Shortlisted for the Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation, awarded biennially since 1996, was founded to celebrate the best translation of a children’s book from a foreign language into English and published in the UK. It aims to spotlight the high quality and diversity of translated fiction for young readers.
Translated by Sophie Lewis
Delightful trickery abounds in this collection of magical tales all of which are spiced with a sophisticated sense of humour and sharp wit. Originally published in France, the stories tell of all kinds of plots and plans by which devils and witches and giants are overcome are fun for adults and children alike. The Good Little Devil of the title story does all the things a devil should not! And a story of a potato who is in love! and a giant who needs a lot of magical help to get to a marriageable size. ~ Julia Eccleshare
A Piece of Passion from Stephanie Seegmuller, Associate Publisher, Pushkin Children’s Books I’m really excited that Pushkin Children’s are publishing The Good Little Devil and Other Tales.
Now, this is not just any book. Of all the books I read as a child, this one is my absolute favourite. Having grown up in France, the book was first read to me, then I read it again myself, many times. I still know all the stories by heart and my old copies have followed me everywhere to this day.
The stories themselves are exceptionally memorable. This is a world where everything is completely absurd and makes perfect sense. Potatoes talk and befriend guitars, pigs swallow stars and fairies live in taps… all for very good reasons! It’s also a very reassuring world: the eternal ingredients of fairy tales are all there, with kings, witches, mermaids and fairies, but it's a place entirely lacking in cruelty. The witch turned into a frog and the inevitable queen mother are mean, but they have issues of their own. Kindness to others is always the prime value which will get you out of trouble and in the end, the good are rewarded and the evil are punished.
The stories are incredibly funny, which is why they’re as popular in France with adults as they are with children and why they’ve been handed down from generation to generation ever since the book came out in the 60s. Do a survey today among French 7-10 year-olds and you’ll find everyone knows Prince Blub and the Witch in the Broom Cupboard. And this is not a uniquely French phenomenon! The book has been very successful in 17 other languages, including Mandarin Chinese, and has sold 1.5 million copies worldwide.
So I hope you understand why I’m so glad this book is now available to all English-speaking readers, big and small. The book is as close as possible to the one I read and loved and we’ve even fished out the original illustrations from the highly talented and completely bonkers 80-year-old Puig Rosado. So I hope you enjoy it, and I’d be delighted to find out what you think of it.
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