I was wondering if anyone knew of some good books that are now in English but were not originally! Please list them or give me some sites :). Thanks!

I'm gonna move this into the recommendation folder Sarah - I only made it yesterday so I doubt many people know it is there yet!

I can't think of any myself - There is the Moomin series by Tove Jansson who is Finnish but those are for younger children.

I'm not too helpful but these are a couple of options:
Inkheart
Pippi Longstocking

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Nicholas by Jean-Jacques Sempe, René Goscinny, Anthea Bell (Translator) (series, pub. by Phaidon)
Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner (series)
City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende (trilogy, possibly first written in Spanish)
The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé
The Adventures of Asterix by René Goscinny
Lots of stuff by Astrid Lindgren
Japanese manga is all translated

It took a little digging to find a list of titles, but the Mildred L. Batchelder Award is given to translated children's books. Here's a list of the winners: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batchelder_...

The Shamer's Daughter by Lene Kaaberbol, and the three books after it...

Is any one else being driven crazy by the double "not"s in the title, or am I just completely anal?

ha! It confuses me, too. Because the two negatives cancel each other out? I need more caffeine first.
:-D

Kristin Lavransdatter 1 The Wreath

My best buddy who works in a bookstore, and is the YA guru, recommends this (and the others in the series). I haven't read it yet, but I trust her judgement completely. Anyone here read it?

Wow, that looks like a great book, Hayes. I've added it to my TBR list. Thanks!

also The Historian and The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Haven't read these either, but as I say, she's got great taste in YA books and books in general!

I'm sure those two are not translations and The Historian is not YA!

you're right... sorry, was including two others my friend recommended.

Misty wrote: "Is any one else being driven crazy by the double "not"s in the title, or am I just completely anal?"

i actually didn't bother looking at this thread for the longest time because of that very thing.

but, i have something to add.

Rumo And His Miraculous Adventures and The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers were originally written in german. I've read Rumo, and I'm reading City now. I highly recommend them.

I've got a copy of The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Moers somewhere and have looked at The City of Dreaming Books a few times. Perhaps I should find 'Bluebear'. I really enjoyed The Crow-Girl by Bodil Bredsdorff that was originally in Danish. Book two (of The Children of Crow Cove Series) is finally coming in October (the translation that is). I haven't read any Kai Meyer but aren't all his books translations from German? Plus I'm really, REALLY, looking forward to The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu which is published in the UK any day now translated from French.

The Last Dragon is a great book that was originally written in Italian. Basically, an elf tries to tame a dragon and embarks on a difficult quest. I know it sounds hokey but I really enjoyed it.

Worth getting then Leigh? It's called The Last Elf in the UK and looked a bit to twee for me.

Oh and there's Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe that was originally in Japanese. Big bear of a book (meaning it's a huge tome with lots and lots of pages) but it kept me interested all the way through. Apparently there's an animated version but I can only save it on netflix (availability unknown). The things Wataru has to deal with in this book are heart-wrenching.

The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Bill wrote: "I've got a copy of The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Moers somewhere and have looked at The City of Dreaming Books a few times. Perhaps I should find 'Bluebear'. I really enjoyed The Crow-Gir..."

what's funny about the Moers books is that he wrote them as though he were translating a story from Zamonian (of Zamonia, the universe of fantastical creatures such as Wolpertings and Lindworms..) so the English version is a translation of a translation (sort of) and there's little translator's notes throughout the book. I'm a sucker for fantasy books with appendices and footnotes (like D.M. Cornish's Monstor Blood Tattoo series and Alison Croggon's Pellinor series). The Pellinor books are also a fantastical translation from ancient scrolls written by the main characters themselves. Such creative world-building! I love it!

Bill, does 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear also take place in Zamonia?

I'm currently reading Mimus which was a originally written in German...

Ooh, I bought Mimus not long ago. You'll have to let me know what you think when you've finished it.

Heather, Found 'Bluebear' and yes it does take place in Zamonia.

Haven't read MB2 yet but the first one annoyed me so much when it ended and there were still 100 pages to go! Had I looked or known in advance I would have been ok with it...I loved the book but that was a real downer for me.

Try the Moribito set. Originally written in Japanese, I haven't actually read them, but I've watched the cartoons based off them. They're both on my to-read list.(Cartoons are easier to get close to the book than live action, right?) Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit & Moribito: Guardian of Darkness I don't remember who wrote them.

Tiger Moon Takes place in India, written in Germany, translated to English

I just finished reading The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, originally in Russian.
It's a kind of epic fantasy about a race of supernaturally gifted people called Others who belong to either the Light or the Dark, and it's a trilogy :) There was a big movie made of it in Russia a little while ago, I would watch it but for some reason I hate the sound of Russian :L
Oh, and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. It's this Japanese book that's really quite strange and I can't say I understood it all, but it has Colonel Sanders and a guy who can make eels rain from the sky, so read it for the quirkiness. :)