I recently received my copies of the Japanese version of Dumpling for Lili, published by Kaiseisha Publishing, Ltd., and my heart is exploding with joy!
Though I'm of Japanese descent, I didn't grow up speaking or hearing Japanese as a native Californian, because my parents didn't grow up speaking the language. They were children of WWII in Hawaii and at that time, they weren't allowed to speak or learn Japanese. So the language was never passed on down.
Later when I was a college student I took my first class in Japanese at UC Santa Cruz. I was an exchange student for a year via the UC system and studied at ICU (International Christian University) in Tokyo, After graduating, I went back to Japan with the JET (Japan Exchange Teaching) Programme. I lived in Iwate Prefecture for two years, working first as an assistant teacher and later as a Coordinator of International Relations.
During my time in Japan, I absolutely fell in love with Japanese children's books. I was able to read them because they are written completely in hiragana (the native Japanese syllabary alphabet). I used to fantasize about being a children's book author and illustrator but felt that dream was WAY out of my reach, and I didn't even know where to begin!
So now, decades later, seeing my book translated into Japanese (by Kazue Yokoyama) -- I'm just floored!
Kaiseisha, the publisher, did a beautiful job, in my opinion. I love so much about this book, but there are six things that stand out:
1. I love that it exists all! I've had books translated into other languages before, but this is my first Japanese one. I love that I can share it with my son, Jamie, who has been studying Japanese for five years in high school and can now read this version himself!
2. I love that the translator took so much care in translating the story so that it is accessible to the Japanese audience. For one, the title was changed -- a direct translation is something like: "Today is plump meat bun day" -- this is actually similar to my books, Soup Day and Pizza Day!
3. I love that the endpapers are labeled in katakana (the alphabet used for foreign words) so kids can read the names of the dumplings. Bao is renamed “nikuman” or “meat bun” and is written in hiragana (the alphabet used for native Japanese words).
3. I love that the story is almost completely written in hiragana (the native syllabary alphabet and katakana (the alphabet used for foreign words) so it is easy to read! When the Chinese characters are used (mostly in the recipe), they have included the furigana (phonetic reading for kids who don't know Chinese characters yet!).
4. I love that the publisher made my hand lettering look like mine but in Japanese! The translator also added different exclamations in Japanese after the original ones to help explain to Japanese kids what they mean.
5. I absolutely love the end matter that they added at the end of the book! One page includes a map and an explanation of where each dumpling came from. The other page explains about where the grandmas come from, what language they speak, and a note about the different ways they say, "Darn!" They even added a note about how the Italian, "cavoli", which Nonna says in the story, means "cabbage!"
There’s a little note about me (originally they had translated “foodie” as “glutton” - ha ha. Now it says that I “love to cook”.
6. I love that they added a note about Dumpling for Lili winning an SCBWI Crystal Kite award on the jacket flap! I did not give them that information, so it was a pleasant surprise to read that in Japanese!!
I'm SO SO thankful for my publisher, Norton Books for Young Readers, and Kaiseisha Publishing for publishing my dumpling story! It's truly a dream come true!!!