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  Mildred L. Batchelder Award

This award honors Mildred L. Batchelder, a former executive director of the Association for Library Service to Children, a believer in the importance of good books for children in translation from all parts of the world. Batchelder spent 30 years with ALA, working as an ambassador to the world on behalf of children and books, encouraging and promoting the translation of the world's best children's literature. Her life's work was "to eliminate barriers to understanding between people of different cultures, races, nations, and languages."
This award, established in her honor in 1966, is a citation awarded to an American publisher for a children's book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States.


2012 Medal Winner:

Soldier Bear
  Written by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Philip Hopman, translated by Laura Watkinson
An orphaned Syrian brown bear cub is adopted by Polish soldiers during World War II and serves for five years as their mischievous mascot in Iran and Italy. Based on a true story.

2012 Honor Book:

The Lily Pond
  Written by Annika Thor
Having left Nazi-occupied Vienna a year ago, thirteen-year-old Jewish refugee Stephie Steiner adapts to life in the cultured Swedish city of Gothenburg, where she attends school, falls in love, and worries about her parents who were not allowed to emigrate.


2011 Medal Winner:

A time of miracles
  Written by Anne-Laure Bondoux and translated from the French by Y. Maudet
In the early 1990s, a boy with a mysterious past and the woman who cares for him endure a five-year journey across the war-torn Caucasus and Europe, weathering hardships and welcoming unforgettable encounters with other refugees searching for a better life.

2011 Honor Books:

Nothing 
  Written by Janne Teller ; translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken
When thirteen-year-old Pierre Anthon leaves school to sit in a plum tree and train for becoming part of nothing, his seventh grade classmates set out on a desperate quest for the meaning of life.
Departure time
  Written by Truus Matti ; translated by Nancy Forest-Flier
Fantasy and realism blend in this debut novel, translated from the Dutch, about a young girl trying to come to terms with her beloved father's sudden death. In the first chapter, a girl named Mouse finds herself in a hotel, where a capable, talking fox and rat show her around. Then the novel switches to the realistic, present-tense, first-person drama of a girl grieving for her musician father, who died while on a concert trip. Is his death her fault? Was he upset by her furious letter that raged at him for not making it back home in time for her 11th birthday?
[Available in Suffolk County]


2010 Medal Winner:

A faraway island
  Written by Annika Thor and translated from the Swedish by Linda Schenck
In 1939 Sweden, two Jewish sisters wait for their parents to flee the Nazis in Austria, but while eight-year-old Nellie settles in quickly, twelve-year-old Stephie feels stranded at the end of the world, with a foster mother who is as cold and unforgiving as the island on which they live.

2010 Honor Books:

Moribito II : Guardian of the Darkness
  Written by Nahoko Uehashi ; translated by Cathy Hirano
The wandering female bodyguard Balsa returns to her native country of Kanbal, where she uncovers a conspiracy to frame her mentor and herself.
[Available in Suffolk County]
Big wolf and little wolf
  Written by Nadine Brun-Cosme; translated by Claudia Bedrick
When Big Wolf decides to surprise Little Wolf in the dead of winter by fetching a little leaf from an otherwise bare tree, both of them are rewarded in different ways by Big Wolf's effort.
Eidi
  Written by Bodil Bredsdorff ; translated from the Danish by Kathryn Mahaffy
Eidi leaves her mother and stepfather in Crow Cove to live in a nearby village, where she meets the much younger Tink and rescues him from the abusive man he has been living with.


2009 Medal Winner:

Moribito: guardian of the spirit  Written by Nahoko Uehashi and translated from the Japanese by Cathy Hirano
The wandering warrior Balsa is hired to protect Prince Chagum from both a mysterious monster and the prince's father, the Mikado.

Honor Books:

Garmann's summer  Written and illustrated by Stian Hole, and translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
As the summer ends, six-year-old Garmann's three ancient aunts visit and they all talk about the things that scare them.
Tiger Moon  Written Antonia Michaelis; translated from the German by Anthea Bell
Sold to be the eighth wife of a rich and cruel merchant, Safia, also called Raka, tries to escape her fate by telling stories of Farhad the thief, his companion Nitish the white tiger, and their travels across India to retrieve a famous jewel that will save a kidnapped princess from becoming the bride of a demon king.


