Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Annelie Geissler
Categories
Children’s picture books

THE INTERPRETER

Monica Arnaldo Olivia Abtahi

A sharp and heartfelt picture book about a young soccer-loving girl who's an interpreter for her parents.

Some kids have one job: to be a kid! Cecilia has two. When she isn't on the soccer field scoring goals, she's accompanying her parents to all kinds of grown-up places, like the DMV, the accountant's office, and the auto shop. She helps them translate from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish. It's an important job, and it can even be fun. It's also hard work. Sometimes Cecilia's second job is so much responsibility, it feels like she'll split in two! Is it time for Cecilia to blow her whistle and call for a time-out? Olivia Abtahi's clever text and Monica Arnaldo's charming illustrations capture a common aspect of life for immigrant and bilingual families while offering a model for teamwork that helps everyone feel understood. Author Bio: Olivia Abtahi is a filmmaker and author. Her debut novel, Perfectly Parvin, received the SCBWI Golden Kite Honor, YALSA Odyssey Honor, and numerous starred reviews. She is also the author of Azar on Fire and the forthcoming Rostam and the Red Dwarf. The Interpreter is her picture book debut. Olivia grew up in the DC area and now lives in Denver, Colorado, with her family. Illustrator Bio: Monica Arnaldo is the award-winning author of several picture books, including Are You a Cheeseburger? (a Kids' Indie Next pick) and Mr. S (a Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Booklist Best Book of the Year). Her illustrations have also appeared in middle grade novels and children's magazines. She works both traditionally and digitally when she's illustrating, combining watercolor, pencil crayons, and Photoshop to create images full of character. She grew up in Ontario, Canada, and now lives in Quebec with her family.

Available products
Book Published 2025-01-21 by Kokila

Comments

In her picture-book debut, Abtahi masterfully weaves an everyday tale that will be familiar to designated translators of all ages from immigrant families. Cecilia's eventual cry for help speaks to the resilience that children in similar situations possess while also emphasizing the importance of self-care. Arnaldo's bright watercolor and pencil-crayon artwork provides much-needed levity, with speech bubbles predominantly colored in blue and orange to differentiate between the languages.Sensationally true to life.

This appealing picture book thoughtfully portrays the translation duties often taken on by children in immigrant families.This title presents a balanced look at a situation that will feel familiar to many families and offers a positive model for resolution.

[A] well-developed picture book debut.lively watercolor and pencil crayon illustrations from Arnaldo (The Museum of Very Bad Smells) show the strain of Cecilia's moving back and forth, until supportive changes help her become a kid who's happy to help, '...just not all the time.

Abtahi's story about circumstances of bilingual family life that sometimes force children into these adult roles is engagingly rendered in Arnaldo's colored pencil and watercolor drawings that both reflect the silliness of the situation and neatly show how overwhelmed Cecilia becomes: carrying a briefcase and drinking coffee to combat the exhaustion of working overtime, she's often dressed in an oversized suit, which gets outlandishly bigger the more overwhelmed she feels. In addition to nicely balancing an important topic with lighthearted comedy, the book also offers a solution of teamwork that is both thoughtful and respectful to the entire family.