Mildred L. Batchelder Award

About the Mildred L. Batchelder Award
This award, established in Mildred L. Batchelder's honor in 1966, is a citation awarded to an American publisher for a children's book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States.

Administered by:

Association for Library Service to Children logo

2007 Winner(s)

Delacorte Press

for The Pull of the Ocean written by Jean-Claude Mourlevat and translated from the French by Y. Maudet

This contemporary version of the Tom Thumb story follows charismatic Yann, youngest and smallest of seven brothers, as he silently leads his siblings across the rain-soaked French countryside.  Their harrowing flight from abusive parents is described through the recollections of the boys themselves and through the distinctive voices of those who witness or abet their journey.


2007 Honor(s)

Delacorte Press

for The Killer's Tears written by Anne-Laure Bondoux and translated from the French by Y. Maudet

After his parents are murdered by itinerant criminal Angel, young Paolo and the killer haltingly discover their capacity for love and forgiveness. The two tempt an unavoidable fate when they accept a stranger into their lives and then venture beyond their bleak homestead on the southern tip of Chile.


Hyperion/Miramax

for The Last Dragon written by Silvana De Mari and translated from the Italian by Shaun Whiteside

A young elf and an irascible dragon, with the help of twobewildered but kindly humans and later a feisty orphan, attempt to fulfill aprophecy that tests their courage and resilience. The tale offers the readeradventure, romance and a wonderfully realized magical world.