2008 Medal Winner:

Brave Story  Written by Miyuki Miyabe and translated from the Japanese by Alexander O. Smith  [Available in Suffolk County]
After his father abandons them and his mother tries to commit suicide, young Wataru decides to try to navigate the magical world of Vision, collecting five elusive gemstones along the way, in order to claim the Demon's Bane that will change his fate.

Honor Books:

The Cat: Or, How I Lost Eternity  Written by Jutta Richter, with illustrations by Rotraut Susanne Berner, and translated from the German by Anna Brailovsky  [Available in Suffolk County]
Eight-year-old Christine is late for school every day because a talking alley cat demands her attention, giving her much to think about as he tries to teach her to be spiteful and pitiless.
Nicholas and the Gang  Written by René Goscinny, illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé, and translated from the French by Anthea Bell
Presents a collection of stories that focuses on the whimsical adventures and misadventures of little Nicholas and his friends, both in school and out.


2007 Medal Winner:

The Pull of the Ocean  Written by Jean-Claude Mourlevat; translated by Y. Maudet
Loosely based on Charles Perrault's "Tom Thumb," seven brothers in modern-day France flee their poor parents' farm, led by the youngest who, although mute and unusually small, is exceptionally wise.

Honor Books:

The Killer's Tears  Written by Anne-Laure Bondoux; translated by Y. Maudet
A young boy, Paolo, and the man who murdered his parents, Angel, gradually become like father and son as they live and work together on the remote Chilean farm where Paolo was born.
The Last Dragon  Written by Silvana De Mari; translated by Shaun Whiteside
Yorsh is the last of his kind, an elf child in a world that despises elves. He seeks warmth, food, and shelter but has found only cold, rain, and despair. When he meets two unlikely companionships-humans who help him in spite of their prejudices-Yorsh learns of a prophecy concerning the last dragon and the last elf: when these two break the circle there will be a new beginning.




2006 Medal Winner:
  • An Innocent Soldier  by Josef Holub; translated from German by Michael Hofmann  [Available in Suffolk County]
    A sixteen-year-old farmhand is tricked into fighting in the Napoleonic Wars by the farmer for whom he works, who secretly substitutes him for the farmer's own son.


    Honor Books:

  • Nicholas  by René Goscinny, illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé, translated from French by Anthea Bell

  • When I was a soldier  by Valérie Zenatti, translated from the French by Adriana Hunter  [Available in Suffolk County]






2005 Medal Winner:
  • The Shadows of Ghadames  by Joëlle Stolz; translated from the French by Catherine Temerson  [Available in Suffolk County]
    At the end of the nineteenth century in Libya, eleven-year-old Malika simultaneously enjoys and feels constricted by the narrow world of women, but an injured stranger enters her home and disrupts the traditional order of things.


    Honor Books:

  • The Crow-Girl: The Children of Crow Cove  by Bodil Bredsdorff; translated from the Danish by Faith Ingwersen
    After the death of her grandmother, an orphaned young girl leaves her house by the cove and begins a journey which leads her to people and experiences that exemplify the wisdom her grandmother had shared with her.

  • Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi  by David Chotjewitz; translated by Doris Orgel
    In 1933, best friends Daniel and Armin admire Hitler, but as anti-Semitism buoys Hitler to power, Daniel learns he is half Jewish, threatening the friendship even as life in their beloved Hamburg, Germany, is becoming nightmarish. Also details Daniel and Armin's reunion in 1945 in interspersed chapters.





2004 Medal Winner:
  • Run, Boy, Run  by Uri Orlev and translated from Hebrew by Hillel Halkin.
    Based on the true story of a nine-year-old boy who escapes the Warsaw Ghetto and must survive throughout the war in the Nazi-occupied Polish countryside.


