Pirates on the High Seas

Two weeks ago I posted about the Japanese versions of my Pirate School series and talked about the new illustrations. Now that there are three different sets of illustrations for this series, I thought it would be fun to take a look at them side-by-side.

The styles are all very much in keeping with the current trends for chapter books published in each country. The American illustrations are cute, funny, and mildly cartoonish. The German art is much quieter and proper. The kids are rarely seen being as wild as they are in other version. The Japanese version ramps up the wildness and fills the pages with a frantic energy that leaps off the page. It's also interesting for me to see which scenes were illustrated in each as not every illustrator chose the same moments to capture. Naturally, the different illustrators seemed to pick moments that fit their style best.

Above is scene which all three books illustrated. In this scene, the two pirate siblings, Vicky and Aaron, have made their favorite family recipe, Sea Slug Cereal, for the rest of the gang. Needless to say, it isn't a hit. It smells rotten and tastes worse. The different approach in overall attitude is pretty clear in these illustrations.

As an author writing a book you know will be illustrated, it can be quite a nervous adventure waiting to see what those pictures will look like. The tone of the pictures can very well alter the tone of the story in the readers mind. And given that an author has very little say or control over the direction of the art, it's always a point of worry. I was extremely lucky with this series that all three versions do the stories a great service.

(Peter, Aaron, Vicky, Gary, Inna - U.S. version)

(Vicky, Aaron, Gary, Inna, Peter - German version)

(Gary, Inna, Peter, Vicky, Aaron - Japanese version)

(Gary, Vicky, Peter, Inna, Aaron - My original sketch)

I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so...

The other day I received a package I've been waiting for ever since I first heard my Pirate School series was being translated in Japanese and being re-illustrated. I'm a huge anime fan, so naturally I couldn't wait to see my characters done in that style. After nearly a year or more of waiting, I finally got to see them...and they're awesome.

One of the best moments (or potentially worst) of being a writer of children's books is getting to see the illustrations that accompany your story. I've been lucky enough to experience that three different times with these books. First the originals, then the German editions, and now the Japanese. It's amazing how each gives the story a different feel.

As expected, the Japanese versions of my characters are hyper expressive and everything they do is exaggerated. In many ways they fit the story perfectly. Plus the layout of the language allows for bigger illustrations and more interaction between text and picture, as did the Taiwanese versions, which kept the original illustrations.

The covers of the first four books are below. I'm not even sure which characters are my name and I kind of like it that way.

Pirate School #1: The Curse of Snake Island

Pirate School #2: Ghost Ship, Ahead!

Pirate School #3: Attack on the High Seas

Pirate School #4: Port of Spies

I feel very fortunate these stories that I've created have been able to reach so many children in so many different cultures. I'm especially proud to have them reach Japan, a culture that has greatly influenced my own imagination. I only wish it were under better circumstances. The situation there has upset me a great deal this past week. If just one child in that country can read these books and momentarily forget the horrible events taking place, then I will have done my job. Saving the world one story at a time isn't just a name for this blog, it's something that I believe in and will continue doing for as long as I can.

I Think I'm Turning Taiwanese, I Really Think So...

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.

Louras Zumbis

- MORTE!

- MORTE!

- MORTE!

I received Brazilian copies of Zombie Blondes (Louras Zumbis) in the mail recently and I don't know why, but it's almost more fun looking at your own books when you have no idea what they say. The idea of not being able to understand words that I wrote intrigues. It's kind of a thing that truly only Bugs Bunny would comprehend.

It will be curious how this slowcore horror story of iconic Americana fascism plays out in a country that is culturally so different than ours. The book has done well in Australia, but that makes sense to me. I've always seen that sub-continent as a kind of young America, plus there isn't the always tricky translation issue to contend with. I certainly hope the story reads well in Portuguese...who knows, maybe I read like Andre Gide when read in that language. One can hope.

Worldwide Zombie Invasion

With the U.S., Canada, Germany, Australia, and Mexico already fallen prey and conquered, the Zombie Invasion has spread to the Czech Republic. Prague is currently overrun with the publication of Zombie Blondes. I tend to be popular in the former Soviet Bloc for some reason or other. It must have something to do with my love of bleak weather, grey buildings, and European military uniform styles.

I got my Czech copies in the mail the other day. They look really cool. It's the first translation that has gone with a different cover, so that's always fun to see.

I've been fortunate enough in my career to have been somewhat widely translated and flipping through a book you wrote and not being able to read a word of it never loses it's absurdest thrill.

People of the Czech Republic, enjoy. (You always be Czechoslovakia to me, thanks to endless map quizzes by certain former nun who happened to be my 7th grade Social Studies teacher).

Kinder Corruption

Translation is a funny thing. The intent of words often gets muddled in the mixing of meaning and language, but that's what makes it so fun. As an author, I've been lucky enough to have books translated into Danish, Hungarian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, and of course, the German. (I love that German is so haughty that it refers to itself as "the").  

My Pirate School books are my first german titles (though Zombie Blondes will soon follow). I've been looking forward to german titles since it's the one foreign language I can read and somewhat understand. I saw the first two books a few months ago and love the way they turned out. But getting copies of your own translated titles is not an easy thing. So, when I was over in Switzerland, I wanted to pick up an extra set of all 3 titles currently out. I figured one quick stop could accomplish this, but apparently the books are popular there and it became a trek from one shop to the next in order to complete the task.

My favorite stop had to be the store pictured above. This book store is located in the basement of Zurich's big toy store. The dragon tail in the photo is a slide that kids can take into the store. If I had seen it from above, I certainly would've given it a try...but alas, it was crowded with toddlers. It was a rare moment of quiet that I was able to snap the picture. The store had several copies, all of which I needed for my set (and the extra set I was buying for my parents). 

Later that night, I was flipping through the newest book and noticed something strange. I noticed my little characters were very fond of a particular word that caught my eye. 

"Verdammt!" 

Now, granted my german is a little rusty, but I was pretty sure what that word meant...as do most of you who don't speak the language. I'm sure you can guess that it's not a very nice word and one I'm sure would never be found in an American book for the same age group.  I went through the U.S. book wondering what word they translated so harshly. As it turns out, it was several words, ranging from rotten to plain ARRR! In fact, my foul-mouthed lil' shipmates threw the word around so freely, it even made it into a chapter title. 

Well, no wonder the books are popular! What kid doesn't want to read a book with dirty words? I certainly did when I was young. A few verdammts here, a couple of potzdonners there...great fun! Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset. I'm actually very pleased. I started swearing like a pirate myself at the age of seven (beating my characters by a year and half). Words are just words, I've always felt that way. And I've been oft ridiculed for the language in my teen novels, so why not just go all the way? 

However, I couldn't help envisioning a playground full of swearing, swashbuckling blond children. It made me laugh...until I envisioned the angry mob of parents who probably hate me. I'm sure many of them would like to get their hands on   this foul-mouthed American surfer who is corrupting their youth. 

Oh yeah, that's another beautiful thing...for some reason my german publisher, Random House, is under the wild impression that I'm a surfer who likes to pretend my board is the plank of a pirate ship. For the record, I've never surfed in my life. I suppose all long-haired blonde American males are surfers as far as they're concerned. Just a mix-up in cultural translation.