Fan of Asterix? Tintin? The Moomins? Pippi Longstocking? Cornelia Funke? Fairy tales? Then you are a fan of translated fiction – that is books that were originally written in another language – even if you might not even know it! Join our discussion on brilliant books that were originally written in a language other than English!
Send your suggestions of the best translated books to childrens.books@theguardian.com and we'll add them to this article
Here's a sad fact we bet you didn't know: less than 3% of all books sold in the UK are translated fiction. In other words, most of the books we buy in the UK are written in English, by British or American writers. So what, you might think? Skellig author David Almond explains why we should care: "children need to read the best books by the best writers from all parts of the world… our children are missing out."
We don't want to miss out do we? That's why are devoting this week to translated fiction!
The first thing to say is that you might not even be aware that some of your favourite books, even some absolute classics, are actually translated fiction at all!
From the Moomins to Pippi Longstocking to Tintin, all these books were written in another language and then translated into English, by hugely talented translators who bring their own ideas and poetry to the text – and sometimes even make the translated version better than the original.
So what are your favourites? We want to know! We want you to tell us which translated books you love and recommend to others. Email us childrens.books@theguardian.com and tell us! Or you can Tweet us, @GdnChildrensBks.
Here are a few ideas from some of our site members to get you thinking…
TheBookThief
One of my favourite books when I was younger was Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and that was translated from German.
BookwormReader
I've read Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren who is Swedish and Kurt Gets Truckloads by Erlend Loe who is Norwegian.
Amazed Earthling
As far as translated books go I picked up a Baba Papa book in Paris which has great illustrations and is good for young readers; my parents were nostalgic for the TV show that was on in the 1970s! The thirteen and a half lives of Captain Blue Bear gets my vote too.
Noggin
Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner was translated from German. I have seen the play, but to my shame, not read the book!
Safah
What about The War Within These Walls by Aline Sax and translated by Laura Watkinson. It was originally written in Dutch!
Sugar, in Paris
I love Emil and the Detectives, Emil and the Three Twins and Lottie and Lisa b Eric Kastner plus Le Petit Nicolas – I've read all these in French but I think they're translated into English, too. Plus The Never-Ending Story (my big sister has this one) by Michael Ende.
What I think is that very few of all the good books we find here in French and German and Italian are translated into English and I want to know why not? We are lucky because we have more languages but it's not right others can't read them too!
Alex
The Horse Thief because it's is a unique tale and is an emotional journey that keeps you gripped the whole time – a fantastic book
TwilightVi
I was quite shocked when I realised that so many of my favourite books weren't written in English. Especially all the fairy tales I love! And what about Pippi Longstocking – it's brilliant, I love Pippi. And the Moomins!
The Millennium RIOT readers
The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi which is such a great fairy tale and is an easy classic to read. This is obviously so popular because of the Disney movie which we've have seen although not all of us have read the book.
The Brothers Grimm fairy tales are still popular in our library as they have that creepy atmosphere readers today love and show these "fairy tales" which have been retold with a happier slant over and over just how dark the originals were.
Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner, a lovely book especially for boys who may be looking for an easy classic to read. The story is exciting and enthralling enough even today to keep us reading until the end.
Hai
Here are some of my favourite translated books:
Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto, Le Petit Nicolas by Sempre, Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, I am a Cat by Soseki Natsume, Charlie Et La Chocolaterie by Roald Dahl
Lauren (on Twitter)
The Book of Everything by Guus Kuijer is imaginative & captivating & heartbreaking. Love it.
The Book Doctor
In the Sea there are Crocodiles: based on The True Story of Enaiatollah Akbari by Fabio Geda, translated by Howard Curtis – it's about a 10-year-old Afghan boy who traffics himself from the border of Afghanistan/ Pakistan to safety in Italy.
Do email your own suggestions childrens.books@theguardian.com and keep coming back to the site this week to see what else we've got to say!
Here's a plan of what translated delights we've got in store for you this week. Links will be added as the articles and features go live!
Later on today we've rounded up some of our best reader reviews of translated fiction. Members, take a bow; we are at the cutting edge of children's books reviews! Did you know that the first ever review of Oksa Pollock was published on our site by one of our French-speaking reviewers, before the book was even translated into English – thanks for that SophieDophie, your review probably helped the book to get translated in English so non-French speakers can enjoy it too!
On Tuesday 25 March, challenge yourself in our translated fiction quiz! Then from midday we're running a live blog of the world's largest children's literature award, the Astrid Lindgren prize, named after the creator of Pippi Longstocking herself.
We also have an extract of a real classic work of translated fiction Letter for the King by Dutch writer Tonke Dragt – and we also have 10 copies of the limited edition paperback to give away to lucky readers.
On Wednesday 26 March, we've got a fascinating interview with the creators of Oksa Pollock, the witch who is being called the French Harry Potter. The book started life as a self-published book in France. Now the Oksa series is being translated into English and Pollockmania is beginning to spread across the whole world!
On Thursday 27 March, Anthea Bell, the legendary translator of all the Asterix albums, gives us her top 10 children's books in translation.
And on Friday 28 March we've got a gorgeous gallery of a new and very cute book April the Red Goldfish, which was written in French by Marjolaine Leray and has been translated into English by Sarah Ardizzone. Sarah explains something of the great craft, art and skill of a translator in her revealing gallery captions (we have books to give away too).
We hope you enjoy this week of translated fiction fun and remember to email us with your top translated books childrens.books@theguardian.com, as well, of course, as your reviews!
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