Amazon’s KDP refuses to publish World’s first Cornish language E-Book

March 29, 2013 - PRLog -- Diglot Books Ltd has today been told that Kindle Direct Publishing will not publish their bilingual children’s picture book Matthew and the Wellington Boots because it is written in Cornish.

The book which was released for St Piran’s Day earlier this month has been successfully launched on the iTunes platform, but will not be available to Android or Kindle Fire users because “the book is in a language that is not currently supported by Kindle Direct Publishing.”

The Cornish language which uses exactly the same alphabet as the English language has been on the rise since its recognition as a living language in 2002 under the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, and is now spoken fluently by several thousand people.

With many schools now offering Cornish language lessons including a dedicated Cornish speaking nursery school, it is unsurprising that in the  2011 census over 40% of school children described themselves as Cornish.

Despite the book being written in both English and Cornish and translated by a fluent Cornish speaker, Amazon are refusing to publish the book stating that it is not in a language that they officially support.

The book Matthew ha’n Eskisyow Glaw  (Matthew and the Wellington Boots) described by Tiffany Truscott of BBC Radio Cornwall as “an interesting tale that helps parents to learn Cornish as well”, is written with parallel text in English and Cornish helping readers to correlate the words in both languages and build upon their vocabulary. “We hope that the amusing storyline and beautiful illustrations will introduce children to Cornish in an enjoyable and original way,” said founder of Diglot Books, Alison O’Dornan.  

“I absolutely loved writing Matthew and the Wellington Boots and am delighted to hear that it has been published in Cornish,” said budding author and trainee primary school teacher, Esmee Carre (21yrs of Guernsey)

The publication of Matthew ha’n Eskisyow Glaw adds to the expanding portfolio of books and other learning aids developed by Diglot Books in several different languages, and is hoped to be the first of many of their titles to be published in Cornish.  To find out more visit www.diglotbooks.com

ENDS

For More Information Contact:

Alison O’Dornan          Stephen Gadd (Cornish Translator)

alison@diglotbooks.com          smgadd@gmail.com

+44 (0)1494 853 933  

+44 (0)7778 277929          +44 (0) 7889 714413

Notes to Editors

Stephen Gadd - was the inspiration for Diglot Books to provide a Cornish children's book. He is a recently qualified primary school teacher living in North London, but originally from Camborne. He is currently studying for his fourth grade exams in Cornish at City Lit (the highest qualification available in Cornish).

Tony Hak - kindly agreed to proof read and check all of our translations. He is a teacher of Cornish at the adult education college City Lit, and translator of The Little Prince, Owen's voyage, and parts of the Cornish version of the Bible.

Polin Prys - kindly agreed to help us with the audio book, and I am sure you will agree she has done a great job! Polin Prys is the author of Bora Brav - a comprehensive Cornish language Course book.

About Diglot Books - Keep it simple and fun when introducing your children to a second language is the advice from Diglot Books.  The brain child of Beaconsfield based Alison O’Dornan and Dutch friend Wilma van Riel, Diglot Books have created a unique series of ABC bilingual alphabet picture books, flash cards, nursery rhyme CD’s and story books.

The best age for a child to learn a foreign language is during infancy when the brain is wired for learning new sounds and anything new is both fun and exciting. Whilst it obviously helps if the parent is able to speak the second language themselves, it is not vital, and both parent and child can learn together.

Young children grasp a new language as easily as their first language; they learn to think in the new language without the need for translation. Initially, children do not even distinguish between the two languages but simply learn that an object has two different sounds associated with it.  With Diglot Books children can learn through imitating, listening, seeing and practicing.

Diglot Books are expanding their product range and support tools for monolingual parents as well, and provide audio files to aid pronunciation for all their products.  New products include a unique series of flash cards, a fun, tried and tested way for children to learn key words in two languages and a nursery rhyme CD which includes popular tunes and useful vocabulary with each song sung once in English and once in the second language.

Diglot Books were the winners of the Modern Foreign Language category of the Practical Pre-School Awards 2012 and also the Best New Product at the Wales Spring Fair 2012. They also appeared briefly on the brand new TV series Be Your Own Boss (BBC Three).