A Trilogy in the Works

Quite a few years ago, while doing some research on the true story of St. Nicholas with my children, I came across the wonderful website of the St. Nicholas Center. If any of you aren't familiar with it, I strongly encourage you to check it out. Just about anything you could possibly want to know about St. Nicholas is there, and it is based on very solid sources.

There were some really beautiful illustrations that I found there, which as usual presented a breadcrumb trail that I followed to obtain the book that was the source of the illustrations…only it led me not to a single book, but a trilogy published in the late 1920s in France, written and illustrated by Pierre Noury and his wife Genevieve. This wonderful story of St. Nicholas had a brother and a sister: the story of St Francis, and the life of the Blessed Virgin.

I knew I wanted to republish them, but much work had to be done. The graphics, though beautiful, needed a lot of restoration and color correction. For while the illustrations I loved from the book on St. Nicholas portrayed that great saint boldly all in blue and red, those in the story of Our Lady had many different colors…and not all of them were good choices. Bubblegum pink, a tired, faded yellow and a muddy brownish mauve were most unfortunate pairings with the blue brushstrokes.  Whereas the cover and those pages featuring a pale seafoam green brought a feel of such sweet freshness you could almost smell it…and we knew these were just right to convey the story of the Mother of God. Of course, the work involved in making this change was no small feat, but it was definitely worth the trouble. It is a fitting gift to Our Lady.

However, in this case, there was a more pressing need than just the illustrations: the stories had to be translated. A dear friend of mine, a native French speaker, agreed to help me render them into simple English. Then together we went over these translations once a week, she reading me the original French in her wonderful accent, explaining to me the shades of meaning and poetic sense that was now missing in the English rendering.  Thus we pored over each phrase on each page, finessing the English until it recaptured the beauty of the language found in the original.

That was how we started anyway... But as we worked our way through, we found it to be increasingly difficult. Languages are so complex! They are so much more than just a collection of words! They are a tapestry of imagery, idiom, tone, allusion, fact, charm, persuasion, energy, rhythm… We found ourselves needing to adjust all of these characteristics as we sought to render the pages into English, which has a different style, different expectations. The declarative tone of the French sounded terribly sweet to my friend’s ear, but this did not carry over into English, where it sounded stilted and condescending. We finally gave ourselves permission to make alterations as necessary, choosing to emphasize the importance of an alluring poetic tone bolstered by accurate details, over slavish adherence to the original story construction.

In order to achieve this, it was necessary to research the details of each and every legend, so that when we sought to recapture the magic in English, we weren't inadvertently altering the facts. These tales were quite brief, and we often thought we understood the story, only to find that the truth was quite different.

In the book of the Blessed Virgin, the solution was simple: we opted to use the language of scripture wherever possible. I had recourse once more to the St. Nicholas Center and all of their many resources for help with that book. And with the assistance of a few friends, we discovered several wonderful primary and secondary sources for details on the life of St. Francis.

Though the process was truly delightful, it was very time-consuming. Some days we were lucky to get through a single page, and some weeks our schedule was too busy to collaborate. Thus with over 100 pages to translate, the work has continued little by little over the course of the past several years. Our joy upon finishing the last page was tremendous, though mixed with a little sadness, since it has been such a gift to work together on this monumental task. But we wanted to make sure it was complete in time for you to enjoy it this Christmas!  In fact, we hope to have theses books in hand in time to get them to you for St. Nicholas' feast day on December 6th.

So the first thing you may notice when you finally read these is that the language is far above the average child’s reading level. But have no fear! After all, we specialize in printing and recreating books that are steeped in beauty, because this is what feeds the soul, whether it is a child’s or an adult’s. Many of the stories we publish are woven with complex language. But they are perfect for children, for the same reason that we read them complicated poetry even when they are young. Those patterns of language go deep into their minds and create a sense of the transcendent. Yes, these will most likely be read-aloud books…but just wait…the more they hear these stories and fall in love with them, they will surprise you as they learn the words and inhale the poetry.

As always, I hope you will love these books as much as I do. And I look forward to posting photos soon for my favorite feature: Before-and-after!!!