    Honor Book:





2003 Medal Winner:
  • The Thief Lord  by Cornelia Funke and translated by Oliver Latsch.

    Two brothers, having run away from the aunt who plans to adopt the younger one, are sought by a detective hired by their aunt, but they have found shelter with--and protection from--Venice's "Thief Lord."


    Honor Book:

  • Henrietta and the Golden Eggs   by Hanna Johansen. Translated by John Barrett.

    The persistence of Henrietta, one of 3,333 chickens on a chicken farm, leads to a better life for them all.





2002 Medal Winner:
  • How I Became an American  by Karin Gündisch and translated by James Skofield.

    In 1902, ten-year-old Johann and his family, Germans who had been living in Austria-Hungary, board a ship to immigrate to Youngstown, Ohio, where they make a new life as Americans.


    Honor Book:

  • A Book of Coupons   by Susie Morgenstern. Translated from the French by Gill Rosner for the U.S. edition.

    Elderly Monsieur Noel, the very unconventional new eighth-grade teacher, gives coupon books for such things as dancing in class and sleeping late, which are bound to get him in trouble with the military discipline of Principal Incarnation Perez.





2001 Medal Winner:
  • Samir and Yonatan  by Daniella Carmi. Translated from the Hebrew by Yael Lotan.

    Samir, a Palestinian boy, is sent for surgery to an Israeli hospital where he has two otherworldly experiences, making friends with an Israeli boy, Yonatan, and traveling with him to Mars where Samir finds peace about his brother's death in the war.


    Honor Book:

  • Ultimate Game   by Christian Lehmann. Translated from the French by William Rodarmor.

    In the video store of their dreams, Eric, Charles and Andrea discover a game which brings each of them into his own personal nightmares.





2000 Medal Winner:
  • The Baboon King  by Anton Quintana. Translated from the Dutch by John Nieuwenhuizen.

    Son of a Kikuyu mother and a Masai herdsman father, Morengáru the hunter lives on the edges of tribal society until an actual banishment forces him to make a life for himself among a troop of baboons.


    Honor Books:

  • Collector of Moments  by Quint Buchholz. Translated from the German by Peter F. Neumeyer.[Available in Suffolk County]

    When Max, an artist, departs for a long journey, the boy who is his friend and neighbor visits his apartment and discovers an exhibition of pictures created just for him.

  • Vendela in Venice  by Christina Björk. Translated from the Swedish by Patricia Crampton.

    On a visit to Venice with her father, Vendela experiences the richness and beauty of the city and its palaces, gondolas, and statues.

  • Asphalt Angels   by Ineke Holtwijk. Translated from the Dutch by Wanda Boeke. [Available in Suffolk County]

    Abandoned on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, thirteen-year-old Alex joins a group of children like him and finds himself adapting to his new life.





1999 Medal Winner:
  • Thanks to My Mother  by Schoschana Rabinovici. Translated from the German by James Skofield.

    After struggling to survive in Nazi-occupied Lithuania, a young Jewish girl and her mother endure much suffering in Kaiserwald, Stutthof, and Tauentzien concentration camps and on an eleven-day death march before being liberated by the Russian army.


    Honor Book:

  • Secret Letters from 0 to 10   by Susie Morgenstern. Translated from the French by Gill Rosner.

    Ten-year-old Ernest lives a boring existence in Paris with his grandmother until a lively girl named Victory enters his class at school.





1998 Medal Winner:
  • The Robber and Me  by Josef Holub. Edited by Mark Aronson and translated from the German by Elizabeth D. Crawford.

    Because he knows that the man accused of robbery is innocent, an eleven-year-old orphan struggles to find the courage to reveal the truth to his uncle in their small German village in 1867.


    Honor Books:

  • Hostage to War: a True Story   by Tatjana Wassiljewa. Translated from German by Anna Trenter.

    The author relates her experiences from 1941-1953 as she struggles to survive as a Russian teenager caught up in all the horrors of World War II and its aftermath.

  • Nero Corleone: a Cat's Story   by Elke Heidenrich. Translated from German by Doris Orgel.

