Musicals

children's opera, Conway Hall

musical, Tabernacle Theater

Copić's little hedgehog really enjoys his stay in the UK. After being translated in English by Susan Curtis and published as a beautiful picturebook titled Hedgehog's Home, the story about the modest hedgehog will soon be performed in English as a musical for a second time. 

The first UK musical adaptation was done in a form of an opera with music by Emily Leather, in cooperation with the soprano singer, Elinor Moran. The premiere performances took place on 9 November 2012 at Conway Hall. In this show the professional musicians were joined on stage by the pupils from Fitzjohn’s Primary School in Camden.

On 15 December 2013 at the Tabernacle Theatre in London you can attend the premiere of a new musical. This is the first project of Honeybear Youth Theatre, part of Honey-tongued Theatre Productions Ltd. Honey-tongued Theatre Productions wishes to help transform the cultural perception of South-Eastern Europe.

Of spiders and winds

One more picture book you can read online from the International Children's Digital Library is Otto the Spider (2004) by author and illustrator Manuela Vladić-Maštruko, translated into English by Tamara Budin.

This book was awarded The Best Picture Book in 2005 at the Croatian Interlibera. Just three days ago Manuela Vladić-Maštruko has received the 2013 Best Picture Book again, for her tenth picture book Mauro - the blue whale. This is Manuela's third award for best picture book.

Manuela Vladić-Maštruko has organized art workshops for children in museums and galleries, she illustrated the German magazine for children and adults "Vorhang auf". She lives with her family  in Zagreb, Croatia.

For little naughty princesses and princes

The Tale of Sigismunda and Krpimir is written by Sanja Lovrenčić, translated in English as a joint effort of the author and Peter Carrier, and illustrated by Pika Vončina.

This tale is about princess Sigi, the baker’s apprentice Krpi and the two rival kings, Muk and Mrachak. The last two try to win Sigi's hand in marriage and are eager to make war to show who's best. But violence is not the way to make a princess like you, and it can be expensive too, especially if you use elite water dragons. After all, princess Sigi really only likes Krpimir.

This is another book selected for the White Raven list  for 2004 and won a prize as a theater play.

Once upon a time...

A selection of twenty two Albanian folktales translated by Robert Elsie are free to read from his website. Most of the tales are translated as they appeared in Albanian language in Folklor shqiptar 1, Proza popullore (Tirana 1963). Together with about ten legends and an introduction by the translator they have been published in a book format first by Naim Frashëri Publishing Company, Tirana (Albania) in 1994; and than again by Dukagjini Publishing Company, Peja (Kosova) in 2001.

The stories in the collection are not necessarily written for children, but as in other folktales and adaptations children would find much pleasure in the fantastic world of the tales. As the translator and editor of the book states in his introduction: "The fundamental theme of Albanian folk tales, as no doubt of folk tales everywhere, is the struggle between good and evil, a reflection of social values as we perceive them. The cautious reader may rest assured ... that in the fantastic world of Albanian folk literature the good always win out."

Discovering little secrets

Another e-picturebook free to read online is Secret's Secret written by Dragana Kršenković Brković and illustrated by Suzana Pajović Živković. The book was published by the School of Fine Arts, University of Montenegro [Fakultet likovnih umjetnosti, Univerzitet Crne Gore] in 2011 and nominated for the 2011 Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB) award.

One of the most prominent characteristics of Dragana Kršenković Brković's writing is her love for innovation based on mythology, legends and fairy-tales. One of her other books for children The Genie of the Manito Lake, unfortunately not yet translated in English, was selected for the 2011 White Ravens list for books that deserve wider reception due to the innovative artistic and literary style. She also won the best children's play award for The Marvelous Star (1990).

Dragana Kršenković Brković and her husband established the first children's puppet theater in Montenegro, Blue Lagoon.

Where is home?

Andrea Petrlik Huseinović is a writer and illustrator for children. She has received the 2014 GRAND PRIX at the Oita Biennial of Illustrations, Japan and the 2003 BIB GOLD PLAQUE in Bratislava. Her two most awarded and most read books are The Blue Sky and Ciconia Ciconia, translated into English by Ludwig Bauer.

