The Fox on the Swing

Last, but certainly not least! Here comes Anneta Sadowska’s contribution to the PEPELT topic of March, translated picturebooks. Anneta shares her thoughts on ‘The Fox on the Swing’ by Evelina Daciūtė and illustrated by Aušra Kiudulaitė (Thames & Hudson, 2018) originally written in Lithuanian (there is no mention of who translated it!). It won the Batchelder Award in 2019 for best translated picturebook in the USA.

‘The Fox on the Swing’ is a ‘quirky’ picturebook, 48 pages in length with stunning illustrations, using colour to show mood, and and a verbal text in capital letters. It has been described as ‘Profoundly philosophical and optimistic, the book’s themes include what defines happiness and friendship, and how to measure what’s important in life. Sometimes it’s simply being satisfied with what you have, no matter how long that lasts, for happiness doesn’t depend on one person or thing. It’s coming to terms with change and adapting to new situations, as happiness can be found in any place, and that things have a way of coming full circle’.

Listen to Anneta talk about how she brought it into her class of 11 / 12 year olds followed by a short discussion with Sandie around why we bring translated picturebooks into the classroom and the value of this one in particular. Enjoy!