I’ve been wanting to say this for soooooo long: Who Pooped in the Park?—¡Ahora en español! Well, technically I can’t say that quite yet. Let me just say pronto (“soon”) instead of ahora (“now”).
With well over a million Spanish speakers in the Arizona portion of the Sonoran Desert alone, Who Pooped in the Sonoran Desert was the obvious first book to translate. I’ve been talking with my publisher, Farcountry Press, about doing this for quite a while. It’s more complicated than it appears at first blush.
NOTE: All images from the book in this article are from my first press proof. The final version of the book may have changes!
Hablo español mal. There’s no way I would try to do this myself. The translation needed to be done carefully. Even simple words can be an issue in a children’s book. Using “caca” for “poop” is fine. “Mierda” is not (think “shit” or “crap” in English). The translator(s) had to be chosen well, and the work needed to be checked.
Then there’s the title. Do we try to translate it, or leave it in English to match the rest of the series? Wisely, in my opinion, Farcountry chose to leave the title alone so English speakers would know what it was to buy for Spanish-speaking friends. The subtitle, however, needed to be translated.
Amo a México. I’ve been traveling to Mexico for many years. In trying to learn Spanish, I discovered very quickly that Mexican Spanish, Castellano, and Cuban Spanish are as different as American English, British English, and Cajun. To hit our target audience in Arizona and southern California, Farcountry needed to use a Mexican translator.
Then came the layout and artwork. Rob Rath, who illustrated most of the books in the series, has a lush illustration style, and 48 pages plus front & back covers is a lot of work. But this book is an experiment. Who Pooped in the Sonoran Desert is the third best-selling book in the series, but that’s no guarantee that the Spanish edition will do well. The ideal solution for Farcountry would be to use all of the existing illustrations, only changing the text in the book. That way, they wouldn’t have to pay for all-new illustrations..
Luckily for us, Rob tended to leave large blank areas for text. It makes the book easier to read when text isn’t overlaying a complex colored background. Removing the English text and substituting Spanish text wasn’t always trivial, but it was possible to do it without re-illustrating the book.
It also helped that we weren’t changing the setting. It’s still the U.S. side of the Sonoran Desert rather than the Mexican side, so we didn’t have to worry about incorporating landmarks or changing animal species. We could stick with gila monsters instead of trying to change over to Mexican beaded lizards, for example.
Farcountry Press focuses on U.S.-centric books. Although they are distributed outside the United States, they aren’t interested in books about other places. I want to take my series international—an endeavor that Farcountry has blessed—so I’m searching for publishers and illustrators in other countries to work with. If anyone happens to have publishing contacts in places like Germany, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, Canada, or Scandinavia, please let me know!
Back to this book, however, I have a press proof in my hot little hands. Farcountry hasn’t set a release date yet, but it’s in their 2026 catalog, so I’m hoping it’s going to be soon. Believe me, you’ll know as soon as I know!
As a final treat for my friends, I leave you with this picture of 15-year-old me from my first trip to Mexico, back in days of yore. In the background, I’m pretty sure that’s Gandalf the White, although the horse is the wrong color to be Shadowfax.
Gary D. Robson 