The Bear!

My mother-in-law (hello, Jane!) recently found this photograph that she took a long time ago of Voytek the bear, the star of Bibi Dumon Tak’s Soldier Bear, which I translated for Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. After his army adventures, Voytek retired to...

Hoorah for Mikis and the Donkey!

Mikis and the Donkey, written by Bibi Dumon Tak and illustrated by Philip Hopman (and translated by me), won this year’s American Library Association’s Mildred L. Batchelder Award for translated children’s books. Many congratulations to Eerdmans...

Mikis and the Donkey

Eerdman Books for Young Readers recently published my translation of Bibi Dumon Tak’s Mikis and the Donkey, beautifully illustrated by Philip Hopman. It’s a lovely little gem of a book about a young boy who teaches his grandfather to take good care of the...

A Celebration of Soldier Bear

Thanks very much to my friends Mina Witteman and Rachelle Meyer of the Dutch chapter of the SCBWI for organising a celebration of Soldier Bear, which recently won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for “the most outstanding children’s book originally published in a...

Soldier Bear on Eerdword

Kathleen Merz, managing editor for Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, has written a very interesting piece on Eerdword, the company blog, about Soldier Bear, the Batchelder, and the Risky Business of Publishing International Literature. Eerdword also kindly posted a...