This week we received news that Roger Mello’s João by a Thread, translated from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn, has received a Mildred L. Batchelder Honor. Huge congratulations to Roger and Daniel, and to the presses, translators, artists, and illustrators who were honored this year! Thank you to the ALSC and to this year’s Batchelder Award Selection Committee. We are honored to see João By a Thread among such worthy recipients. You can read more about this year’s honorees here.
Mildred L. Batchelder honors are awarded to the most outstanding children’s books originating in a country other than the United States. The Association for Library Service to Children gives the award in Batchelder‘s name.
Mildred L. Batchelder believed that children who read the same stories which children in other countries are reading develop a sense of nearness with those in other lands. Batchelder‘s wrote in an essay in 1972, “If the books chosen for traveling from language to language are worthy books, the resulting communication is deeper, richer, more sympathetic and more enduring.
João by a Thread is available on our website alongside Roger Mello’s Charcoal Boys and You Can’t Be Too Careful! (also a Batchelder Honor recipient) both translated for Elsewhere Editions by Daniel Hahn, and Cao Wenxuan’s Feather, which is illustrated by Roger Mello.