Andrea Petrlik Huseinović wrote and illustrated Maleni in English and Croatian. Together with her husband Kašmir Huseinović they created Oscar, Hector and A Tale of Snowman. She also wrote and illustrated adaptations of the famous children's classics Little Red Ridding Hood and The Three Little Pigs.

The Digital Children's Library is a great source of free multicultural e-books for children. And if you have time you can put your translation skills to great use and translate the books in as many languages as you know. It is my favorite translation volunteer  work.

If you check the web site of the publisher Kašmir promet you may find more of their books available in English, and other languages too.

Another folk story

Theater for Children and Youth Skopje

After the Croatian folk tales, you can also check the translation of an old folk story from Macedonia, Silyan the Stork translated in English by Michael Seraphinoff.

The story comes from the collections of folk tales recorded by Marko Cepenkov (or Tsepenkov) (1829 - 1920). A selection from the collection is also available in English edited by Dr. Ilija Casule, translated by Fay Thomev and published by Macquarie Univerity, Sidney.

The Macedonian language children adaptation of the story can be found at the Digital Children's Library.

Tales from Long Ago

illustration by Vladimir Kirin

And now something for the fantasy lovers. Probably most of the translated text for children from the Balkans are traditional folk tales. But this book offers a twist to the folk tales from the Croatian Tolkin. Croatian Tales of Long Ago were written by Ivana Brlić Mažuranić in 1916 in Zagreb. It was translated in English by F.S. Coperland and published in 1922 in New York and 1924 in London, with illustrations by the Croatian artist Vladimir Kirin. The six (or eight) stories included in the collection will also give you an insight into Slavic mythology.

Recently, the tales have been given a new look in a wonderful animation project by Helena Bulaja.

Children's Voices in War Times

  

Books about war stand as monuments, constant reminders of the devastation that war brings. When that book comes from a child who experienced war, it is an even more powerful cry to stop all violence.

In this post I will present two translated works of non-fiction for children, both from Bosnia: Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in a War Time Sarajevo (2006) by Zlata Filipović, translated by Christina Pribichevich-Zoric; and My Childhood Under Fire (2006) by Nadja Halibegovich, translated by the author herself. Both diaries describe life in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). Both books, autobiographies, are personal stories of what you don't hear in the news. Both authors have been known as Bosnian Anne Frank.

Zlata was only 11 years old when she started keeping a diary in 1991 and never knew there will be a war soon. When the war started the diary, called Mimmy, is her only friend. In 1995 it was published in English translation in UK and the US. Anthony Powers composed a choir work based on the diary.

My Childhood Under Fire is the diary that the 12 year's old Nadja kept between 1992 and 1995. Originally published in Bosnian language, the author translated and published the book in Canada and the US. She is still a peace activist.

A Diary of a Cat

Could you guess by looking at the cover? Yes, Anya is a cat. A cat who likes her family, want's to explore the world outside her apartment, and keeps a diary. Written by Dimitar Bashevski, the book was first published in 1994 in Macedonian and appeared in English translation by Will Firth in 2007.

Cats have been literary muses for many famous writers. But, Dimitar Basevski is probably the only one who presents to us our human world from a cat's perspective. And our world is full of love and caring, but also cruelty. This book is a cry against this malice. All you cat lovers your collections will not be complete without this short, 100 page, novel for children that comes from Skopje, Macedonia.     

The book has been published by Slovo Press, Skopje, Macedonia.

Will Firth has also translated Pirey by Petre M. Andreevski. For other works translated by Will Firth you can check his website.

All About Love

 

If you are interested in children's stories with a more contemporary, urban setting you might like these two books that come from Zagreb, Croatia. Happy Days (1994/2011) and The Teacher of My Dreams (2006/2011) were written by Miro Gavran and translated into English by Nina H. Key-Antoljak.

Gavran is a well known contemporary Croatian writer of novels and plays, primarily for adults. In all his works he very often explores male-female relations. This theme is in the center of both Happy Days and The Teacher of My Dreams. Gavran has written, in his native Croatian language, seven novels for children. Interestingly, his first novel Forgotten Son (1989), not written specifically for children, has been selected for the IBBY 2002 Honor List. Happy Days won the 1995 Mato Lovrak Prize for Best Children's Novel. The Teacher of My Dreams won a special prize at the 2007 International Festival of Literature for Children and Young People in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2001 Miro Gavran was nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

Both of these books and some other books by Miro Gavran are available for Kindle.

