Kazakh Writers Ink Agreement with Amazon Publishing to Publish Their Children’s Adventure Books in English

on Dec 23, 2021

NUR-SULTAN – The Children's Literature Department of Amazon Publishing has agreed to publish Kazakh authors Zira Naurzbayeva and Lilya Kalaus' "Adventures of Batu and His Friends." Naurzbayeva and Kalaus revealed the English translation of their trilogy "In Search of the Golden Cup" on their Facebook page.
Professional interpreter Shelley Fairweather-Vega will translate the series of books written by Kazakh mythology specialist Naurzbayeva and Russian philologist Kalaus into Russian and publish them by the end of 2022.
"I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Zira, my good friend and co-author. Also, thank you to everyone who has backed us up and believed in our books. I've always believed that Kazakhstan's culture, history, art, and mythology are fascinating to people all over the world. And now, owing to the English language and Amazon Publishing's ambitions, our heroes will be able to travel far beyond the confines of our country," Kalaus stated in a social media post.

"Adventures of Batu and His Friends" is a series of exciting stories in which Kazakh fifth-graders are immersed in the mystical world of national mythology. "Adventures of Batu and His Friends" is the title of the first book. In "In Search of the Golden Cup," they travel around West Kazakhstan, stopping at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and the Konyr Aulie Cave, the geographic centre of Eurasia.

They visit the Syr Darya River and then the Barsakelmes subterranean wonderland in the second novel, "Adventures of Batu and His Friends in the Country of Barsakelmes." In addition to archaeological activity, the youthful researchers combat big catfish.

The fourth book, "Adventures of Batu and His Friends in Aidala Star Country," chronicles their voyage through Kazakh astral legend, including visits to an ore processing factory and the Torgai geoglyphs (a gigantic design created on the ground by stones).

"When I tried to teach my kids about Kazakh mythology, they ignored me since they were more interested in the Harry Potter storey." I decided to phone Lilya Kalaus, a writer and a friend of mine. Then we came up with the concept of writing a storey about Batu and his buddies, which turned into a trilogy," Naurzbayeva told elorda.info in an interview.
She stated that they intended to write these books solely for Kazakhstani youngsters, and that she did not believe the novels would appeal to international readers.
"We sent the manuscript and synopsis to big publishing houses, lost all literary competitions, and attempted to negotiate with influential individuals — all for naught." "The first book took us eight years to publish," she explained.

The authors hoped that by writing these books, children would develop a love of reading, Kazakh culture, and language, as well as have the opportunity to learn more about national customs, regions, history, and local tales in a fun way.

The authors hope to start working on their fourth book now that they've reached an arrangement with Amazon Publishing.

Source: theastanatimes