I haven't been as diligent in keeping a record of the children's books in translation published in 2015, let alone those eligible for the Batchelder Award, as I would have liked to be (it's a reading and blogging resolution for 2016, though! Watch this space). Last year's winner was Mikis and the Donkey by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Philip Hopman and translated by Laura Watkinson; published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers in 2014. It was also my favorite, and now I want a miniature Mediterranean donkey.

Looking ahead, good places to find potential Batchelder books are smaller publishing houses like Eerdmans and Enchanted Lion Books, both of whom make consistently beautiful and important books. (The same is true of Canadian publishers Groundwood Books and Kids Can Press; they are, however, ineligible for the Batchelder, which is awarded to an American publisher).

Graphic novels seem to be translated relatively frequently, so First Second (an imprint of Roaring Brook Press), Graphic Universe (a division of Lerner Publishing Group), and TOON Graphics are also possibilities.

You might look the for the work of individual translators such as Laura Watkinson, who translates into English from Dutch, Italian, and German.

And of course, translated books can be published by larger (and smaller) publishing houses, or published as e-books, which are eligible for the Batchelder this year as part of a pilot program.

I'll be back tomorrow with a (sadly short!) list of children's books in translation published in 2015.