donderdag 20 december 2018

LITTLE FOX off to Russia

The book that Marije Tolman (a wizard of an artist!) and I made, and that was published at Querido, Amsterdam a few months ago: Vosje ('Little Fox') is making some waves abroad. Several countries are interested, and we are very grateful for that fact.
More is to be revealed soon, but today we heard that Vosje's first trip is confirmed: it will be published in Russia. The publishing house of KompasGuide bought the rights. Thank you very much!

Thanks also to Querido's foreign right's manager, Luciënne van der Leije, who can be reached here.

dinsdag 11 december 2018

I'LL ROOT FOR YOU to Spain

Enjoyable news: my poetry volume I'll root for you (original Dutch title: Ik juich voor jou) will be published in Spanish. The publishing house of Barbara Fiore bought the rights of this collection of poems about animals and sports that I wrote to the magnificent illustrations by Wolf Erlbruch.

The book was originally issued by Querido, Amsterdam and was published in the United States (this summer) by Eerdmans, wonderfully translated by David Colmer. It received the bi-annual Golden Poetry Medal for the best children's poetry book in The Netherlands and Flanders.
Now I'm really happy this book will see the Spanish light as well!

To other publishers: a full English ánd German translation of all poems is available at Querido - please mail Luciënne van der Leije.

dinsdag 20 november 2018

THE DAYS OF BLUEGRASS LOVE to...

I fell in love with Latvia almost twenty years ago. I made friends there, I got to visit the country at least five times, and now I have a wonderful reason to go back: my young adult novel The days of bluegrass love (in Dutch: De dagen van de bluegrassliefde) will be published in Latvian in 2020. By the best Latvian publishing house: Liels un Mazs.

This novel, about the glowing love between two eighteen-year old boys, Tycho and Oliver, is one of the three books I wrote about them over the years. It is also one of the titles that brought me the most, personally and as a writer, especially because of the number of reactions I received, both from The Netherlands and Belgium as from Germany, where it was also published. 

The book received the Golden Kiss Award (best book for youth) and is still in reprint in The Netherlands, I'm pretty grateful for that as well. 

But now: on to Latvia! Huge thanks to the Latvian publisher, the wonderful Alise Nigale, and also to Kristine Jonusa and Andrejs Viksna.

vrijdag 16 november 2018

VOTE FOR THE OKAPI wins Estonian award

It's not that long ago since Vote for the okapi (in Dutch: Stem op de okapi) was published in Estonia. It was translated by Kerti Tergem and issued by the publishing house of Päike ja Pilv.

The book came out in The Netherlands in 2015 and was the result of illustrator Martijn van der Linden's and my love for this extraordinary animal, the okapi. And now Vali okaapi, as the book is called in Estonia, received the Paabeli Torna auhind 2018, or the Tower of Babel Honour Diploma, which is an award for the best translated book.

This is a very nice award, because only one book is chosen, and previous winners were for instance David Almond, Maria Parr and... J.K. Rowling.

So, congratulations to Martijn, to Kerti and to my Estonian publisher Katrin Reinmaa!

donderdag 15 november 2018

SUPER GUPPY in the UK

Happy to anounce that there will be a third poetry volume in English next year - this time it's my poems for very young children that will be translated by the great David Colmer. The lovely house of The Emma Press in Birmingham, United Kingdom will publish Super Guppy, a translation of Superguppie, the book that illustrator Fleur van der Weel and I made in 2003.

The book was originally issued by Querido in Amsterdam, and got several awards, including the Woutertje Pieterse Prijs (critic's award) and a Zilveren Griffel (best books of the year).
Earlier translations were the French one (Super Gloupi, Éditions Être) and the German one (Superguppy, Boje Verlag).

Other translations of my poetry are The sexy storm (A midsummer night's press, USA, 2018) and I'll root for you (Eerdmans, USA, 2018), both translated by David Colmer as well. The latter poetry collection got a starred Kirkus review.

zondag 12 augustus 2018

NINO in Argentina

THE DOG THAT NINO DIDN'T HAVE just came out in Argentina. This Spanish edition was translated by Micaela Van Muylem and published by Limonero. It was Anton van Hertbruggens debut, and an acclaimed one: he got awards in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany and the United States!

