Overview

Full Product Details

9781910139820

Table of Contents

Reviews

The three translators who have rendered this collection of poetry freshly from Latvian into English have maintained a consistent first person voice of a child expressing his or her thoughts and feelings. The subject matter is rooted in daily life in school but it ranges wider, referencing the school of life as well as referring to actual classrooms and how they interrelate. -- CLPE * CLPE website * This book is a collection of poems all about school. The illustrations are really vivid in red and blue, showing how effective pictures can be in just a few colours. On the inside covers, we are introduced to some members of the class. I love that these include Anna in a wheelchair – depicted as just another member of class. She does then have her own poem, listing the many things that she can do, stating: “She’s almost, almost exactly like me”. I think this is an important message. [...] We particularly enjoyed the section at the back where you can learn some Latvian and the tips from Richard O’Brien about writing your own poem are interesting. Dominic sometimes says he doesn’t know what to write about, as if he needs to have an amazing adventure in mind. It’s really useful for him to be told “have a think about an electronic device you or your family uses … Then see if you can turn these ideas into a poem of your own.” Great to think that you can use your everyday life as a springboard for a story or poem. -- Claire Storey 'Latvian poet Ieva Flamingo has captured just the right tone and some tongue in cheek humour that will definitely appeal to readers. Translating poetry is never easy and Žanete Vēvere Pasqualini, Sara Smith and Richard O’Brien have done an excellent job in capturing the humour which is enhanced by the comic-style black and white illustrations by Vivianna Maria Staņislavska making this collection accessible to whole new English audience.' -- Outside In World * Outside In World * The Noisy Classroom is an evocative, thought-provoking collection of illustrated poems featuring a range of situations, objects and emotions both in the school environment and outside it. * Planet Picture Book * This book of poems is very interesting for me, Ieva Flamingo writes about so many subjects. It helps me with my language and to learn new words and information. Some pieces are funny and some are serious and moving. Ieva Flamingo is sensitive about people and relationships and also cares about the natural world. Her poetry helps us to see that computers and mobile phones aren’t the most important things in life, you need nature and friendship too. I can’t speak Latvian so I am happy these poems have been translated otherwise I wouldn’t have known about them. My first languages are Greek and Albanian so I know how important it is to be able to translate good writing into a language people can understand. I like writing my own poems and I write about people, and the world and what interests me just like Ieva Flamingo does. At the back of this book are suggestions for creating your own poems. I think I will try some. * Books for Keeps *

Author Information

"Ieva Flamingo (the pen name of Ieva Samauska) is one of the most prolific Latvian children’s authors writing today. She has been a journalist at various newspapers and magazines for over twenty years, and for the last ten years has worked at Ieva, Latvia’s biggest weekly magazine. She won the Pastariņš Prize for Latvian Children’s Literature in 2015 and her books have been nominated for the International Jānis Baltvilks Baltic Sea Region Award four times. Her first collection of lyrical poems, Kā uzburt sniegu/How to conjure up snow (liels un mazs, 2006), was adapted for the Latvian National Theatre in 2007. Ieva lives in Saldus, a small town in Latvia, with her family, three cats and a white dog. Vivianna Maria Staņislavska studied Printmaking and Graphic Arts at the Art Academy of Latvia. The Noisy Classroom is her debut illustrated book and won her the Jānis Baltvilks ‘Jaunaudze’ Award in 2016. Žanete Vēvere Pasqualini works as a literary agent for the Latvian Literature platform and translates in her spare time. Her translation of Kristine Ulberga's ""The Green Crow"" was published by Peter Owen Publishers, and she translated the stories ""The Birds of Ķīpsala Island"" by Dace Rukšāne and ""The Shakes"" by Svens Kuzmins for ""The Book of Riga"", published by Comma Press in 2018, as well as ""The Quarry"" by Jana Egle (for Words Without Borders). Her other translations in English include: ""The Noisy Classroom"" by Ieva Flamingo (children's poetry, published by the Emma Press), ""Dog Town"" by Luīze Pastore (a children's book, published by Firefly) and the forthcoming Bicki-Books poetry series for children (Emma Press, 2019). Žanete is currently working on translating ""The Room"", novel by Laima Kota. Sara Smith studied Italian and Business at Edinburgh University, where she was awarded a Swiss Arts Council prize. She lives in Rome and works as a teacher and translator, and her work has been published by Guerra Editori, Artes Faveo and Compagnia Editoriale. Richard O’Brien is a poet, translator and academic based in Birmingham, UK."

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available