Description
Na Willa and the House in the Alley is a children’s chapter book by Reda Gaudiamo, translated from Indonesia by Ikhda Ayuning Maharsi Degoul and Kate Wakeling and illustrated by Cecillia Hidayat.
Praise for Na Willa and the House in the Alley
‘Wakeling and Degoul’s translation from Indonesian has found a careful balance between retaining the many of the forms of address used in the original whilst also bringing Na Willa’s thoughts and feelings to life in a natural way in English that gives readers the feeling that Na Willa is talking to them directly.
Readers looking for an entertaining middle-grade chapter book full of adventures that make the ordinary extraordinary are bound to love Na Willa!’ – Johanna McCalmont, WorldKidLit
“Brimming with Indonesian cultural references preserved in the original tongue, this follow-up to The Adventures of Na Willa evokes a young girl’s diary, looking at life and its occasional struggles through an innocently unfiltered lens. As we ride along with Willa’s questions and delights, we might well find that the House in the Alley has made a home in our hearts.” – Jasmine, Words Without Borders
Praise for The Adventures of Na Willa
‘This is a book to welcome thanks to the lively translation by Ikhda Ayuning Maharsi Degoul and Kate Wakeling, who bring us the Indonesian background in contemporary accessible prose..’ – International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY)
‘Confidently playful and made me laugh out loud more times than I can count.’ – Anam Zafar, Hopscotch
Reda Gaudiamo is a writer from Jakarta, Indonesia, known for her ‘Na Willa’ stories. She is also known across Southeast Asia and Europe as a singer and musician through the AriReda duo.
Cecillia Hidayat is an INFJ who speaks her mind best through her drawings. She spent four years working in advertising agencies before deciding that she’s too old at heart for all the big city hustle and bustle. She was born in Jakarta and now lives in Ubud with her husband. She spends most of her days drawing, walking between ricefields while petting the stray dogs she meets along the way, and watching the ‘Cooking With Dog’ YouTube channel religiously.
Ikhda Ayuning Maharsi Degoul is an Indonesian poet from Surabaya, currently based in Kyoto, Japan. Her debut pamphlet, “Ikhda by Ikhda”, was published by the Emma Press in 2014. Her poems have been published in “Mildly Erotic Verse” and “The Emma Press Anthology of Motherhood”. She is co-translator of several books from Indonesian into English, including “The Adventures of Na Willa” by Reda Gaudiamo.
Kate Wakeling is a poet and musicologist. Her debut poetry collection for children, Moon Juice, won the CLiPPA in 2017 and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Her second children’s poetry collection, Cloud Soup, was shortlisted for the CLiPPA in 2022. A pamphlet of her poetry for adults, The Rainbow Faults, is published by The Rialto. Kate studied music at Cambridge University and holds a PhD in Balinese gamelan music from SOAS. She is writer-in-residence with Aurora Orchestra.