    A bold and self-serving tom cat reigns supreme both in the farmyard in Italy where he was born and later in the comfortable home in Germany to which a vacationing couple takes him and his helpless sister.





1997 Medal Winner:
  • The Friends  by Kazumi Yumoto. Translated from Japanese by Cathy Hirano.

    Curious about death, three sixth-grade boys decide to spy on an old man waiting for him to die, but they end up becoming his friends.





1996 Medal Winner:
  • The Lady with the Hat  by Uri Orlev. Translated from Hebrew by Hillel Halkin.[Available in Suffolk County]

    In 1947, seventeen-year-old Yulek, the only member of his immediate family to survive the German concentration camps, joins a group of young Jews preparing to live on a kibbutz in Israel, unaware that his aunt living in London is looking for him.


    Honor Books:





1995 Medal Winner:
  • The Boys from St. Petri  by Bjarne Reuter. Translated from Danish by Anthea Bell.

    In 1942, a group of young men begin a series of increasingly dangerous protests against the German invaders of their Danish homeland.


    Honor Book:





1994 Medal Winner:
  • The Apprentice  by Pilar Molina Llorente. Translated from Spanish by Robin Longshaw.

    Working as an artist's apprentice in Renaissance Florence, thirteen-year-old Arduino makes a discovery which may cost him the chance to become a painter.


    Honor Books:

  • The Princess in the Kitchen Garden   by Annemie &: Margriet Heymans. Translated from Dutch by Johanna H. Prins and Johanna W. Prins. [Available in Suffolk County]

    As their father becomes more absorbed in his work, Matthew and his sister Hannah come to terms with their mother's death in very unusual ways.

  • Anne Frank Beyond the Diary: A Photographic Remembrance   by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven, in association with the Anne Frank House. Translated from Dutch by Tony Langham and Plym Peters.

    Photographs, illustrations, and maps accompany historical essays, diary excerpts, and interviews, providing an insight to Anne Frank and the massive upheaval which tore apart her world.





1993 Medal Winner:
  • No Award Given







1992 Medal Winner:
  • The Man from the Other Side  by Uri Orlev. Translated from Hebrew by Hillel Halkin.

    Living on the outskirts of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, fourteen-year-old Marek and his grandparents shelter a Jewish man in the days before the Jewish uprising.





1991 Medal Winner:
  • A Hand Full of Stars  by Rafik Schami. Translated from German by Rika Lesser. [Available in Suffolk County]

    Because he wants to be a writer, a teenage boy in Damascus, Syria, decides to keep a journal. At first, he writes of everyday events, but soon he is expressing deeper feelings - his hatred of the harsh Syrian government that has arrested and tortured his father, for no reason. And as he becomes more and more enraged at the injustices around him, the emotions hidden in his diary can no longer be contained. The boy and his friends start a subversive underground newspaper - an action that truly puts his life in danger.





1990 Medal Winner:
  • Buster's World  by Bjarne Reuter. Translated from Danish by Anthea Bell. [Available in Suffolk County]

    Buster's magic tricks get him in and out of trouble.





1989 Medal Winner:
  • Crutches  by Peter Härtling. Translated from German by Elizabeth D. Crawford.

    A young boy, searching vainly for his mother in post-war Vienna, is befriended by a man on crutches and together they find hope for the future.





1988 Medal Winner:
  • If You Didn't Have Me  by Ulf Nilsson. Translated from Swedish by Lone Thygesen Clecher & George Blecher.

    Spending most of a year with relatives on a farm in southern Sweden while his parents are busy building a new house in town, a young boy finds inner strengths and unexpected sources of entertainment.





1987 Medal Winner:
  • No Hero for the Kaiser  by Rudolph Frank. Translated from German by Patricia Crampton.

    Jan, a fourteen-year-old Polish boy whose town is invaded in World War I, joins a German battalion and experiences the horrors of battle.





1986 Medal Winner:
  • Rose Blanche  by Christophe Gallaz & Robert Innocenti. Translated from Italian by Martha Coventry & Richard Craglia.

