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Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2019 The headlines
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Non-fiction flies for PRH as Origin hits 20
territory hit
Night Zookeeper travels from Oxford UP to China Hunan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House has bought Chinese rights to the first three Night Zookeeper stories by Joshua Davidson, m.d. of kids’ brands and licensing devel- oper Wonky Star. The Night Zookeeper is a digital platform that promotes children’s writing; OUP publishes stories set in the world of the Night Zoo, the first of which is Night Zookeeper: The Giraffes of Whispering Wood. It is written by Davidson and Giles Clare, and illustrated by Buzz Burman. Hunan acquired translation and publishing rights from OUP Children’s.
Multi
Penguin Random House UK Children’s has notched up its 20th deal for Sabina
Radeva’s originally crowdfunded reimagining of Charles Darwin’s On the Origins of Species.
On the eve of the fair, PRH senior rights manager Maeve Banham concluded a Russian auction, won by Machaon, a division of the Azbooka-Aticus Publishing Group. Other languages the title has been sold into include German, Chinese (Simplified), Korean and Italian; PRH said there is “intense interest” in the title from publishers across a slew of other territories.
Banham said: “It is incredibly rare
From Pages to screen: James’ series optioned
TV deal
Element Pictures has optioned Anna James’ Middle Grade series
Pages & Co for TV. Element, which produced “The Favourite” and “The Room”, acquired screen rights from Emily Hayward-Whitlock at The Artists Partnership, in association with Claire Wilson at RCW. James’ series was signed in a three- book deal by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2016. Tilly and the Bookwanderers, the first title, was published last year. It has been sold in 12 territories, including the US, where Philomel will publish this autumn.
Freddie Yates continues Journey across Europe Usborne has sold rights to Jenny Pearson’s “hilarious” début The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates in Italian (to Piemme), Dutch (Gottmer), Norwegian (Cappelen Damm), Finnish (Tammi), Hebrew (Yedioth Books), Romanian (Corint) and German (Arena). The book is about a boy who finds out his biological father is still alive, and sets out to find him with his two best friends in tow. Usborne acquired world rights in a six-figure deal from Sam Copeland at RCW.
06 2nd April 2019
to see such a strong international reaction to a book, right from the very start. Sabina’s academic rigour and beautiful artwork has sparked a phenomenal response from publish- ers across the world—including countries where evolution is still a topic of debate.” Molecular biologist-turned-illus- trator Radeva was inspired to make
SABINA RADEVA’S EVOLUTION TITLE HAS BEEN A GLOBAL HIT
an accessible children’s book on evolution aſter re-reading Darwin’s original title. She initially wanted to self-publish and raised £49,000 on Kickstarter, despite only having an initial funding target of £1,900. She later decided to publish traditionally to find a wider global audience, with agent Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates striking a deal for world rights through Puffin commissioning editor Anna Barnes. Banham said non-fiction would be a focus for PRH at Bologna, and
it was fielding offers for a raſt of new acquisitions, including the “acces- sible, irreverent” Parents: A User’s Guide, the first children’s book from Dean Burnet, the neurologist author of The Happy Brain; Natural History Museum illustrator Ben Rothery’s kids’/adult crossover title Hidden Planet; and The Ladybird Big Book of Dead Things by Ben Hartley and Binny Talib, a “funny, fact-filled” look at extinct species for kids aged six and over. Reporting Tom Tivnan
Andersen makes Ross its biggest fiction buy in years
Andersen Press has signed a Middle Grade fantasy series from Blue Peter Book Award-winner Ross MacKenzie, in what it called its “biggest fiction acquisition in recent years”. Charlie Sheppard, Andersen publishing director, bought
SCOT CLAIRE MCFALL HAS BEEN A HUGE HIT IN CHINA
Xiron Pools funds to bag McFall series
Beijing-based publisher Xiron Books has acquired a new Young Adult series by Claire McFall for a six-figure sum. Xiron pre-empted the series, entitled The Drowning Pool, in
a deal struck with McFall’s agent Ben Illis. The books, based on Greek mythology, are about an oracle who has lost most of his skills of prophecy, except for one vision: of how and when he is going to die. But that starts to change when he meets a girl... While relatively little-known in her native Britain, Scottish author McFall is a superstar in China, where her Ferryman series has sold more than three million copies. The final title in the Ferrryman tranche, Outcasts, will be released in the UK this month by Floris Books imprint Kelpies. Illis also sold German rights to the Ferryman books to Arctis, while a film deal has been struck with Legendary Entertainment.
world rights at auction to Evernight and two further titles from Stephanie Twaites at Curtis Brown. Andersen said it had been the subject of “huge interest” from foreign publishers at this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Evernight is a “darkly magical adventure story with a
strong mixed-race heroine”, pitched as “Northern Lights meets Nevermoor”. It features Larabell Fox, an orphan of the Silver Kingdom, who stumbles across a mysterious wooden box while treasure-hunting in the city’s sewers. It catapults her into a world of “magic, danger and a man who casts no shadow”. Sheppard said: “Evernight has the perfect combination of magic, intrigue, twists and world-building that my inner child still can’t resist. I’m so pleased and proud to be publishing this book, and can’t wait to get it into the hands of children everywhere.” Glasgow-based MacKenzie is the
author of four Middle Grade titles, including 2015’s Te Nowhere Emporium (Floris), which won the Blue Peter Book Award and also the Scottish Children’s Book Award.
interest Huge
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