Mildred L. Batchelder Award facts for kids

The Mildred L. Batchelder Award, often called the Batchelder Award, is a special prize given each year by the American Library Association. It celebrates the best children's book that was first written in another language, published in a foreign country, and then translated into English and released in the U.S.

What makes this award unique is that it's given to the publisher of the book, not just the author or translator. The goal is to encourage American publishers to bring more amazing children's books from around the world to English-speaking readers. This helps people from different cultures understand each other better.

The award is managed by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), which is the part of the ALA that focuses on children's books.

The award is named after Mildred L. Batchelder, who used to lead the ALSC. She strongly believed in breaking down barriers between people from different cultures and countries through books.

The Batchelder Award started in 1968. By 2015, there had been 47 winners over 48 years. Since 1994, some books have also been chosen as "Honor Books," meaning they were excellent runners-up.

The 2015 winner was Eerdmans Books for Young Readers for Mikis and the Donkey. This book was translated by Laura Watkinson. The original story, Mikis, de Ezeljongen (2011), was written in Dutch by Bibi Dumon Tak and illustrated by Philip Hopman.

Who Was Mildred L. Batchelder?

Mildred L. Batchelder spent her career helping kids discover books. She started as a librarian in Omaha, Nebraska. Later, she worked as a children's librarian at St. Cloud State Teachers College. She also served as a librarian at Haven Elementary School in Evanston, Illinois.

In 1936, she joined the American Library Association (ALA). For 30 years, she worked hard at the ALA to promote the translation of children's books. Her main goal was to help people from different cultures, races, nations, and languages understand each other better through stories.

How Books Are Chosen (Criteria)

The Batchelder Award has clear rules for choosing its winners. Here are the main things the judges look for:

• The award goes to an American publisher. The book must be considered the best children's book that was first published in a foreign language in another country. It must then be translated into English and published in the United States during the previous year.
• The award is given every year. However, if no book is considered good enough, no award is given that year.
• The English translation should be very true to the original story. It should keep the author's original ideas and feelings.
• The translation should also match the author's writing style and the feel of the original language.
• The book should not be changed too much to fit American culture. Readers should still feel like the story comes from another country.
• Traditional folk tales or legends are not eligible for this award.
• Picture books can only win if the words are just as important as the pictures. The story needs to be strong and meaningful.
• The book must be interesting to children aged 0 to 14.
• The overall design of the book, including illustrations, font, and cover, should make the story better. It should not take away from the text.
• The judges also consider if the original illustrator's artwork was kept in the U.S. edition.

Award Winners and Honor Books

The table below shows some of the books that have won the Batchelder Award and those that were chosen as Honor Books. Winners have a yellow background and are marked with a 'W'. Honor Books are marked with 'hon'.

Publishers and Translators with Many Awards

Some publishers and translators have won the Batchelder Award or received honors multiple times.

• E. P. Dutton and Enchanted Lion Books have each won the Batchelder Award five times.
• Delacorte Press (Dell) has won four times.
• Other publishers like Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic), Lothrop, Lee & Shepard (HarperCollins), and Houghton Mifflin have won three times.

Translators are also very important!

• Anthea Bell's translations from Danish, French, and German have been recognized seven times. She has four awards and three honors.
• Hillel Halkin's translations from Hebrew have won four awards.
• Edward Fenton's translations from Greek have won three awards.
• Laura Watkinson's translations from Dutch have also won three awards.

Some authors have also had multiple books win the award:

• Uri Orlev, who writes in Hebrew, has had four of his books win.
• Alki Zei, who writes in Greek, has had three of her books win.
• Bjarne Reuter wrote two of the Danish winners.
• Bibi Dumon Tak wrote two of the Dutch winners.
• Josef Holub wrote two of the German winners.

Here's a quick look at how many awards and honors books from different original languages have received:

See also

• American children's literary awards