by Georgia Wall

I have a vivid memory of Mrs. Mills, my owl-like primary school teacher, telling me in Reception class that the first time you hold a book you should always take time to sniff it out and maybe, secretly, taste it. What a fun, wonderful way to encourage everyone to try picking up a book! In this post I wanted to share a few of my favourite stories that also appeal to a range of senses and I hope, readers: books that invite you to pronounce words in a different language, that encourage you to grab a crayon or come up with your own creative response; books that beg to be touched and smelled and devoured over and over. If you’re also a book-smeller I hope you’ll find something you love!

Do!
Written by Gita Wolf
Illustrated by Ramesh Hengadi & Shantaram Dhadpe (with help from Rasika Hengadi and Kusum Dhadpe)
English language original
Published by Tara Books (Chennai, India)

“Talk. Draw.”

Taken from the final spread, these words express exactly what I want to do whenever I pick up Do!– and I can’t be alone! As Tara Books highlight, the Warli art featured in this book is ‘one of the easiest art forms for children to relate to. Do! can be used in many ways—as a picture book, to learn verbs, to talk about life in a village, to talk about art…or to draw your own pictures and stories in the Warli style’. The last page even shows you how to recreate Warli figures, which were traditionally painted by the women of this tribal community in Maharashtra, Western India to record both special events and everyday life. The publisher has also created a stimulating resource for educators with suggestions on how to explore the book, a short film showing how the books are made. This really is a wonderful, original book for all ages: an accessible and inspiring introduction to the Warli artistic tradition (and printmaking). Each time I return to it, something new catches my eye. And the screen printed recycled pages have a great smell, too!

The Kiosk 
Written & illustrated by Anete Melece
Translated by Elīna Brasliņa
Translated from Latvian
Published by Gecko Press, 2020

“Olga has been living and working at the kiosk for a long, long time. Maybe too long.”

The Kiosk is a masterpiece; without a doubt one of my favourite books ever. Anyone who has ever found themselves feeling stuck in a rut will be invigorated by Elīna Brasliņa’s pitch-perfect translation of Anete Melece’s uplifiting narrative; if you think picture books are just for kids, The Kiosk will make you think again! The beautiful illustrations are wonderfully rich in detail and provide opportunities to engage the youngest of audiences throughout, as well as humour and lots to think about for older readers. The Kiosk started life as an equally compelling short animated film, and if you’re using these texts in a classroom setting it could be interesting to invite students to them and think of the effects of different ways of storytelling. For aspiring illustrators or designers, Anete Melece’s blog about the book offers a captivating insight into her inspiration and process, including photographs of the real-life kiosk in Riga that inspired the one in the book. With its fun peep-hole cover and thick, matte pages, it is feels invitingly tactile, too. A real gem!

Auntie Luce’s Talking Paintings 
Written by Francie Latour
Illustrated by Ken Daley
English-language original
Published by Groundwood Books (Toronto/Tkaronto, Canada) 2018

“I paint to remember what I’ve seen and heard and smelled and felt.”

Francie Latour explains that she wrote Auntie Luce’s Talking Paintings after meeting Luce Turnier (1924-1994), one of Haiti’s most celebrated female artists who achieved worldwide fame. Latour blends biography, history and a sensory attention to the world to offer an arresting portrait of Haiti and tell the story of the first Black republic through reflections on personal identity; specifically, through the eyes of a young girl visiting her auntie Luce, a painter. It’s a cliché to say that a picture paints a thousand words, but Ken Daley’s dazzling illustrations do just that. The double-page spread depicting ‘the kingdoms of Benin to the sugarcane fields that turned into battlefields, where we fought to the death for our freedom’ is stunning and will raise lots of vital questions about the world we live in and why it is the way it is. I especially love the way Kreyòl is included as a natural part of the dialogue; the glossary with pronunciation guide, and Author’s Note, are very valuable additions.

Rosie Runs
Written & illustrated by Marika Maijala
Translated by Mia Spangenberg
Translated from Finnish
Published by Elsewhere Editions 2023

“A large house glows with cold light in the middle of a garden. Rosie smells bracken and strange plants growing wild.”

Inspired by a real-life dog that the author’s friend rescued from ill treatment in England and brought to Finland, Rosie Runs whisks us aboard one greyhound’s journey of escape. Marika Maijala explains in this tour of her studio that her books are often concerned with the idea of kindness; Rosie’s adventures as she hurtles away from the mechanical monotony and exhaustion of the racetrack are rendered in lively images that immediately evoke sympathy. The gorgeous artwork also serves as an invitation to explore (or revisit) the pleasure of drawing with crayons! With Rosie as our guide, the narrative naturally goes beyond the visual: the scents and sounds of the greyhounds’ journey make this lovely book even more appealing. I also enjoyed reading the author’s and translator’s perspectives at the end.

Meet Georgia Wall:

Georgia Wall is a translator and publishing manager at The Emma Press, an independent publisher in Birmingham (UK). Once a bookseller, always a book-smeller, Georgia is lucky that she has always been able to work with books, whether it’s delivering them, selling them, reading them or helping to make them in English! One of her favourite things about translating is finding new English words and surprising connections between languages.