My writing was interrupted yesterday when a box was unceremoniously thrown from the bottom of my porch steps and slammed into my door. I emerged just as the delivery man was walking away to retrieve the hostilely delivered package. It turned out to be from one of my publishers and seeing as how I wasn't expecting anything that would mean more work for me in the near future, I happily opened it. Inside were several copies each of the Taiwanese editions of Pirate School #1 and Pirate School #2.
I always get a giddy feeling seeing my writing in a language I can't understand, but these books were especially exciting for several reasons. Here are all the things that I loved about flipping through these books over the past few days.
* The book reads from right to left so the cover is the back and the back is the cover.
* The book costs 14,300 of whatever the Taiwanese currency is. I'm sure it won't make me rich, but it's fun to pretend.
* The text is vertical. I think I should start writing this way. It looks rather dignified.
* The titles are printed in glossy glitter type.
* I now know what my name looks like in Chinese characters.
*Jennifer's wonderful illustrations are each given more room to breathe and can be seen in much better detail.
*An entire new group of children will be able to enjoy these stories, which I love so much.
So thank you to MUCH, my Chinese language publisher for the a wonderful printing. And thank you to the great people at Penguin who have done such an amazing job making these books truly global. Hopefully I'll get to see the Japanese editions soon.
how exciting and the writing has a beauty all of its own separate to the meaning.
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