Sheila LaFarge (born July 16, 1936) is a French-American
children's book
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
, whose work focuses on translating
Danish,
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, and
Norwegian books into
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
.
Career
Born on July 16, 1936 to Thomas Sergeant August Matilde La Farge and Marie Iselin La Farge in
Paris, France
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, LaFarge spent her childhood in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
alongside her cousin's family and spending time with her grandmother during the summer. She frequently traveled to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and various
European
European, or Europeans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
countries. As an adult, she began translating Scandinavian books to English and worked on several film projects in the area, including those by
Mai Zetterling
Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (; 24 May 1925 – 17 March 1994) was a Swedish film director, novelist and actress.
Early life
Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actor at the age of 17 at ...
.
Out of the 150 best reviewed books chosen by ''
School Library Journal
''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...
'', out of 600 total books reviewed as the top published and out of 24,000 books published total in the time period of 1966 to 1978, LaFarge's translation of ''Silas and the Black Mare'' was included. It was also selected as one of the "Notable Children's Books of 1978" by the
Association for Library Service to Children
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is a division of the American Library Association.
ALSC has over 4,000 members, including children, experts in children's literature, publishers, faculty members, and other adults. The Associa ...
.
After her retirement from book translation, LaFarge went on to pursue personal projects, including developing her skill in
painting
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
and her work at the
Cambridge Buddhist Association.
Bibliography
Authored books
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Translated books
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[Reviews for ''The Night Birds'':
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:LaFarge, Sheila
Living people
1936 births
Literary translators
Writers from Paris
Writers from New York (state)
American women children's writers
20th-century American translators