These ten books include comic classics from 1960s Argentina and 1970s Italy, and eerie speculative fiction hurling us forward to 2090s Comoros. We encounter bravery in the face of giant invertebrates and venomous bats, vulnerability in the face of aging and dementia, and the awful reality of having to confess to a lie. Do-gooding neighbors jostle with sly ne’er-do-wells taking a baron hostage and investigating the theft of a goldfish under false pretenses. From silly stories to sensitive treatments of social issues, there’s a bit of everything in this selection of English translations for young readers out this spring and summer.

Picture Books

How Do You Eat Color?
Written in Filipino by Mabi David, illustrated by Yas Doctor, translated by Karen Llagas
English edition published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Mouthwatering spreads await as we join a Filipino boy and girl, and their pet chameleon, on a journey through a rainbow landscape of fruits and vegetables. They traverse—and munch their way through—a sumptuous valley of watermelon banks, find shade beneath banana peel parasols as the sun reaches its peak, and admire an orange sunset as the melon-slice moon rises above a forest of carrots, before snuggling down to sleep amidst dark blueberries. The backmatter includes a guide to the many fruits featured, including moringa, purple yam, dragon fruit (pitaya), and hibiscus, and recommends eight delicious ways to squeeze more color (and health goodness!) into your diet.

Yes, We’ll Do It!
Written in Hebrew by Dafna Strum, illustrated by Shahar Kober, translated by Ilana Kurshan
English edition published by Kalaniot Books

Inspired by a traditional Jewish story, this is the fun tale of community members helping each other out in turn, but leaving their own job untended and needing someone else to step in. Soon the barber’s playing the comb and scissors in the marching band, the baker’s braiding hair like bread and adding an egg gloss, the doctor’s bandaging the pretzels and taking the cakes’ pulse . . . a happy madness ensues, and all to a regular rhyme and beat, as the marching band stomps along in the street outside.

Ramon Fellini the Dog Detective
Written in Portuguese and translated into English by Guilherme Karsten
English edition published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

It was a normal night when . . . crash! Something or someone has knocked over the fishbowl. Who should appear to help investigate but “Ramon Fellini the Dog Detective, at your service.” Yes, he may look very much like a cat, and yes, his investigatory procedures may be a little unorthodox, but he is definitely a dog, and he has only the goldfish’s interests at heart. Or does he? A masterful whodunit in picture book form, with a lovably naive fish owner and a marvelously sly feline trickster.

Early Readers

Captain Danger and the Stupid Shadow
Written in Dutch by Victor Engbers, translated by David Colmer
English edition published by Pushkin Press

Captain Danger is just hanging up his underpants and socks to dry one day, and bragging about how brave he is, when he gets into an argument with his shadow. Then, when his stupid shadow storms off in a huff, Captain Danger and his faithful mutt, Django, have to put their bravery to the test to track him down and persuade him to return. Cue much silliness, with bold side quests to hyper-colorful and hypnotic destinations, tussles with mermaids and giant insects, and a raspberry-blowing competition with the world’s cutest dragon. But will Captain Danger and his shadow ever be reunited?

Adi of Boutanga: A Story from Cameroon
Written in French and translated into English by Alain Serge Dzotap, illustrated by Marc Daniau
English edition published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Infectiously cheerful Adidjatou is “thirteen dry seasons and as many rainy seasons old.” She loves to run, swim, and play, like any girl her age, and her mom teases her for her endless laughter: “Have you swallowed a thousand weaverbirds, Adidjatou?” But when her Uncle Amadou decides it’s time for her to marry, it seems everything will change. Fortunately, Adidjatou’s parents encourage her to continue her education and postpone marriage, and they find a way for her to move to Mama Ly’s school. After a period of adjustment, things are looking up. “I think Mom’s funny weaverbirds are back. Because I can laugh again, loudly—very loudly.” Lively illustrated spreads alternate with backgrounds of bold Bamiléké fabric patterns. A glossary of foods and cultural words encountered in the story can be found in the end matter along with a note from the author about his own experience of the life-changing importance of books and reading. There’s also an introduction to Mbororo or Fulani culture, and to the 250 languages of Cameroon. You can even pick up a few phrases in Camfranglais: the unique Cameroonian blend of French, English, and local languages.

