I am sincerely glad to see the Koska' publishing house and that it will be translating Swedish children's books into Belarusian. And anticipating the questions "why not Belarusian authors?", "Why do we need translation?", I would say that the experience of neighboring countries shows that first we get acquainted with the world context, and then, as if by magic, there appear their own authors who fit into this context. In this sense, the Swedish children's book school is one of the most intriguing examples to look up to.
The other day, I talked to the translator and publisher, Nadia Kondrusiewicz, and one phrase at a time made it clear how profoundly tectonic changes are taking place with our children's books right now. Nadia was looking for a successful translation into the Belarusian term "picture book", because there is no such concept in the Belarusian language. We have no concept in the language, which has existed in the book industry for almost a century. The concept behind which hides one of the basic steps of a child's acquaintance with literature.
Somehow neither reading parents, nor a specialist working with children's books, do not need to explain that the examination of pictures does not prevent reading, but only helps him that it is not a tribute to the "clip thinking", a monster, which was accepted to scare some five years ago impressionable adults, and the assistant and guide to the world of modern hard-working narrative.
Picture books are arranged in different ways. For the youngest children, these are very simple miniature stories with illustrative drawings, designed in such a way as to draw the child's attention, keep him/her occupied, surprise him/her, help him/her to learn something new/interesting/acquainted, and in general, show that it is great to have a book, that the book is something about you, something close and important. As the reader grows up, the picture book changes. The illustrations become more complex, the language - and the visual as well - the themes become more multi-layered, the feelings awaken more and more multi-faceted. It comes to the point where the picture book is no longer a child's book, but can talk about the fight against depression, grief, and the consequences of terrible crimes against humanity. On the two poles - from baby reading to conceptual works of art - there will be all the same picture books.
And this phenomenon comes to Belarus. Is it important? Certainly!
Kos'ka will focus on books for children and preschoolers by Swedish authors. The first two editions are almost on their way to the shops. One of them is an example of a picture book as from a textbook. This is "Krumkach kazha Nelga" by Yui Vislander. A few years ago, during one of the writer's visits to Minsk, I heard a phrase from her, which, it seems to me, best characterizes this kind of reading: "You can't assess picture books by the number of words. It's like saying that the better the longer the poems are.
In books for kids, every word in its place, every sound is not accidental. What do we see in the story with Krumkach? This is a story about the prohibitions and their meaninglessness. Mu's mother rides on a swing, flops across puddles, drops off the slides, reads, and Krumkach rolls up his eyes, wails (the very same "Ushchyknitse mint for firkі!") and stands on his own: the cows "nelga" behave like that. Who is Mama Mu and Krumkach here? A parent and a child? Society and a man? Teacher and pupil? Intermediate and talented? How many meanings can you see in a simple story, consisting of repetitive remarks, which are thrown to the cute children's characters?
In the illustrations of Svein Nurdkvist, Mama Mu, who jubilates from every new entertainment, and the desperate defender of the Krumkach norm. Even two-year-old children will notice the contradiction between the pleasure on Mama Mu's face, her determination to give up conditionality and the eternally suffering Krumkach, his squeezing, fear of going beyond. We see only dialogue in the text, no evaluation of the heroes in it, and we understand from the illustrations who is the winner. This is the most important merit of picture books. To teach the reader to see a little more behind the words, and to understand the illustrations a little wider.
And we are still talking about the youngest readers. Analysis of a literary work can take amazing forms, and do not think that his secrets will be learned by children in school for the first time in reading lessons. Picture books aren't that simple, and their little fans have a better chance of growing into thoughtful readers than children who have jumped over "no serious reading" because there's "nothing to read".