Moomins, a Frog and a Pepperpot - Global Success doesn't always translate

On Friday we took a closer look at some books that had done very well in terms of sales in their source language as well as once they were translated and published in the United States. In fact, I’d say that there’s a fifty-fifty chance that if you asked a parent of the five and under crowd, they’d have heard of either Press Here or The Rainbow Fish.

Today though, I want to take a look at a different kind of “hit” – those that were extremely popular in their source language as well as in other parts of the world, but for some reason have not been nearly as successful here in the US. While I’d venture to guess that those same parents would be more likely to have heard of some of the series I’m including here than say, Mexican author Gusti’s Half of an Elephant (or his work The Fly which I can’t WAIT to share!) I’d be shocked if more than ten percent of them knew and owned at least one book from any of these series.

Which means we’re back to the question that defines the category – why? Why there and not here? And since I’m going to assume me just saying “it’s complicated” isn’t quite sufficient (albeit accurate), let’s take a closer look at three such translated series from around the globe.

If I had to make a wager, I’d say that of all of these there’s the greatest chance that the average American may have at least heard The Moomins. Globally though, the creation of Finnish-Swedish writer and artist, Tove Jansson is beloved. They have their own theme park with another set to open in Japan in the next year! There are full lines of merchandise, a TV show and even an opera! If you’re anything like me, this was about the point when I began wondering if I’d been living under a rock to have been so completely clueless as to the popularity of The Moomins.

Thank goodness the always insightful literary critic Phillip Nel and BuzzFeed was able to get me up to speed!

Besides the commercialization, different books in the Moomin series, which began as a comic strip and has since expanded into chapter books and picture books, have been translated into fifty languages. When it first began as a comic strip, The Moomins reached up to 20 million readers daily in over 40 countries. According to her website Jansson is the most widely read Finnish author abroad, with titles sold in sixty countries. But for all that, it’s never gained widespread popularity in the United States. But why?

I can’t possibly claim to have THE answer to that question, but consider a few of the following to be general theories. First, consider that “other” feeling of the Moomins that managing editor of Canadian trade magazine KidScreen, Lana Castleman described as “very different from current and historical American characters, such as Mickey and Winnie, both in the way they look and content of the stories.” The Moomins, bohemian, curious and a bit eccentric may be outside the American mainstream in terms of popularity. A 2009 article on the likelihood of The Moomins being big in America also contended that author Jannson “said her own experiences were the basis for her work, and the experience of war may be one distinguishing factor making Europeans and Japanese susceptible to her sense of shyness and feelings of disaster.” I’m not sure I’d go quite that far, but would offer up one additional thought of my own. Like much of children’s literature, The Moomins are decidedly intended for a dual audience, not “just kids” and perhaps their appeal here in the United States trends towards adults. Maybe, as those adults start to share their Moomin experience with the younger generation our love of The Moomins will grow!

But right now, let me specifically offer one of the three Moomin picture books that have been translated for consideration. (There are five total picture books as well as nine chapter books.)

The Book about Moonin, Mymble and the Little My

By: Tove Jansson

Translated by: Sophie Hannah

The Book about Moonin, Mymble and the Little My, at first glance made “Dr. Seuss” pop into my head, with its colors, style of drawing and characters and the rhyme verse of the text. But there is another level of sophistication and intrigue here, including cut-out shapes on every page that allow the reader to peek through the next page to figure out what’s next.

It is a little difficult to discern but the white hook shaped line on the left of the image is a path in the book.  If you follow it toward the middle of the picture to where it disappears, that shape is actually a cut-out in the book, you're peeking through to see my counter in the background.  But if you were actually reading the book it woudl allow you to peek through just that space onto the next page.

The hand-lettering of the text was also notable, especially considering this is a translation. This meant that the translator and the calligrapher (Peter Blegvad) would have needed to work together to make the translated text work within Jannson’s illustrations.