Biggest Fake in the Universe
Written in Swedish by Johan Rundberg, translated by Eva Apelqvist
English edition published by Amazon Crossing

Movits is more comfortable with a chessboard than a skateboard, but when he has his first crush on a skater girl, what can he do but get himself a board and try out a new look? It starts innocently enough: Movits can just about stay upright when out practicing with his friend Ruben. But when he accidentally pulls off an incredible stunt—convinced he’s about to die—and the video goes viral . . . well, then he finds himself in a massive hole he can’t dig his way out of. In fact, it gets even worse: he’s at the top of an enormous skateboard ramp with a TV crew waiting to film him, and there’s no way out. Or is there? Funny and charming, with all the cringe factor of nerdy adolescence.

Mafalda: Book 1
Written in Spanish and illustrated by Quino, translated by Frank Wynne
English edition published by Elsewhere Editions

Sixty years after its first publication in Spanish, this classic Argentine comic strip finally has a global English translation; until now, an English edition was only available in Argentina. Loved worldwide, with translations into twenty-six languages and a Netflix series launched in 2024, the Mafalda comics are a phenomenon that the English-speaking world has been slow to pick up on. Mafalda is a wily six-year-old who combines the fervent ambition and hopes of the 1960s generation with the cynicism and despair of a 106-year-old at the end of a lifetime of failed international diplomacy. Mafalda is feisty and fearless in her criticism of the Vietnam War, global politicians, her parents (her poor, poor parents), her friend Susanita’s lack of feminist ambitions, and humanity’s inability to make any kind of progress. And in Volume 1, she hasn’t even started school yet. This is the first of five planned volumes translated with inspired wordplay and humor by Frank Wynne: a satirical humor that works on multiple levels, making this a must-read for comics aficionados of any age.

Middle-grade

Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto
Written in Italian by Gianni Rodari, illustrated by Roman Muradov, translated by Antony Shugaar
First published in 1978 as C’era due volte il barone Lamberto ovvero I misteri dell’isola di San Giulio
English edition published by Enchanted Lion

The latest of Enchanted Lion Books’ stunning new editions of the works of much-loved Italian children’s author Gianni Rodari, this is the surreal and frequently uproarious tale of two overlapping heists that both go horribly and hilariously wrong. The wealthy banker Baron Lamberto is targeted by his debt-riddled nephew, and by a league of mysterious bandits, also all called Lamberto. But how to bump him off, or extort his riches, when he may not even be the man he claims to be? Deft two-tone illustrations combine the abstract and the peculiar in this madcap adventure full of wit and humor, with sharp dialogue in Shugaar’s translation.

Okchundang Candy
Written in Korean and illustrated by Jung-soon Go, translated by Aerin Park
English edition published by Levine Querido

In subtle pencil sketches, some monotone, others building in color and intensity, this reflective graphic novel consists of three stories about the narrator’s grandparents. She recalls hot summers at her grandparents’ house, playing games and singing silly songs: “Two squares for pee, three for poop!” The domestic contentedness contrasts with her own parents’ arguments. We sense the ways her grandparents’ quiet kindness sets them apart from the neighbors, too: they rent out rooms to “bar ladies” who struggle to find anywhere else to stay, as the neighbors tut and worry about their reputation. And we see their tenderness, captured in the gesture of the narrator’s grandfather gently placing a hard candy, the Okchundang candy, on her grandmother’s tongue at Jesa, the day for honoring ancestors. The second and third stories deal with cancer, aging, dementia, and death, with a quiet tenderness and humor (especially funny are the quirky characters in the nursing home), making this an ideal book for mature readers (ten and up) or perhaps one to read together and discuss as a family.

Young Adult

I Want Golden Eyes
Written in Arabic by Maria Dadouch, translated by M. Lynx Qualey and Sawad Hussain
English edition published by Center for Middle Eastern Studies UT-Austin

In the dystopian world of the Comoros Islands in 2095, babies are sorted at birth based on the results of an intelligence test. Those with a score of 1111 and above are the Goldens: they’re granted golden eye color and live a privileged life above ground. The Limiteds, meanwhile, are condemned to a life of poverty and low-wage employment in the Burrow, a dark realm stretching dozens of stories underground. Diyala and her family travel daily up the nanoparticle elevator and along the lightning walkway into the elite world to cook and clean for the Professor, whose research in genetics is linked to the power imbalance in this futuristic society. When Diyala is caught smuggling books out of her employer’s library, the Professor is entitled by law to enslave her until she has repaid her debt to him, tagging her with an electronic collar that will paralyze her if she crosses the permitted radius. Teenage Diyala is outspoken, bright beyond the expectations of her as a Limited, and defiant to the end. But is she clever enough to escape this tyranny while also keeping her family safe from the sinister, watchful government and its police force of venomous Griffin bats? An exciting thriller for teens by up-and-coming Syrian author Maria Dadouch. Content warning: violence by an adult against a minor.