    During World War II, a young German girl's curiosity leads her to discover something far more terrible than the day-to-day hardships and privations that she and her neighbors have experienced.





1985 Medal Winner:
  • The Island on Bird Street  by Uri Orlev. Translated from Hebrew by Hillel Halkin.

    During World War II a Jewish boy is left on his own for months in a ruined house in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he must learn all the tricks of survival under constantly life-threatening conditions.





1984 Medal Winner:
  • Ronia, the Robber's Daughter  by Astrid Lindgren. Translated from Swedish by Patricia Crampton.

    Ronia, who lives with her father and his band of robbers in a castle in the woods, causes trouble when she befriends the son of a rival robber chieftain.





1983 Medal Winner:
  • Hiroshima No Pika  by Toshi Maruki. Translated from Japanese through Kurita-Bando Literary Agency.

    A retelling of a mother's account of what happened to her family during the Flash that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.





1982 Medal Winner:
  • The Battle Horse  by Harry Kullman. Translated from Swedish by George Blecher & Lone Thygesen Blecher. [Available in Suffolk County]

    The children on a Stockholm street engage in a modern-day jousting tournament in which the rich are knights and the poor are the horses who bear them.





1981 Medal Winner:
  • The Winter When Time Was Frozen  by Els Pelgrom. Translated from Dutch by Maryka & Raphael Rudnik.

    In Holland during the last months of World War II a 12-year-old girl and her father find shelter with a farm family who courageously give sanctuary to all in need of it.





1980 Medal Winner:



1979 Medal Winners:
  • Rabbit Island  by Jörg Steiner. Translated from German by Ann Conrad Lammers. [Unavailable in Suffolk County]



  • Konrad  by Christine Nöstlinger. Translated from German by Anthea Bell.

    By mistake, an unconventional lady receives a perfectly behaved factory-made child in the mail. To escape being returned, he must learn "normal" child behavior.





1978 Medal Winner:
  • No Award Given







1977 Medal Winner:
  • The Leopard  by Cecil Bødker. Translated from Danish by Gunnar Poulsen. [Available in Suffolk County]

    An Ethiopian boy finds his life endangered when he discovers that a disguised blacksmith, not a leopard, is responsible for a great many missing cattle in the area.





1976 Medal Winner:
  • The Cat and Mouse Who Shared a House  by Ruth Hürlimann. Translated from German by Anthea Bell. [Available in Suffolk County]

    Once a cat and mouse shared a house and had a pot of butter to last them through the winter. Then the cat tried to get all the food for herself.





1975 Medal Winner:



1974 Medal Winner:
  • Petros' War  by Aliki Zei. Translated from Greek by Edward Fenton. [Available in Suffolk County]

    A ten-year-old boy works for the Underground Resistance when Greece is occupied by the Germans and Italians during World War II.





1973 Medal Winner:
  • Pulga  by S. R. Van Iterson. Translated from Dutch by Alexander & Alison Gode.

    For a fifteen-year-old boy from the slums of Bogota, Colombia, being taken on as a truck driver's helper is an unbelievably good break.





1972 Medal Winner:
  • Friedrich  by Hans Peter Richter. Translated from German by Edite Kroll.

    A young German boy recounts the fate of his best friend, a Jew, during the Nazi regime.





1971 Medal Winner:



1970 Medal Winner:
  • Wildcat Under Glass  by Aliki Zei. Translated from Greek by Edward Fenton.

    A story about the effects of Fascist dictatorship on an average family in Greece during the late nineteen-thirties.





1969 Medal Winner:
  • Don't Take Teddy  by Babbis Friis-Baastad. Translated from Norwegian by Lise Sømme McKinnon. [Available in Suffolk County]

    Afraid that they might send his mentally retarded brother to an institution a young Norwegian boy decides to run away with him to the mountains.





1968 Medal Winner:
  • The Little Man  by Erich Kästner. Translated from German by James Kirkup. [Available in Suffolk County]

    Maxie Pichelsteiner, a thumbling, became a circus performer in a unique way.




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