Greg

Metaphors for the transition from childhood to adolescence are many and varied in children's books, but one of the most original must be this novel in which Greg, aged thirteen, wakes one morning to find he is no longer a boy but a very large caterpillar. He retains, however, the intellect and emotions of a human. While obviously frustrating and frightening, Greg also finds his new form enables him to behave in certain ways not deemed appropriate for a human of his age, as, for example, in an hilarious scene when he gives her comeuppance to Gina, the ghastly television presenter. Greg was originally published in German, and is one in a series of books in translation published by Mammoth. At present there is a great deal of translation from English into other languages, but far too few in the opposite direction. Let's hope that Greg is the beginning of a trend for inward translation.