American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards Include Daciūtė’s ‘Fox’ in Translation

In News by Porter Anderson

The lengthy list of Youth Media Awards from the ALA includes the Batchelder Award for translated children’s books.

An illustration by Aušra Kiudulaitė from Evelina Daciūtė’s ‘The Fox on the Swing,’ which won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for a translated children’s book

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

‘Fox on the Swing’ Wins Batchelder Translation Award

The American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting in Seattle today (January 29) is in its final rounds of committee and board meetings, and on Monday (January 28) announced winners of its 2019 Youth Media Awards.

Of special interest to us here at Publishing Perspectives, the Mildred L. Batchelder Award is annually presented for a children’s book originally published in a language other than English and in a country other than the United States, then translated into English for publication in the United States.

The 2019 winner of the Batchelder is The Fox on the Swing (Thames & Hudson, 2018). The book is by Evelina Daciūtė and illustrated by Aušra Kiudulaitė. Its translation from the original Lithuanian is credited by the ALA to The Translation Bureau.

Four books were also mentioned for special commendation in relation to the Bachelder Award:

More 2019 YMA Winners

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina (Candlewick Press)

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: Hello Lighthouse, illustrated and written by Sophie Blackall (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults: A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Claire Hartfield ( Clarion Books)

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award: The Stuff of Stars, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, written by Marion Dane Bauer (Candlewick Press)

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award: Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson (Katherine Tegen Books)

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award: Thank You, Omu!, illustrated and written by Oge Mora (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Coretta Scott King—Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement: Pauletta Brown Bracy wins this honor, which pays tribute to beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults: The Poet X, written by Elizabeth Acevedo (HarperTeen)

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:

  • Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, illustrated by Scott Magoon (Candlewick Press) for young children (ages 0 to 10)
  • The Truth As Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor (Katherine Tegen Books) for middle grades (ages 11 to 13)
  • Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro (A Tor Teen Book) for teens (ages 13 to 18)

Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences

  • The Black God’s Drums by P  Djèlí Clark (Tor com)
  • The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir (Knopf)
  • Circe by Madeline Miller (Little, Brown)
  • Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover (Random House)
  • The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil (Crown Publishing Group)
  • Green by Sam Graham-Felsen (Random House)
  • Home After Dark written and illustrated by David Small (Liveright)
  • How Long ’Til Black Future Month? By NK  Jemisin (Orbit)
  • Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)
  • Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

Pura Belpré Awards honoring a Latinx writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience: Dreamers, illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales (Neal Porter Books)

More winners in the library association’s Youth Media Awards are listed in the organization’s magazine story on the news, which can be found here.

An illustration from ‘Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure’ written and illustrated by Torben Kuhlmann, who received an honorable mention in the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for a translated children’s book

More from Publishing Perspectives on children’s books is here, and more on translation is here.

Publishing Perspectives and Frankfurt Book Fair New York will present their second annual Children’s Book Salon for international book editors and publishers to meet with their American counterparts in new-title discovery, rights trading, and networking. More information on the invitational event is here. 

Our report on the 2018 salon is available for download here.

About the Author

Porter Anderson

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Porter Anderson is a non-resident fellow of Trends Research & Advisory, and he has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.