Ok, A New Coat for Anna may not be that weird, but I do love it and just discovered that there is a new Chinese version, which I find a bit strange.
I recently spent some time in China and found myself looking for children's books in Shanghai and HongKong. I found lots of Disney and some Scholastic titles and a few original books, but not much else. (Miss Frizzle had been changed into a man! That was surprising.)
Even as a Librarian at a school with a good population of Chinese immigrants, I had a hard time finding books in Chinese. But here is A New Coat for Anna and I also found Owl at Home -in Mandarin! I think someone saw a market. How many people in the world read Chinese? Wow. Brilliant!
I can imagine that A New Coat for Anna is a story that would appeal to the Chinese. It is a lesson in community, frugality and resourcefulness - all virtues honored in China. The story shows how a girl's coat is made from gathering the wool, to dying, weaving and tailoring and how her mother trades to pay for it. A basic economics lesson, it takes place in Europe after WWII. It is sweet and educational and Anita Lobel's illustrations are lovely.
Just not a book I would think of to translate into Chinese. I need to keep my mind open... (I swear the cover illustration that I saw had darker hair!)
No comments:
Post a Comment