Translation and word-picture relationships in Chih-Yuan Chen’s picturebooks

© International Research Society for Children’s Literature Chih-Yuan Chen is one of Taiwan’s most successful picturebook author–illustrators, having won international recognition for his books, which have been translated into many languages. In Taiwan, several of Chen’s works have been repackaged as bilingual books, highlighting the way publishers’ marketing strategies are attuned to the desire of Taiwanese parents to help their children learn English from a young age. Even for distinguished creators such as Chen, however, this process is not straightforward. Using a combination of comparative analysis and picturebook theory, this article examines how the relationship between words and pictures has been changed in English translations of two of Chen’s picturebooks. Such changes are inconsistent and problematic: bilingual editions contain omissions that raise questions about attitudes toward the function and purpose of dual language books, and the formatting and packaging of bilingual editions privilege verbal text over visual text.