Additionally, rhyming poetry can be VERY difficult to make work in translation (we’ll get back to this again later) and in the front of the book the poet Sophie Hannah, who served as translator, gives credit to Silvester Mazzarella “with the help of a literal translation” which she then used to create the rhyming text in the English translation. I can’t comment as to the other two picture books but like so many other translated texts, I think with an open mind, readers may forget about the “otherness” of the Moomins if they gave them a chance.

I know I’ve gone pretty deeply into the Moomins, so let me briefly offer up two other series for consideration that I feel fall into this category.

Frog in Love

By: Max Velthuijs

Translated By: Anthea Bell

The Frog series, known as “Kikker” in Dutch, is by author, illustrator and painter Max Velthuijs (and 2004 winner of the Hans Christian Andersen award!). Frog books have been translated into more than 50 languages, with eight of the twenty-one total being translated into English. Interestingly, the first book in the series, Frog in Love, was actually first published in England. According to an article in The Guardian, though Velthuijs was already a successfully published author by North South in Switzerland, they turned down Frog in Love but it was purchased and translated by Andersen Press in England in 1988.

The anthropomorphic characters in the series take on with real life issues, such as fear, love, sadness, and loss, making these difficult subjects and emotions more understandable for children (and adults).

There’s something appealing about the equality of the characters (they’re interestingly all the same height) and the straightforwardness of the text.

Mrs. Pepperpot at the Bazaar

By: Alf Proysen

Illustrated by: Hilda Offen

Translated by: Marianne Helweg

Alf Proysen’s Teskjekejerringa literally translates to ‘Mrs. Teaspoon.’ But, accordingly to Gillian Lathey’s Translating Children’s Literature, “Marianne Helweg, translator of the well-known English version of Proysen’s tales, changed the protagonists name to Mrs. Pepperpot to recreate the striking alliterative sound of the original title.” (88) Thus the Mrs. Pepperpot series, who just so happens to occasionally shrink to the size of a pepperpot (or what we might refer to as a pepper shaker) made its English debut. I found this choice by the translator to be extremely interesting considering unless you actually knew of the original title and spoke Swedish there’d be no way for an English speaking reader to draw that connection.

 The series has been translated into twenty different languages and was celebrated in 2014 in a series of scholarly articles to “broaden and deepen the understanding of her enduring popularity.”

Little Polar Bear: Lars and the Husky Pup

By: Hans de Beer

Translated by: Rosemary Lanning

I’ll also give an “honorable mention” to Dutch author Hans de Beer's Little Polar Bear books. Since the original book in the series was published in the United States in 1987, it and its follow-ups have sold over one million copies. The series has also been translated into eighteen languages and is published in twenty-seven countries. It’s also a popular series with teachers, produced a television series, computer games, and even a musical!

(Kristi’s Note: There are a couple other series that I feel would very much fit this category, but we’ll be running into them later in the project for other reasons. So have no fear, I haven’t forgotten Alfie Atkins or Polo!)

I think, at least in part, it may be safe to assume that the one thing that links all four of these series together that most works against it in terms of popularity is the simple fact that it is a translated book. The “otherness” that I mentioned with The Moomins exists, on some level in any translated book, and while that is embraced elsewhere, we need to remember that only three percent of the US publishing industry every year is made up of translated titles. And that’s not just children’s literature, that’s everything! Other countries embrace translated titles because a larger part of their industry is devoted to their publication – upwards of eighty percent in some countries. It’s up to us, with our almighty dollar, to remind the publishing industry that we are willing and even want to embrace the “otherness” that a translated book produces – that’s how these books will become “hits” here as well.

Speaking of hits, I’m going to venture out on a limb here and suggest a not yet released title to add to your future reading list that I think just may make it on my future “hits” list. The Feather, by 2016 Hans Christian Andersen award winning author Cao Wenxuan is set for release on November 28, 2017. The illustrations that I’ve seen have me itching to get my hands on this book!

This officially wraps up “The Hits” but I’ll be back on Friday to dive into our next category “Controversy” and I’ll tell you then a little bit more what that means.