The Mildred L. Batchelder Award, or Batchelder Award, is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the publisher of the year's "most outstanding" children's book translated into English and published in the U.S.
The Mildred L. Batchelder Award is unusual in that it is given to a publisher yet it explicitly references a given work, its translator and author. It seeks to recognize translations of children's books into the English language, with the intention of encouraging American publishers to translate high quality foreign language children's books and "promote communication between the people of the world".
It is administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), the children's division of ALA, and conferred upon the U.S. publisher.
The award is named in honor of Mildred L. Batchelder, former director of the ALSC. One of her stated goals was "to eliminate barriers to understanding between people of different cultures, races, nations, and languages."
The Batchelder Award was inaugurated in 1968 and there have been 47 winners in 48 years through 2015.
From 1994 there have been 38 worthy runners-up called Honor Books, one to three each year.
The 2015 winner is Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an imprint of William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., for Mikis and the Donkey, translated by Laura Watkinson. The Dutch original Mikis, de Ezeljongen (2011) was written by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Philip Hopman.
Mildred L. Batchelder
Batchelder began her career working in an Omaha, Nebraska Public Library, then as a children's librarian at St. Cloud State Teachers College, and subsequently as librarian of Haven Elementary School in Evanston, Illinois. She eventually joined the ranks of the American Library Association in 1936 spending the next 30 years at the ALA promoting the translation of children's literature.
Criteria
Source: "Batchelder Award terms and criteria" The award shall be made to an American publisher for a children's book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country and subsequently published in English in the United States during the preceding year. The Award, in the form of a citation, shall be made annually, unless no book of that particular year is deemed worthy of the honor. The translation should be true to original work and retain the viewpoint of the author. The translation should reflect the style of the author and of the original language. The book should not be unduly "Americanized." The book's reader should be able to sense that the book came from another country. Folk literature is not eligible. Picture books are not eligible unless the text is substantial and at least as important as the pictures. The book must have the potential to appeal to a child audience (age 0-14). The overall design of the book should enhance and not detract from the text, thus making the book more or less effective as a children's book. Such aspects might include: illustration, type face, layout, book jacket, etc. Consideration should be given to the retention of the original illustrator's work in the U.S. edition.
Recipients
Winners are distinguished from Honor Books by yellow background and by 'W' in the far right column.
+ Batchelder Award winners and runners-up Year. Awarded Publisher Title Author Translator Language Result 1968 Alfred A. Knopf German W 1969 Charles Scribner's Sons Don't Take Teddy Norwegian W 1970 Holt, Rinehart & Winston Wildcat Under Glass Greek W 1971 Pantheon Books In the Land of Ur, the Discovery of Ancient Mesopotamia German W 1972 Holt, Rinehart & Winston Friedrich German W 1973 William Morrow Pulga Dutch W 1974 E. P. Dutton Petros' War Greek W 1975 Crown Publishing Group Russian W 1976 Henry Z. Walck German W 1977 Atheneum Press Danish W 1978 (no award) 1979 Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Rabbit Island German W Franklin Watts / Scholastic Konrad German W 1980 E. P. Dutton Greek W 1981 William Morrow Dutch W 1982 Bradbury Press Swedish W 1983 Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Hiroshima No Pika Kurita-Bando Literary Agency Japanese W 1984 Viking Press Ronia the Robber's Daughter Swedish W 1985 Houghton Mifflin Hebrew W 1986 Creative Education Rose Blanche Italian W 1987 Lothrop, Lee & Shepard No Hero for the Kaiser German W 1988 McElderry Books If You Didn't Have Me Swedish W 1989 Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Crutches German W 1990 E. P. Dutton Buster's World Danish W 1991 E. P. Dutton German WHoughton Mifflin CompanyTwo Short and One LongNina Ring AamundsenNorwegianhon 1992 Houghton Mifflin Hebrew W 1993 (no award) 1994 Farrar, Straus and Giroux Spanish W Farrar, Straus and Giroux Dutch hon Viking Press Anne Frank Beyond the Diary: A Photographic Remembrance Dutch hon 1995 E.P. Dutton Danish W Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Sister Shako and Kolo the Goat: Memories of My Childhood in Turkey Turkish hon 1996 Houghton Mifflin Hebrew W Henry Holt & Co Damned Strong Love: The True Story of Willi G. And Stephan K. German hon Walker and Company Star of Fear, Star of Hope French hon 1997 Farrar, Straus and Giroux Japanese W 1998 Henry Holt & Co German W Scholastic Press Hostage to War: a True Story German hon Viking Press Nero Corleone: a Cat's Story German hon 1999 Dial Press Thanks to My Mother German W Viking Press Secret Letters from 0 to 10 French hon 2000 Walker and Company Dutch W Farrar, Straus and Giroux Collector of Moments German hon Rabén & Sjögren Vendela in Venice Swedish hon Front Street Asphalt Angels Dutch hon 2001 Arthur A. Levine Books / Scholastic Samir and Yonatan