Popular Juvenile Fiction in Chinese: by Jennifer Velasquez
Juvenile & YA Special Topics—4/30/10
One of our more commonly requested world languages in Collection Development is Chinese. Whether your library is serving recently arrived immigrants or patrons in long-established ethnic communities, there is now a wide variety of popular juvenile fiction available in both simplified Chinese characters—used in Mainland China and Singapore, and traditional Chinese characters—used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.
Favorite children’s book characters available in traditional Chinese range from classics such Curious George and Spot the Dog to today’s frizzy favorite Splat the Cat. For slightly older children and teens, popular series titles in translation include Diary of the Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney and Sunset: Warriors:The New Prophecy by Erin Hunter, in addition to award-winners such as The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and The Graveyard Book.
In simplified Chinese, favorite characters available in translation include Mo Willems’ iconic fowl in Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and David Shannon’s notorious, gap-toothed namesake in David Goes to School. For older children and teens, titles such as the Geronimo Stilton book Four Mice Deep in the Jungle, and even the blockbuster Breaking Dawn have been published in simplified text.
Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo: by Heather Ji
Graphic Novels Special Topics Post—04/30/10
One of the most fun parts of my job is attending graphic novel events. Recently I went to the first Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, organized by the people behind the successful New York Comic Con. Besides getting to see the DeLorean from Back to the Future and clothing worn by Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man, I was also able to speak with some publishers about the new titles they have coming out this year. Here are a few that I am excited about.
Ape Entertainment is starting off their new DreamWorks license with a Shrek graphic novel in May. The book will be original stories that work as a prequel to the latest Shrek feature film, which opens the same month. In October IDW debuts a new series featuring original stories related to Patterson’s popular Witch & Wizard novels, and also the next book in the acclaimed Richard Stark’s Parker series by Darwyn Cooke, The Outfit. Max Brooks, author of the popular Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, contributes a title to IDW’s G.I. Joe series in November called G.I. Joe: Hearts and Minds. In July, Dark Horse includes Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus #1 in its line-up of manga collections by the incomparable CLAMP, and scores the first graphic novel from Janet and Alex Evanovich with Trouble Maker, part of the Barnaby and Hooker series. Aaron Renier, of Spiral-Bound fame, will be publishing through First Second in September with The Unsinkable Walker Bean, about a boy caught in the middle of a swashbuckling pirate adventure. And finally, Archaia has many great titles coming out, so is it wrong that I am so excited about their Fraggle Rock graphic novels that start this Fall?
This month, we sit down with Mike Richardson
Mike Richardson founded Dark Horse Comics in 1986 as an offshoot of his Oregon comic-book retail chain, Things From Another World. Richardson pursued the idea of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals, and 25 years later the company has grown to become the third-largest comics publisher in the United States.
Recent Interviews
BWI’s Collection Development Department has had the pleasure of sharing some time with several of today’s top authors, artists and illustrators.
- Mike Richardson
- Cassandra Clare
- Mark Kurlansky
- Harry Bliss
- Kathleen Krull
- Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis
- Maggie Stiefvater
- Candace Fleming
- Conor Grennan
- Kevin Henkes
- Gail Bush
- George Ancona
- Ashley Spires
- Ken Burns
- Holly Black & Justine Larbalestier
- Meg Cabot
- Christopher Moore
- Richelle Mead
- Allan Stratton
- Pam Muñoz Ryan
- Francisco X. Stork
- Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Eric Carle
- Paula Young Shelton & Raúl Colón
- Mo Willems
- Linwood Barclay
- Barbara Taylor Bradford
- Scott Westerfeld
- Walter Dean Meyers & Christopher Myers
- Stephan Talty
- Buzz Aldrin
- Grace Lin
- S.E. Hinton
- Eliza Dresang
- The Low Anthem
- David Grann
- Kadir Nelson
- Fred Kaplan
- Matthew Holm & Jennifer L. Holm
- Alex Robinson
- Laura Amy Schlitz
- Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
- John Green
- Jon Scieszka
- Naomi Shihab Nye
- Neil Gaiman
- Garth Stein
- Jim Aylesworth
- Linda Buckley-Archer
- Jenny Downham
- Judy Schachner
- Mark Teague
- Melanie Watt
- Sharon Draper
- Kenneth Oppel
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