Loredana Baldinucci was born in Umbria, but lives and works in Milan. She translates and edits children’s books and was one of the founding members of NTL.
As an editor, she works on Italian and foreign fiction for Editrice Il Castoro. Her translations include: the Percy Jackson and Magnus Chase series, by Rick Riordan (with Laura Melosi), Kill All Enemies, by Melvin Burgess, The Marvels, by Brian Selznick, The Girl Who Speaks Bear and The Castle of Tangled Magic, by Sophie Anderson (Rizzoli). As an author, she published the book Sei mai stato un babuino? and the earlier Gatta Micia (Il Castoro).
They say that children’s literature is the driving force behind italian publishing, particularly in the post-pandemic era. Is this really true, and if so, why do you think this is?
Yes, in recent years and in times of crisis, the children’s sector is the one that has shown the most resilience. For an average family (I stress average, because not everyone everywhere can afford it), buying a book is a sustainable expense. For adults, it’s a way to invest in their children’s education, and reading is seen as a skill that school is supposed to develop, which in turn encourages it and can determine the success of a book. Plus, kids are passionate and loyal readers if they come across a book they really like, and this sometimes triggers a peer-to-peer word-of-mouth, more and more often on social media. When this happens, it can create bestsellers.
And a book for young adults?
You’ve picked the two extremes! And we could talk about that for hours.
At the moment, books that help adults cope with a problem they’re having with their children have a good chance of selling: “My son doesn’t sleep”; “I’d like to help him cope better with his anger / boredom…”; “He always fights with his little brother” etc. But there’s also much more to it, and many factors come into play. To name a few: a well-told story, the quality of the illustrations, originality, sheer fun, it works well when read aloud, and has a voice capable of speaking to children without being condescending.
With YA novels, at the moment, the market seems to reward emotionally compelling stories that lean toward romance. In terms of quality, I would say that an authentic voice is crucial here too: kids live in the real world and they know it; if they smell adult hypocrisy, they run for the hills.
Do you think there’s space in the publishing industry for poetry and philosophy aimed at children?
Yes, of course. I’m thinking of authors like Chiara Carminati and Silvia Vecchini, to give two examples; there are collections of poetry being published, and poetry is entering into fiction (like the novel “Mille briciole di luce”, by Silvia Vecchini, published by Il Castoro). In the United States, children’s novels in verse have seen quite a trend in recent years (one example is “Brown Girl Dreaming”, by Jacqueline Woodson, published in Italy by Fandango). Illustrated books are often children’s first experience with poetry and poetic language. In any case, it should be well written.
As for philosophy, I think that in the best examples of children’s literature, from picture books to YA novels, the “big questions” are very common, without becoming the stated intent, because they’re part of the human experience, and that is what good stories are about. If, on the other hand, you mean popular books about philosophy in the strictest sense (the great thinkers, etc.), I think that’s a harder road to go down, but not impossible: there are publishers who take that on.
You started as a translator. In light of your experience, does translating books for children and very young children require special skills and/or expertise?
I believe that a genuine interest in children’s literature and an affinity with children is helpful: I’ve always genuinely enjoyed translating for them. I feel like an accomplice to the author and readers. If you have fun and are passionate about it, I think it shows. For the rest, I think you learn and improve a lot with experience.
What are the major difficulties and challenges that books of this kind pose? (A practical example might be interesting!)
I think the first challenge is the register: very often there are novels narrated in the first person, and if the narrator in question is twelve years old, he or she has to have a believable voice. The same applies to dialogues. It also happens quite often to come across puns, rhymes, names that describe the character [nomen omen], puzzles built around language: they can be a challenge.
In the case of picture books, a good lesson in translation, and before that in writing, came from Bruno Tognolini, when he translated the picture book ‘Ciao Cielo’ (‘Blue on Blue’, by Dianne White and Beth Krommes) for Il Castoro. His approach was to “use absolutely everyday words, only well arranged”. His account of this experience can be found here: https://www.tognolini.online/ciaociel.html
In the translation of picture books, which is anything but simple, every word counts, and its relationship to the pictures counts. Quite a challenge.
I think the first challenge is the register: very often there are novels narrated in the first person, and if the narrator in question is twelve years old, he or she has to have a believable voice. The same applies to dialogues. It also happens quite often to come across puns, rhymes, names that describe the character [nomen omen], puzzles built around language: they can be a challenge.
In the case of picture books, a good lesson in translation, and before that in writing, came from Bruno Tognolini, when he translated the picture book ‘Ciao Cielo’ (‘Blue on Blue’, by Dianne White and Beth Krommes) for Il Castoro. His approach was to “use absolutely everyday words, only well arranged”. His account of this experience can be found here: https://www.tognolini.online/ciaociel.html
In the translation of picture books, which is anything but simple, every word counts, and its relationship to the pictures counts. Quite a challenge.
Do you think that in translating for children, the translator has more freedom in relation to the source text and can therefore be more creative?
Children’s literature has its specific issues, but it is literature: the question of freedom with respect to the source text is in principle similar to what we would have in literary texts for an adult readership, and one can pour rivers of ink into a faithful translation. Generally speaking, I believe that there should be communicative approach above all, one that puts the reader and the enjoyability of the translated text first: if a line of dialogue makes you laugh in the source text, it should have the same effect in the target text, even at the cost of being less faithful to the original, and this is where the translator’s creativity comes into play (but I wouldn’t call it a question of freedom: it’s a question of being faithful to the communicative intention of the text, which in this case is to make the reader laugh).
However, children’s literature is only a part of publishing for children, which like adult publishing is very broad and involves everything, including good entertaining books, skilfully written, but without any particular literary aspirations. And in these cases, there can be more freedom, if necessary, but it’s something closer to editing than translation. A typical example: the Italian language has a lower tolerance for repetitions and clichés than English. To exaggerate: if on one page a character “rolls his eyes” three times and never knows how to say no without first “shaking his head”, in the translation or revision one tries to avoid this.
One question, a more personal one. Recently you also published as an author. Was it a natural transition, something you always wanted to do, or was it something that happened by chance? How does one become an author of children’s books?
I’ve always loved words, and the passion and energy I poured first into translating and then into my work as an editor comes from there. The urge to write also comes from the same place, and over the years I found myself writing from time to time, even if only as a personal outlet. Writing to publish, however, is something else, and I’ve actually published very little, albeit gladly. It was natural for me to write for children, but I find it hard to consider myself a fully-fledged author, especially when I think of the authors I’ve been lucky enough to work with. I’m happy to work on other people’s books. How does one become an author for children? Everyone has their own story. It’s hard to answer that. As an editor, however, I can tell you that, beyond a very personal drive or talent, writing is a craft that requires dedication and commitment; it has its own techniques, its own tools; it must be nurtured with perseverance. And just like translating and editing, you learn and improve as you go along.