Hebrew W David R. Godine Ultimate Game French hon 2002 Cricket Books / Carus Publishing How I Became an American German W Viking Press French hon 2003 The Chicken House / Scholastic German W David R. Godine Henrietta and the Golden Eggs German hon 2004 Walter Lorraine Books (Houghton Mifflin) Run, Boy, Run Hebrew W Chronicle Books Swedish hon 2005 Delacorte Press / Dell French W Farrar, Straus and Giroux Danish hon Atheneum Books (Richard Jackson Bks) Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi German hon 2006 Arthur A. Levine Books German W Phaidon Press Nicholas French hon Bloomsbury Children’s Books When I Was a Soldier French hon 2007 Delacorte Press / Dell French W Delacorte Press / Dell French hon Hyperion / Miramax Italian hon 2008 VIZ Media Brave Story Japanese W Milkweed Editions German hon Phaidon Press Nicholas and the Gang French hon 2009 Arthur A. Levine Books Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Japanese W Eerdmans Books for Young Readers Garmann's Summer Norwegian hon Amulet Books Tiger Moon German hon 2010 Delacorte Press / Dell Swedish W Farrar, Straus and Giroux Eidi Danish hon Enchanted Lion Books Big Wolf and Little Wolf French hon Arthur A. Levine Books Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness Japanese hon 2011"2011 Batchelder Award honors Delacorte Press for A Time of Miracles" . ALSC, Public Information Office. Press release January 10, 2011. American Libraries. ALA. Retrieved 2013-05-05. Delacorte Press / Dell French W namelos Departure Time Dutch hon Atheneum Books Nothing Danish hon 2012 Eerdmans Books for Young ReadersSoldier BearDutch W Delacorte Press / DellSwedish hon 2013 Dial BooksMy Family for the WarGerman W Graphic UniverseFrench honEerdmans Books for Young ReadersSon of a GunDutch hon 2014 Enchanted Lion BooksMister OrangeDutch W Enchanted Lion Books French hon Enchanted Lion Books My Father's Arms Are a Boat Norwegian hon Eerdmans Books for Young Readers Dutch hon 2015 Eerdmans Books for Young ReadersMikis and the DonkeyDutch W Roaring Brook Press (First Second Books) Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust French hon Enchanted Lion Books Nine Open Arms Dutch hon 2016 Enchanted Lion Books French W Seven Stories Press Adam and Thomas Hebrew hon NorthSouth Books Grandma Lives in a Perfume Village Chinese hon TOON Books (Candlewick Press) Written and Drawn by Henrietta Spanish hon 2017 Enchanted Lion BooksCry, Heart, But Never Break DanishW NorthSouth BooksAs Time Went By Germanhon Margaret K. McElderry Books Norwegianhon Chronicle BooksOver the Ocean Japanesehon 2018 Delacorte Press / Dell SwedishW Charlesbridge Malala: Activist for Girls' Education French hon Eerdmans Books for Young Readers When a Wolf is Hungry French hon Elsewhere Editions You Can't Be Too Careful! Portuguese hon 2019 Thames & Hudson Translation Bureau Lithuanian W Yonder Run for Your Life Italianhon Graphic UniverseMy Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder Frenchhon Enchanted Lion BooksJerome by Heart Frenchhon2020Enchanted Lion BooksBrownNorwegianWGodwin Books/Henry HoltJapanesehonAtheneum BooksItalianhonEnchanted Lion BooksDo Fish Sleep?GermanhonPlough Publishing HouseWhen Spring Comes to the DMZLee Uk-baeLee Uk-baeKoreanhon2021Enchanted Lion BooksTelephone Tales, illustrated by Valerio VidaliItalianWHarperCollinsCatherine's War, illustrated by Frenchhon2022Restless BooksTemple Alley Summer, illustrated by JapaneseWEnchanted Lion BooksCoffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost, illustrated by Margrethe KjaergaardDanishhonElsewhere Editions, illustrated by Nooshin SafakhooPersian/FarsihonEnchanted Lion Books, illustrated by Øyvind TorseterNorwegianhonEnchanted Lion BooksSato the Rabbit (Book 1)Japanesehon Levine Querido, illustrated by David BowlesSpanishhon2023HarperCollinsJust a Girl: A True Story of World War II, illustrated by Jess MasonItalianWEerdmans Books for Young Readers, illustrated by Eva Sánchez GómezSpanishhonCandlewick PressChinesehonLevine QueridoPortuguesehon2024 Amulet BooksHouses with a Story: A Dragon’s Den, a Ghostly Mansion, a Library of Lost Books, and 30 More Amazing Places to ExploreJapaneseWYonder, illustrated by Yukiko SaitoJapanesehonEerdmans Books for Young ReadersLater, When I’m Big, illustrated by DutchhonLevine QueridoPardalitaPortuguesehon
Multiple awards and honors
E. P. Dutton and Enchanted Lion Books have won five Batchelder Awards, Delacorte Press (Dell) four. Several imprints have won three: Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic); Lothrop, Lee & Shepard (HarperCollins); Houghton Mifflin.
Anthea Bell's translations from Danish, French and German have won seven mentions, four Awards and three Honors. Hillel Halkin's translations from Hebrew have four awards. Translations from Greek by Edward Fenton have won three, as have translations from Dutch by Laura Watkinson. Several people have translated two Award winners.
Uri Orlev writing in Hebrew and Alki Zei writing in Greek were the authors of four and three Award-winning works, all of those translated by Halkin and Fenton respectively. Bjarne Reuter wrote two of the winners in Danish, Bibi Dumon Tak two in Dutch, and Josef Holub two in German.
Numbers of Awards and Honors by original language
Awd Hon Language (56) (66) (1968–2023) 15 10 German 6 8 Dutch 6 5 Japanese 5 3 Swedish 5 1 Hebrew 4 17 French 4 4 Danish 3 3 Italian 3 0 Greek 2 4 Norwegian 1 3 Spanish 1 0 Russian 1 0 Lithuanian 0 3 Portuguese 0 2 Chinese 0 1 Turkish 0 1 Korean 0 1 Persian/Farsi
See also
Notes
References
External links Front Street imprint book search at Boyds Mill Press Enchanted Lion Books publisher namelos publisher