For the Youngest

There is a colorful, bright and lyrical story staring animals that comes from former Yugoslavia. I have recently written a post about this book, but in Macedonian, so here it is in English as well. Some of you might be familiar with this beautiful picturebook, since it has been published in London by Istros Books, a new but rapidly developing publisher specialized in Eastern European literature, and Balkans literature in particular. Their only publication for children, so far, is Hedgehog's Home by Branko Ćopić.

The translation of the story in rhyme is craftily done by Susan Curtis and the illustrations are by Sanja Rešćek.

The original story was first published in 1949 in Zagreb inspiring young readers to love and protect their home, something so precious to the generation who just gone through the Second World War. Many generations in former Yugoslavia grow up with this story and the song based on the text. In its 2011 translation for the English speaking audience this love for the home shifts to the love for the natural environment and habitat, something so important to the kids of today.

The book has been many times put on stage in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, most recently in Zagreb, Osijek and Sarajevo. Similarly the story was adapted for stage in UK as children's opera and musical.

Another review for this book is available at Outside In World, and if you want to buy your copy contact Istros Books directly.

More Short Stories

Another anthology of short stories for children comes from Macedonia. Created as part of the 130-book strong Translation Project Macedonian Literature in English funded by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, it was published in 2011 by the National and University Library St. Clement of Ohrid, Skopje. It is one of the four books in the project devoted to children's literature. The stories for the anthology were selected by Petre Dimovski, and translated into English by yours truly. It contains 68 stories written by 28 authors, covering a period from immediately after World War II, when "Macedonian children's literature had its beginnings" (p.7), up to 2007. As Dimovski points out in his introduction, the stories were selected to correspond with the broad distinction of three periods in the development of the Macedonian children's literature. At the beginning, Macedonian writers for children mostly relied on folklore and legends, with stories of rural life; the second generation of authors for children wrote about childhood experiences from a more lyrical and meditational point of view; and the third group of authors opened up to new horizons, with prevalent urban environments (pp. 11-13). 
The anthology includes well known children's authors such as Vanco Nikoleski, one of pioneers of children's literature in Macedonia, Vidoe Podgorec, Slavka Maneva, Boshko Smakjoski, Kiro Donev, Gorjan Petreski, as well as more recent figures. It's worth noting that only four of the 28 authors included in this anthology are women, with the prominent absence of Olivera Nikolova, one of most widely read women writers for children in Macedonia (and my all time favorite). To read this book you can check whether it is available at your local library, and here is the link to the British Library and the Library of Congress.

Beauty of All Times

For those of you out there interested in multicultural children's literature in English, I will start a series of posts introducing English translations of children's books from the Balkans. Working on my PhD made me aware how difficult it is to find information on the net about children's books from this part of the world. This is my attempt to bridge that gap.

I decided to start with the book which just reached me by post, generously sent to Hong Kong directly from Podgorica by Mr Dragan Djurišić. Djurišić is himself a very famous Montenegrin writer, translator and editor of children's literature, and he is the editor of Beauty of All Times, an anthology of children's short stories by Montenegrin authors. The book has been translated into English by Dragan M. Vugdelić. It contains 24 short stories by just as many authors, covering a period from the 1950s to the 1990s. The translator notes that "it is the first of its kind in Montenegro..." and has been published by the Association of Literary Translators of Montenegro in 1995. In his Foreword, Dr. Novo Vuković points out that "realistic stories absolutely dominate this selection... presenting authentic experiences, but from some distant past time and without the attempt to come closer to the viewpoint of the recipient child" (xii-xiii). In line with this conclusion is one of the stories included in the anthology, Radovan Vujadinović's "The Train", based on a true story about a boy who saved a passenger train from crushing into a landslide. The act was proclaimed the "Most Humane Act of the Year". Other authors include: Dušan Kostić, Čedo Vuković, Stevan Bulajić, Vladimir Kuljača, and others, with the only women among them Djordjina Radovojević.

If you are interested to learn more about Montenegrin culture you can check the Montenegrina portal.