Are we shrinking the kids?

Parents, librarians, and teachers pride themselves on broadening children's minds and introducing them to new characters, ideas, and cultures. An article on the Frankfurt Book Fair in the N.Y. Times today, however, reminds us that most Americans limit their reading to books by American authors. Although the article discusses mainly publishers of adult books, the truth is that children's publishers are equally limited. At many international conferences, European and Asian librarians are surprised to learn that Americans do not know the work of favorite authors and illustrators translated and published in most of the developed world are unknown in the United States. Of course the classic works of famous Europeans--Hans Christian Andersen, the Grimm brothers, and several British writers are known and loved here--but modern works by French, German, and Nordic writers who tell children about life in today's world are seldom translated. No wonder many school children know little about geography and can scarcely find Asia on a globe. They haven't had a chance to enter the lives of children who live in other countries, so they haven't developed any curiosity about them. It's time that librarians urge publishers to translate more of the great modern works for children. We owe it to our children and their futures in a global world.