September was World Kid Lit Month, a new-to-me event that translates diverse, global and translated children’s books. I joined in by reading The Beast Player, by Japanese author Nahoko Uehashi (translated by Cathy Hirano). The imaginary but Japanese-flavored fantasy world about a divided kingdom within which magical beasts live in an uneasy relationship with humans brought up some interesting questions about how we relate to the natural world, and to each other. The sudden, unresolved ending came as a bit of a shock after the more progressive buildup, but a sequel has just come out so I’ll have to read that to find out more about how the story continues.
Have you read any translated children’s lit this month? What do you recommend?
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Reviews
- For Back to the Classics, I reviewed Hemingway’s novella The Old Man and the Sea.
Other Books Read
Something Light by Margery Sharp- The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson
- Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal – Around the World (Pakistan)
- Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
- The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi
- The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius
- Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Other Features and Events
- I posted a wrap-up for Robertson Davies Reading Weekend.
- I checked whether anyone else had tried my challenge of Summer in Other Languages.
- For Top Ten Tuesday, a list of books on my fall TBR list.
On my other blog
- A question of gender: Should languages have them?
Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction
The Emerald City Book Review Archive 
The Old Man and the Sea was one of my favourite school reads! Happy Spooktober!
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There seem to be many who have fond memories of that book.
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Sounds like you had fun taking part in the World Kid Lit Month event. 🙂 I haven’t read any translated children’s fiction for some time, but in September I did read another of Emilio Salgari’s classic adventures, The Black Corsair, translated from the original Italian. I hope October will be another good reading month for you. 👻
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I have not heard of that book – sounds intriguing!
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Nice month!
Should I try Barbara Pym? Which book should I start with?
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Yes! Do read Pym. I would suggest starting with Excellent Women: https://emeraldcitybookreview.com/?s=excellent+women
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I’ve always been interested to read some Hemingway, so maybe I’ll read The Old Man and the Sea sometime. I did read one of his short stories in university and really liked his sparse style of writing, but it’s definitely something I’d have to be in the mood for!
Have a great October!
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The writing style was fine. His subject matter is more problematic for me. I feared I would get bored with the excruciating detail of the process of fishing, but it managed to hold my interest after all.
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How did you like Unmarriageable? I’ve read Austen adaptations I liked better than this one, so I gave up about halfway in. Have a good October!
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Austen adaptations and the success thereof are highly mood-dependent for me. This one somehow hit the right notes at the moment, but I could definitely see weaknesses.
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I hadn’t heard of World Kid Lit month before. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I haven’t read any translated kidlit recently, but one I have on my radar is Of Salt and Shore by Annet Schaap (a mermaid story translated from Dutch).
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I’m glad this event inspired me to look up some recently translated children’s books. A Dutch mermaid story sounds good!
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Oooh, I’d love to hear what you thought of Piranesi!
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I devoured it quickly and was enthralled. Need to read again for deeper thoughts. It was not long enough, but I am so glad Clarke managed to complete something given her health challenges. I hope she will be able to continue writing.
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