SISU leads in translating antivirus books for children

eachers and students of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) led in translating original children’s books about anti-epidemic from Chinese into multiple  languages, which were free to the public on the website "Life Tree Books".

As the main force of the translation team, over 200 SISU teachers and students are from SISU's Graduate Institute of Interpretation and Translation（GIIT）and they have translated 81 children’s books. Yu Yilin, a student from SISU’s GIIT, who is also the project manager, strictly supervised the whole process of translation, including first drafts, term management and revision. “Translation is more than just sitting down and mapping it out. You have to communicate with people and the world.” she said.

The books like A Brief History of Viruses for Children, A Special Spring Festival, and Ten Tips to Fight Monsters are translated into over 10 languages, including English, French, German, Russian and Spanish. The translators finished this cross-language and cross-institution work in very limited time.

"I believe children's books have a magic power. In a fairy tale, even the luck or willpower of a little pig can inspire children. It is my inner motivation to do this job well," said Zhang Yanran, the leader of the Spanish translation group.

The website Life Tree Books originates from a worldwide translation program of anti-epidemic, which was launched by SISU alumnus Zhang Mingzhou, the president of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).

Zhang said that IBBY's 80 national branches have promoted this program in their countries. Publishers from Malaysia, Pakistan, Mongolia and other countries said they hoped to translate these children's books into their own languages.

Zhang appreciated SISU volunteers’ great contribution to the website’s global influence, saying that they have done a professional job.

Over Drive, the world's largest provider of library content, will also give readers free access to these children's books in 45,000 libraries of 78 countries.

The website Life Tree Books which started to run on April. 2, 2020 has attracted nearly 20 thousand people from 53 countries so far.