NEW BOOK OUT

For years I've been adoring the work of artist Marleen Felius. Her work - main topic: cows and cattle - is known and valued all over the world. Her 'Cattle breeds encyclopedia' (text and images by Marleen) is a magnificent work of art and knowledge.
Finally we found a chance and the time to work together.  The result of this is the sweet and lifelike LITTLE CALF, LITTLE FOAL. Which is out now!

This book has a very, very simple text, which talks about the first hours and days of a newborn calf and those of a newborn foal. The pictures show it all: the first drinking, the standing-up, the first time they see the meadow. It's almost non-fictional (because, when Marleen Felius is involved, you know that everything is true to life and no mistakes are made!), but still a small story.

Thanks to publishing house De Eenhoorn and designer Dries Desseyn. A proof translation in English is available, and this is the foreign rights page of De Eenhoorn.

AUDIOBOOK NEWS

Soon my first audiobook in Dutch will be out. It's TOEN KWAM SAM (THEN THERE WAS SAM), and I narrated the book myself.
In the meantime my first audiobook in German (LENA UND DAS GEHEIMNIS DER BLAUEN HIRSCHE) is nominated for the German Audiobook-award - the BEO, Deutscher Kinderhörbuchpreis. Yesterday it was announced that the book, read by Anne Moll, illustrated by Philip Hopman, translated by Rolf Erdorf and published by Gerstenberg (book) and Audiolino (audiobook), is on the shortlist.
More about the award and the shortlist: here.

Berlin: Literature Festival

One of the nicest, biggest and most impressive literature festivals in the world is the annual Literaturfestival in Berlin. It started this week. There will be many, many readings by many, many authors.
I was part of it in 2006 and 2011, and, I'm really happy about to say - this year again! I'll be present from the 12th til the 19th of September. I'll talk about my books THIRTEEN RUNNING DEER (DERTIEN RENNENDE HERTJES, in German issued as LENA UND DAS GEHEIMNIS DER BLAUEN HIRSCHE, with Mattias De Leeuw, Gerstenberg) and THE DOG THAT NINO DIDN'T HAVE (HET HONDJE DAT NINO NIET HAD, in German: DER HUND DEN NINO NICHT HATTE, with Anton Van Hertbruggen, Bohem Verlag, both books translated by Rolf Erdorf).
Take a look at the impressive list of authors that will be in Berlin. Amongst them: Peter Brown, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Jandy Nelson, David Almond, Sjoerd Kuyper and Kaatje Vermeire!
And check the programm here.

THE CHEER-UP BIRD IS FLYING ON

OPVROLIJKVOGELTJE (THE CHEER-UP BIRD) is the first picture book I got to make with the famous duo Ingrid & Dieter Schubert. It was published by Lemniscaat. The book was already sold to the United States (Lemniscaat USA) and Italy (Il Castello), and now the German rights are sold as well. To the publishing house of Fischer Sauerländer. Great!

NINO AWARDED IN THE US

Only a few days out now: the American-English translation of HET HONDJE DAT NINO NIET HAD, the picture book that Anton Van Hertbruggen and me made. THE DOG THAT NINO DIDN'T HAVE is the title, Laura Watkinson translated it, and Eerdmans published it. The book got some nice reviews, like the ones in Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus Reviews.

But now there is an award! The Society of Illustrators once a year grants Golden and Silver Awards for 'the best books' and Anton gets one of the two Silver Medals! (The golden one is for Ji Hyeon Lee.) This is the list of previous winners.

In October, November and December the work of the winners is shown in the Society's museum in New York. More about that, and about the award is to be read here. Anton: Congrats!

NINO IS LISTED IN GERMANY

Every month thirty children's book-experts from Germany, Switzerland and Austria choose the best seven new children's books. These are announced by Deutschlandfunk.

In August the German translation of the book that Anton Van Hertbruggen and I made, HET HONDJE DAT NINO NIET HAD (THE DOG NINO DIDN'T HAVE) was one of the seven. The book is called DER HUND, DEN NINO NICHT HATTE in German, and was translated by Rolf Erdorf for Bohem Press. More info on the list: here.

Originally the book came out at De Eenhoorn, Belgium. It already got the French Prix Sorcières, the Dutch Golden Palet and the Flemish Boekenpauw Award.

The book came out in China, France, Germany, Denmark and will shortly be published in the United States and Brazil.

SAM IN AFRIKAANS

A little while ago my book TOEN KWAM SAM (THEN THERE WAS SAM, Querido, Amsterdam, 2011) came out in ten offical languages of the Republic of South-Africa. The only language missing was Afrikaans.

Now the official translation into Afrikaans, published by Protea Boekhuis, is available. The book, with stunning illustrations by Philip Hopman, was translated by Daniel Hugo. The title of the book is EN TOE KOM TOM. (Yes, indeed, Sam turned into Tom).

After the ten other languagues of South-Africa, and after the Estonian and German version, this is the 13th foreign edition. And this fall, the French Sam will be next.
Thanks to all publishers and to Querido's foreign rights manager Luciënne van der Leije.