Jack and Annie, the magic tree house kids, are in for another adventure. This time, to help Merlin, they must travel back to Egypt to meet Florence Nightingale and learn her secret of greatness. There's only one problem- Florence doesn't think she is anything special, and has no idea what the kids keep saying about her being a famous nurse and all. How can they convince her, and how can they learn what it takes to be great?
My kids love the magic tree house series, so I thought I'd read one (I read book 51). It was a good story (basically historical fiction), and I see why my kids like it. But I had an ulterior motive- I had the German translation, too, and read them both side-by-side to improve mein Deutsch. It was a good experience:
- I learned that the 8-10 year old reading level is just right for me. I understand quite a bit, and could use context to learn the rest.
- I also came to appreciate the difficulty a translator faces and how that impacts those of us learning a new language. I found minor (or major) differences in many sentences. Sometimes, just an adjective would be dropped. Other times, sentences would be changed completely. The titles are good examples- the American "High Time for Heroes" becomes "Adventure in the Valley of the Kings." And the German version stars Philipp and Anne. So the learner cannot assume that the sentences will be translated verbatim (though the overall gist is similar). You must know enough German to not be thrown by that.
- I learned a lot of past tense. Most of my German training to date has been present tense, but naturally stories are written differently.
The differences between translations made me think. Why would the translator make simple changes, like omitting a descriptive word here (or adding one there)? Is it because a German wouldn't describe things the same way? Or because the German equivalent was far too wordy (or complex) for a book for kids? I'm glad I did this; I may do a few more.
Rating: A
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