A Tour of Latin American Kid Lit in 15 Translations
Posted on November 17, 2024
Looking for Latin American reading beyond the usual favorites? A panel of children's translators has identified fifteen great new books, spanning the Caribbean and Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and more:
An Inspiring Picture Book from Honduras
Colorful Mondays
By Nelson Rodríguez and Leonardo Agustín Montes (Honduras), illustrated by Rosana Faría and Carla Tabora, translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel; reviewed by Deborah Iwabuchi
A story about an actual bookmobile run by JustWorld and featuring one of the authors, Nelson Rodríguez. On weekly trips to a poor community in Honduras, the bookmobile brings children books, puppet shows, crafts projects, and snacks. Little Luis lives for these Monday visits, drinking in the books and performances and then spreading the joy by relating it all in great detail to friends and family who could not attend. The communities are awash in sadness and difficulties, but Mondays are different. “Fill the air with colors,” Nelson encourages the children, “and be careful when breathing sad stories.”
A Book . . . Written by a Book?
The Invisible Story
By Jaime Gamboa & Wen Hsu Chen, translated from Spanish by Daniel Hahn; reviewed by Catherine Xinxin Yu
A sentient book without printed words or images deems itself empty, and hides away until a blind girl reads the braille on its pages and convinces it of its unique worth. Told from the perspective of the book itself, this story about being differently abled is as original as it is uplifting.
Wen Hsu Chen creates a textured visual narrative with layered cardboard cutouts in a quiet, pensive white, adding occasional splashes of color to indicate the vibrant stories that emerge from book pages. If words can be read with fingertips, art can also be touched with the eyes.
A Relatable Middle-Grade Novel from Mexico
Secrets We Tell the Sea
by Martha Riva Palacio Obón, translated from Spanish by Lourdes Heuer; reviewed by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp
Sofía has a lot going on, as the imagined crabs in her stomach attest: a mom who’s never there and whose live-in boyfriend is a “barracuda.” His abusive behavior results not in him being kicked out, but instead in Sofía being sent to live with Tita, her grandmother, by the sea. Sofía’s deeply felt affinity to the sea offers some solace, and it’s the source of an uneasy friendship with Maura, who can also “speak submarine.” But the sea is not always the friend they want it to be.
Ready for more stories that “fill the air with colors"? Join us on Words Without Borders for all fifteen books!