The book was originally published in Belgium by De Eenhoorn and now has editions in German, French, English (USA), Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Ukrainian, Macedonian, Turkish, Danish, Korean and Simplified Chinese. Spanish is the 13th edition.

More about this book and the remaining rights & where to send your requests for grants/rights: here.

vrijdag 1 juni 2018

NINO in Turkey

The Turkish version of THE DOG THAT NINO DIDN'T HAVE has recently been published. It was issued by Final Kültür Sanat Yayınları under the title: OLMAYAN BIR KÖPEGIN HIKAYESI. Nursen Kaya is the translator.

This book is Anton Van Hertbruggens beautiful first picture book, published by De Eenhoorn. Anton received awards for this book in Belgium, The Netherlands, USA, France and Germany.

The book also came out in English (Eerdmans, USA),
Chinese (Petrel),
Danish (Turbine),
French (Didier Jeunesse),
German (Bohem),
Korean (Jiyangsa),
Russian (Samokat),Ukrainian (Bobrovnikova),
Portuguese (Pulo do Gato, Brazil),
Macedonian (Ars Lamina)
and Spanish (Limonero, Argentina)

More about this title (and about the remaining rights & where to send your request for grants/rights): here.

OKAPIS in Estonia

Just out: the Estonian translation of STEM OP DE OKAPI (VOTE FOR THE OKAPI), the book Martijn van der Linden and I illustrated and wrote, our passionate plea for silent and shy animals (and human beings). The book was originally published in Amsterdam by Querido.

Kerti Tergem made the translation, and Päike ja Pilv published it. We are very proud that this book is available in a second language now! VALI OKAAPI!

maandag 14 mei 2018

SAM IN WINTER - HONOR BOOK

The Poetry House in Paterson, US every year awards the books for children with the Paterson Prize for Young People. The 2018 award was won by Ruth Freeman for her book One good thing about America, but I'm proud to say that my book Sam in winter (Dutch: De raadsels van Sam) was one of the three honor books for this category. Thank you, jury and professional readers! The book was translated by the great David Colmer.

Sam in winter was published by Eerdman's, with the original illustrations by Philip Hopman. The book was orginally published by Querido, Holland, and is also translated into
French, German and Estonian.

donderdag 11 januari 2018

THE BOY THAT SKATED WITH THE ANIMALS - out now

I have been friends with ex-speedskater Beorn Nijenhuis for over ten years. And his athlete story is perfect for a children's book: growing up as a Canadian kid, skating in winter at his family's own lake, eventually becoming a professional speedskater starting for The Netherlands at the Olympics in Torino, Italy, 2006. Sanne te Loo made Beorns story into a wonderfully warmhearted document and Maarten Deckers did the book design. The book has little text, is based on Beorns life story and answers questions like: is the future athlete already part of the 8-year old boy, and vice versa?

The book was published by Querido and is in stores now. It can be read by kids from eight years and up. (Or read to kids from six years and older).

Below: a sample of some of the illustrations!


 

woensdag 3 januari 2018

Macedonia again

The Macedonian publishing house Ars Lamina didn't only buy the rights to HET HONDJE DAT NINO NIET HAD, they also bought the translation rights to DOEI! (SEEYA!), the picture book Marije Tolman and I made for Querido, a while back.
I'm really excited to have two titles in Macedonia soon, and I really wouldn't mind visiting the country in the future, haha!

DOEI! was also issued in Spanish (Colombia) and German and talks about Maartje who has wonderful flying dreams, and her older brother Bor who has nightmares, and definitely needs Maartjes help...


NINO to TURKEY and MACEDONIA

Very agreable news: translation rights for THE DOG THAT NINO DIDN'T HAVE (HET HONDJE DAT NINO NIET HAD) were sold to Turkey. The book will be published by Final Kültür Sanat Yayınları. But at the same time rights were sold to Macedonia: to the publishing house of Ars Lamina. Fantastic!

Originally the book was published in Belgium, by De Eenhoorn. It won a number of awards: the Children's Literature Award in Germany, the Prix Sorcières in France, the Boekenpauw in belgium, the Gulden Palet in The Netherlands and a Silver Medal in the United States. And it was only Antons first children's book...

The book was also sold to China, Brazil, USA, France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Denmark and South-Korea.