Children's literature translated into the Thai language | Bangkok Post: learning

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A translation project funded by Siam Cement is bringing classic children's literature from around the world to Thai children.

The My Life section of the Bangkok Post featured a long article full of details about the project which can be read here. A short extract from the article follows:

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A Siam Cement Group book project is bringing exciting tales to many a young reader by Supawadee Inthawong

Children and stories seem to be inseparable. Very often, the most mischievous and naughty kids can be magically turned into the most obedient angels, as well as good listeners, waiting enthusiastically to hear their favourite stories.

But many parents often find it a tall order selecting good stories for their kids.

Besides, good story books for very young kids are relatively expensive. More often than not, 500 baht can buy you only two or three books, while exorbitant translated ones can completely drain the money in your pocket.

Despite this, specialists in child development are emphasising to parents the importance of story-telling, especially at a very young age, because it can help enhance their development and establish strong bonds between parents and children.

So parents have had to scratch their heads to choose good stories which can also be used as a reading tool, and which are not expensive to buy.

For cash-strapped families the dilemma has been even more acute.

In 2004, the Siam Cement Group Foundation (SCG Foundation) realised this problem and initiated a project called the "Bring the Good Books to Thai Children". The project involved inviting many leading translators to translate many award-winning pictorial story books that were favourites among children all over the world.

Translated into Thai, these stories are now sold at reasonable prices, which the majority of parents and families can afford.

The SCG Foundation hopes this project can inspire parents and family members to experience, experiment and use these story books to help develop toddlers.

In the first year, five soft-cover pictorial story books consisting of five tales were sold at 50-60 baht each and the response from those working with children was immense. As a result, they were reprinted five times with more than 58,000 copies being published...

(Source: Bangkok Post, Stories are there to be told, A Siam Cement Group book project is bringing exciting tales to many a young reader, Supawadee Inthawong, 7/10/2010, link)

children's literature - books for children up to about age 12 to read, often with many pictures (illustrations) (See Wikipedia and list of authors)
funded - providing the money for some project or activity
inseparable - cannot be separated, always go together (meaning: children love stories and always want to listen to them) 
mischievous - having fun by causing trouble
naughty - doing bad things, not doing what your parents tell you to do
obedient - doing, or willing to do, what you have been told to do by someone in authority ที่เชื่อฟัง
angels - non-human creatures from heaven (here meaning: children with very good behaviour, smiling laughing and not crying)
enthusiastically - in a very interested or exciting way ด้วยความกระตือรือล้น
favourite - the one they like the most ชอบที่สุด
find it a tall order - find out or discover that it is a very difficult thing to do
exorbitant - (especially of prices or demands) much too large มากเกินไป สูงเกินไป
development - the gradual growth and formation of something
child development - the study of the changes that happen to children (biological, psychological) between birth and the end of their teenage years (See Wikipedia)
story-telling - telling a story (especially to children) about a series of events with words, images and sounds "as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view" (See Wikipedia)
enhance - to improve the quality, amount or strength of something ทำให้ดีเพิ่มขึ้น, ปรับปรุง, ขยาย เพิ่ม
establish - create  
bonds - close connections joining two or more people ความผูกพัน

scratch their heads - the action that people do when they do "not understand what is happening"
cash - money เงินสด
cash-strapped - not having enough money
dilemma - a difficult decision to make, with two choices which are both bad
acute - very serious เฉียบพลันและรุนแรง

Siam Cement Group Foundation (SCG Foundation) - the organization within Siam Cement which carries out philanthropic projects (See Website)
philanthropy (noun) - helping people in need by giving money to them
philanthropic (adjective) 
realised - understand that something exists or is true
initiated - created; started ริเริ่มโดย
award - a prize or a sum of money that is given to someone รางวัล
reasonable prices - not too expensive
majority - most of the people in a group คนส่วนใหญ่
afford - to have enough money to be able to pay for something มีเงินพอจับจ่าย ซื้อหา
inspire - to give people a particular feeling or a desire to do somethng จุดประกาย
toddlers - small children, babies who are just beginning to walk

soft-cover - same as "paperback" books
paperback books -  books with a cheap paper cover
hardback books - books with a harder cover, more expensive, bigger and heavier
soft - not strict enough; weak ไร้น้ำหนัก อ่อนด้วยเหตุผล
immense - extremely large มหึมา มหาศาล

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