Why French Makes Everything Better…Peut-être

We both took French in high school, and although we read Le Petit Prince en français, our French is more than a little rusty now. Nevertheless, we’re intrigued by the challenges of translating: how do you keep the title’s essence when a direct translation is not possible?

Here’s what we came up with, so please indulge us with this bizarre exercise. Which ones don’t sound silly and make the cut? (Warning: some translations are more legit than others)

1. Ce qui est venu des étoiles

2. Mon frère Sam est mort (direct in any language)

3. Equipe Humaine

4. Trois Fois de la Chance

5.  Trous

6.  Les guerres du mercredis

7. Une ride dans les temps (the most horrific, we know)

8. Ne permettez le pigeon conduire l’autobus!

9. Fleuve étoilé du ciel

10. Tous les choses sur une crêpe (we wanted to make the breakfast item French)

So, which ones made you cringe? Or, come up with some to make others cringe! And feel free to run all translations through Google translate for a really garbled version of the original English.

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Covershoot: Make Way For Ducklings

New project: we’re turning cover art into photographic art, one book at a time. We’ll keep the Photoshop to a minimum because we don’t believe in airbrushing!

First up: Make Way for Ducklings

What we used: nine stuffed/glass/ceramic ducks and a green sleeping bag.

Original cover:

Bonus: our homage to the duckling statues in the Boston Commons (in sepia!)

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What Came From the Stars: the Chat Review

Because sometimes, you just want to rave about a really excellent book, there are too many points to make and forming complete sentences would take too long, and it’s perfectly acceptable to use fragments in a chat format!

Brief plot summary: a doomed alien species crams their Art into a necklace and flings it into space. It ends up in the hands of Tommy Pepper, a sixth grader from Plymouth, Mass. who’s grieving for his mother. The necklace gives Tommy strange powers, which draw the unfortunate attention of those who want to destroy the aliens. The story alternates between Earth and the doomed aliens–one side told in regular English, the other in high fantasy prose. Somehow, Schmidt makes it work.

Note: minor spoilers in the last 20 lines of our review.

Lisa: when we brought up What Came From the Stars at KidlitCon, no one we talked to liked it!
Jen: =( although the Tommy Pepper segments were well received, the high fantasy left them cold
Lisa: yeah, even several die-hard fantasy fans (aka Cybils MG fantasy round 1 readers) didn’t like it
Jen: what’s wrong with them?
Lisa: or us!
Jen: well, I’m staunchly Team Valorim. It belongs in the story.
  I loved every glorious over-the-top bit of Tolkienesque prose because clearly, Schmidt was having fun and going for a parody/homage
Lisa: me too. It was too perfect, too Tolkienesque to be deadly earnest. Even if it does look 100% serious
Jen: plus, I can’t resist sentences that flaunt words like “cleave” and “hewn” and “grievous was the battle”
Outside of high fantasy, when else can you say stuff like “Do not be afraid. Now is the time for a strong heart and a strong mind.”?
Lisa: tis fortifying rhetoric
  I should tell myself this every time I go to the dentist

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Don’t Let the Pigeon Use the Camera!

(joint post)

You missed it? Too bad.

Mo Willems believes author talks should be experienced, not documented. So during yesterday’s visit to the Cambridge Public Library, after posing for a brief photo shoot, he asked everyone in the audience to refrain from taking photos or video. Or “I will shame you.” His words, not ours.

Tom Warburton, left, and Mo Willems, right.

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KidLitCon 2012 Recap

                        Patience, one of the stone lions guarding the NYPL,

                       where KidLitCon was held. Photo by Sondy Eklund.

Jen: a first-timer’s thoughts of kidlitcon

• wear comfortable shoes
• bring business cards. or knitting. Both will help you make connections with other bloggers.
• do start your day with a large, sturdy and most importantly, empty, tote bag. It will most certainly be full to bursting with new ARCs by the end of the day
• if you have traveled from afar, swing by the post office to mail your ARCs. Flat rate shipping is great.
• or, hawk them to a blogger who is willing to love them more and, more importantly, will carry them home.
• don’t feel overwhelmed by all the bloggers who are way more prolific reviewers and well-read than you. They possess a wealth of information and are incredibly witty and nice about sharing it.
• thanks to Maureen Johnson, I’ll probably think of insecure authors every time “werewolf cages” are mentioned in conversation
• after the panel Critical Reviewing and “Niceness,” I am itching to write a review that’s more critical and not merely nice. At the same time, I can only say what worked for me, what didn’t, and why.

Lisa:

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My Side of the Pond…

Credit: cjuneau, flickr

As you may have guessed, this title was inspired by Sam and his yearlong outdoor survival experience. Actually, he didn’t just survive; he thrived in those Catskills….

We are less ambitious. Our trip is merely a weekend long, we won’t be living in a hollowed tree but a tent, and we will probably pull a Thoreau and visit civilization for vittles.

In other words, we’ll be too busy vacationing to post until next week. Happy Friday!

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Wishful Meetings

Children’s book writers we’d like to meet:

1. Richard Peck – who else can teach the art of pranking and storytelling so masterfully at the same time?

2. Louis Sachar — let’s play bridge! We’d have to re-read The Cardturner to learn the rules, though…

3. Allen Say — would it be creepy if we just watched him draw?

4. Shaun Tan — ditto that.

5. Elizabeth Honey — in Australia, preferably. On a camping trip, with campfire tales about Henni and the rest of the gang!

