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!

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!

VLOG FROM ESTONIA

I love bookbloggers and bookvloggers. I think they are important. And maybe I love them even more when they are from Estonia. I don't know what 'MannuMiner' tells us about my Sam-books, but it must be nice, since the title of her vlog is 'Minu lemmikud raamatud?' which translates as 'My favorite books?'

The Sam-books, TOEN KWAM SAM (SAM SHOWED UP) and DE RAADSELS VAN SAM (SAMS MYSTERIES) were richly illustrated by Philip Hopman, first issued by Querido in Holland, and published by Päike ja Pilv in Estonia, translated by Kerti Tergem.

And now listen to what MannuMiner says:

NEWS ABOUT SAM

The dog that gave me two books, Sam, is still alive (well, the real one isn't, sadly enough). The two books (SAM SHOWED UP and SAMS MYSTERIES) were bundled into one big Sam-book, the new cover goes hereby. The books were issued by Querido and contain of course all the original illustrations by the great Philip Hopman.

Apart from that, the Estonian Organisation for Child Care, chose their 'best books of the year'. Among those picks was the Estonian translation by Kerti Tergem of the first book, SAM SHOWED UP (KOER NIMEGA SAM, published by Päike Ja Pilv).

The rights of the first book so far were sold for these languages:
French
German
Estonian
English (USA)
and all eleven languages of the Republic of South-Africa.

The second book:
German
Estonian.

The Dutch Literature Fund gives grants for spreading the book into even more countries. This can be checked here. Also on that page: a sample translation into English (by David Colmer) of the first book. 

SOFIE TRAVELS TO ISRAEL

There are four books in the series I make with illustrator and comic artist Floor de Goede and photo-comic-makers Ype+Willem - all of these four books are about little Sofie, who is extremely fond of animals and in particular about penguins.
After SOFIE AND THE PENGUINS (2010), there was SOFIE AND THE FLYING BOY (2012), SOFIE AND THE LITTLE POLAR BEAR (2013) and SOFIE AND THE DOLPHINS (2014). Next year we will publish a fifth book. All books (for kids aged 6-10) are issued by publishing house Querido, Amsterdam.

This year the first SOFIE-book came out in Italy (Il Castoro, SOFIA E I PINGUINI). The rights were also sold to Estonia (for all four of the books, Päike ja Pilv) and we just got to know that Sofie will travel to Israel! Publishing house Rimomim bought the rights. We are extremely happy because of this fact. Thanks, Rimomim!

For possible other countries: don't forget you can apply for a grant for the translation of these books!