ORIGIN early 17th cent.: via French from Italian gazzetta, originally gazeta de la novità (because the news-sheet sold for a gazeta, a Venetian coin of small value)


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

drôle d'oiseau… (a funny little bird)

I love the look of this picture book.


What I love even more is that this little French-language picture book was written by an American. Yes, by a Minnesota native who lives in Strasbourg, France. And what's even more fabulous is that the English language rights were bought by an American publisher.
Rights to picture books are bought and sold at Bologna but usually an Italian picture book turns out to be written by an Italian, a French picture book by someone whose native language is French, and a Russian one by an author whose mother tongue is Russian.
Yay! Bravo! to Jennifer Yerkes!
Yay! Bravo! to éditions MeMo!
And big Yay! and big Bravo! to Sourcebooks and publisher Dominique Raccah who brought it to the attention of acquisitions editor Steve Geck! Do those two realize how very daring they are? I can only assume that they know how very few foreign language books are translated into English for American readers? Here's to courage and bravery and daring!
I have yet to have a picture book published but I am working on several, both in French and English. I would love to have a picture book I've written in French be published in France, and then, à la Jennifer Yerkes, have an American editor fall in love with it, and publish it in the States. Being a bilingual author is such a great state of bliss. I am an American whose native language is English, and yet, my passion is to find the words in French, to write in French. I have written my first two published works in French, edited by Éditions Talents Hauts. If only Formula One were as popular in the US as baseball is, the strong-girl story of Axelle who wants to be a race-car driver in Combinaison gagnante could excite an editor here, and be translated into English!
In the meantime, I find the tale of a funny little bird to be highly inspirational. Congratulations to Jennifer, to MeMo, and to Sourcebooks.