6. JK Rowling — you know what would be awesome? Harry Potter, the tv series! Starring Hogwarts!

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Round 3 Inklings

And here’s our final round of predictions for Battle of the Kids’ Books! With the end so near, we went ahead and predicted the brackets up through the Big Kahuna Round, where Bartimaeus himself (or rather, his scribe Jonathan Stroud) will rule over all:

Match 1 (March 29, Judge Maggie Stiefvater)
Between Shades of Gray vs Chime

Lisa: I was 2/4 on the last round, so my powers of divination are rather limited. For this match, I predict another win for Chime, though personally I’m still rooting for Between Shades of Gray.

Jen: Unfortunately, I have to agree with Lisa on this one. Even though I’d rather see Gray advance, it seems like self-loathing, angsty Briony has cast a spell on all the judges.

Match 2 (March 30, Judge Ron Koertge)
Drawing from Memory vs Life: an Exploded Diagram

Lisa: The judges have been so enamored with the writing in Life, I can’t see it losing here. But I’d love to be proven wrong…Drawing from Memory was the perfect reading experience at just the right length. Peet’s book could have used some of that precision and brevity.

Jen: I do like Life, but I enjoyed Drawing from Memory more. In his memories, motivations, and influences, Say has pared down his childhood with elegant brevity (and a picture is worth a thousand words), whereas Life is too sprawling in its focus for me to care as much. So, yay for Say!

Big Kahuna Round

April 2, Judge Jonathan Stroud

Lisa: Chime vs Drawing from Memory vs Okay for Now back from the Undead (I’m counting on the Mock Newbery Curse working in the Schmidt’s favor)

I have my fingers crossed for Doug Swieteck, though Drawing from Memory would be my second choice. And, at the risk of jinxing it, I’ll predict a medal for Okay for Now. After all, Bartimaeus and Doug are kindred spirits when it comes to sarcasm and dry wit.

Jen: Realistically, I can see Okay for Now to return as the Undead, (but as I have bet nothing, I lose nothing despite my wild predictions,) wouldn’t it be much more fitting if Dead End in Norvelt secured that honor? Assuming the latter, in a three way contest between Chime, Drawing from Memory, and Dead End in Norvelt, here’s how it will go down:

Overwhelmed by a fresh wave of selective amnesia and self-loathing, Briony gets bogged down in Swampsea. Jack, of Norvelt, will initially be jealous of young Say’s drive, independence, and his flat/art studio, but as crisp as Say’s memory is, his honest account is no match for Miss Volker’s hilariously embellished ones. Norvelt for the win!

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Round 2 Musings

Battle of the Kids’ Books, Round 2 Predictions and Hopes

Match 1 (March 23, Judge Marc Aronson)

Amelia Lost vs Between Shades of Gray

Jen: Historical non-fiction vs. historical fiction. I appreciate Gray because it covers a period of history that’s been virtually whitewashed from the textbooks (Nanjing massacre? Indonesian invasion of East Timor?), but minor quibbles made the reading experience less real for me. And while I found myself disliking Amelia the more I learned about her, I found her story and the discrepancies between her private and public personas fascinating. Verdict: Amelia moves forth.

Lisa: I agree with Jen. I predict an Amelia win, and that’s exactly what I would choose too, if I were an all-powerful judge.

Match 2 (March 26, Judge E. Lockhart)

Chime vs Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Jen: Daughter of Smoke and Bone must win. Don’t ask for a rational explanation. I’m still fuming over the fact that Cheshire Cheese lost because of a coin toss.

Lisa: I’d pick Daughter of Smoke and Bone. The writing is marvelous, whereas I had trouble finishing Chime. But I have a feeling Chime will still win this match.

Match 3 (March 27, Judge Jewell Parker Rhodes)

Drawing from Memory vs Inside Out and Back Again

Jen: This is tough. Both are unpretentious, personal, reminiscent and slightly defiant. One story tells with pictures; the other, verse. Because I like both so much, I wish this battle could end in a draw. But I predict Inside Out and Back Again will win.

Lisa: I think Inside Out will triumph, too. But for me, Drawing from Memory was the more complete package by a tiny margin, so I’d like to see that move on.

Match 4 (March 28, Judge Chris Lynch)

Life: an Exploded Diagram vs Wonderstruck

Jen: Middle grade is really hurting in this battle, what with A Monstor Calls and Okay For Now eliminated in the first round. At the risk of being wrong, I’m going to root for the underdog, because even though Wonderstruck could have been better, I did enjoy how two very different stories in medium and time collided so spectacularly on page. Wonderstruck, indeed!

Lisa: I enjoyed Wonderstruck so much more than Life–a book that I thought was too slow, and where the real, historical figures were more interesting than the fictional characters. But I don’t see Wonderstruck winning this match. If it had been Okay for Now vs Life, that would be a different story!

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Tweets for Keeps

Twitter people: some of you might have noticed that my twitter bio now reflects multiple personalities. Fear not, I haven’t sprouted an extra head or anything. Jen and I have joined forces to tweet from a single account. Hopefully it will allow us to tweet more frequently, and will no doubt lead to unintentionally funny situations when we unknowingly tweet at the same time. Let the experiment begin…

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