By Gelsey Phaneuf

April is National Poetry Month! Poetry can often feel like another language to young readers, and poems in translation offer an additional challenge. As translator David Colmer notes in the Translator’s Note for Poems for Every Season: “Maintaining things like rhyme or syllable count in a translation of fixed-form poetry almost always means taking some liberties with the content of the poem.” So, it is even more exceptional that these books of poetry are available in English.

It was difficult for me to find true poetry for children in translation. Even more challenging to find international offerings beyond European writers. But here are a few recommendations. I encourage you to share more titles in the comments (you can use the hashtag #Poetry for more related articles and books) and to incorporate international poetry into your National Poetry Month celebrations and help your students read around the world!

Poems for Every Season: A Year of Haiku, Sonnets, and More

Haiku introduce each season, starting with spring, in this round-the-year exploration of poetic forms. Each month is also featured through a specific poetic form, some dating back centuries, others completely original. Translator David Colmer notes that some of the poetic forms he used to guide his translations are different from the original Dutch book, to make the poetic forms more familiar to English readers and teachers.

The art features beautiful woodcuts by Henriette Boerendans, capturing different sensations throughout the year, including a sunflower blown about on a windy day, the characteristic knock of a woodpecker, the crisp crunch of an apple and–my favorite–the iconic colors of a goose. Educators looking for an accessible way to incorporate poetry throughout the year can look no further than this collection, which includes an explanation of each poetic form in the back matter.

HaiKuba / HaiCuba: Haiku About Cuba in Spanish and English

Discover the food, music, and culture of Cuba through this bilingual picture book told in haiku. After a brief introduction to the poetic form, poems written in both Spanish and English highlight culturally distinct details of life on the island of Cuba. Readers meet the tocororo bird, its plumage the same colors as the Cuban flag; jump on the crowded city guagua for a ride; taste the dulce de toronja slices before dancing to salsa and catching fire beetles. The natural environment features alongside human culture.

The collection is written in Spanish by Cuban American poet Carlos Pintado and translated into English by Lawrence Schimel, who worked with Pintado to create poems that could translate across languages and fit within the constraints of the haiku. With vibrant illustrations by Spanish artist Juan José Colsa, the book also provides additional back matter about the topics included in the poems. The book can be used for bilingual lessons, to introduce a country that young readers may not know a lot about, and to inspire children to write their own haiku about where they come from or what elements of their culture makes them most proud.

My Dear Sea

A little girl explores the shore and creates a connection with the sea during a day at the beach. Inspired by a beach day with his own daughter, author-illustrator André Carrilho captures the excitement, beauty, and power of the ocean through bold illustrations and creative layouts. The little girl swims in the waves, explores caves, helps fishermen pull up a net, and draws a whale in the sand after the waves destroy her sandcastle.

While not explicitly poetry, My Dear Sea does introduce readers to some building blocks of poetic language. One of our first experiences with poetry as children is through rhyme, and the rhyming couplets of the text ebb and flow just like waves. The text also uses the five senses to capture the experience of a day at the beach. Since Earth Day is also in April, this book would pair perfectly with other activities about the environment, especially the ocean.

Home

Would you prefer to live in a tubular condo, a lace citadel, a cactus cabin or a wax palace? In this nonfiction book, Isabelle Simler uses poems to describe a variety of animal homes, from the bowerbird to the orangutan to the termite. Gorgeously-hued illustrations, reminiscent of scratch board and rendered digitally, show both inside looks and wider perspectives of the described abodes. Translator Vineet Lal does an exceptional job bringing the language to life while keeping the poems accessible. 

Further back matter provides more information about the animals and suggests additional reading. And a special touch are the endpapers, which resemble floor plans for a variety of human homes, illuminating the interconnected nature of living things. Science-savvy children or any young nature lover will find gems in this special collection.  

Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile

I would be remiss not to include any books by acclaimed Chilean author María José Ferrada, who is also a translator into Spanish. Many of her books for children have a poetic quality to them such as Future and Swimmers. Niños is a collection of poems, each dedicated to a child killed during the 17-year dictatorship in Chile. The poems are also connected through recurring motifs which children will relate to: springtime, rainstorms, nighttime, the ocean, sound. By personifying each poem, Ferrada emphasizes the value of every child.

While discussing Chile’s history may not be necessary to read these poems with children, the book does provide a way into difficult conversations regarding contemporary issues in the US and around the globe. The poems promise the reader that their lives, their interests, and their thoughts are valuable and worth recording and honoring.

About Gelsey Phaneuf 

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