However, I don’t think the front cover in particular is a place where a translator’s name needs to be; this should be the publisher’s choice, in my view.

February 2023

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.

Adam Freudenheim is the publisher and managing director of Pushkin Press.  He has worked in publishing since 1998 and was the Publisher of Penguin Classics, Modern Classics and Reference from 2004-2012.  He joined Pushkin in May 2012 and launched Pushkin Children’s Books, Pushkin Vertigo and ONE imprints.

Pushkin Children’s Books have published a wide range of translated fiction from around the world, several of the titles mentioned by Adam in this interview.

There are a further 79 reviewed titles that can be found on the OIW website and are also in the OIW Collection of Children’s Books in Translation at the University of Portsmouth Library.

https://pushkinpress.com/