Monster Nanny and Maresi deals follow Bologna Book Fair

To kick off the Bologna Book Fair week, Salani of Mauri Spagnol Group pre-empted Italian rights to Tuutikki Tolonen and Pasi Pitkänen’s middle-grade adventure Monster Nanny.

“We are very proud to be the publisher of this clever, imaginative, crazy novel. We know that Monster Nanny will be the perfect match for our readership!” said Francesca Manzoni from Salani.

Monster Nanny, first part of a duology telling the story of three kids who get a monstrous babysitter for the summer, has been sold to 17 territories to date and there’s a Hollywood adaptation in development by Scott Free Productions.

Another deal was struck with the Polish publisher Debit of Wydawnictwo Sonia Draga. Debit bought the rights to Maria Turtschaninoff’s YA fantasy Maresi and The Red Abbey Chronicles.The deal is Maresi’s 21st, and the anticipation grows for the film adaptation too!

“What a novel! There is truth in this prose that surpasses the limits of the genre. And the author seems to have access to some ancient Nordic formula for telling a story in the most engaging way possible,” said Joanna Walczak, publishing director of Debit, on Maresi.

Ask us for English reading materials for Monster Nanny or Maresi and The Red Abbey Chronicles.

Monster Nanny: Rights sold
FINLAND, Tammi (Orig.)
BOSNIA, Šahinpašić
CHINA, Beijing Children’s Publishing House
ESTONIA, Tiritamm
FRANCE, Robert Laffont
GERMANY, Carl Hanser
HUNGARY, Tessloff Babilon
ITALY, Salani/Mauri Spagnol
LATVIA, Zvaigzne
NETHERLANDS, Luitingh-Sijthoff
NORWAY, Gyldendal Norsk
ROMANIA, Editura Univers
SLOVENIA, Mladinska knjiga
SPAIN (Spanish), La Galera
SPAIN (Catalan), La Galera
SWEDEN, Rabén & Sjögren
UNITED STATES, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
FILM RIGHTS, Scott Free

 

Maresi: Rights sold
FINLAND, S&S (Orig.)
FINLAND, Förlaget (Orig.)
BELGIUM, Clavis
BRAZIL, Morro Branco
CANADA (French), Editions de la Bagnole
CHINESE, Shanghai 99
DENMARK, Turbine
ESTONIA, Varrak
FINLAND, Tammi
FRANCE, Editions Rageot
GERMANY, Heyne
HUNGARY, Scolar Kiado
ITALY, Atmosphere Libri
LATVIA, Petergailis
NETHERLANDS, Clavis
NORWAY, Gursli Berg Forlag
POLAND, Debit/Sonia Draga
ROMANIA, Editura Univers
WORLD SPANISH, Alfaguara
SWEDEN, Berghs
TURKEY, Altin Kitaplar
UK, Pushkin Press
U.S., Abrams
FILM RIGHTS, Film 4

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, winner of the Swedish YLE Literature Prize, winner of the Thank You for the Book Award, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2020-2024), and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. In 2024, Maria Turtschaninoff won the Eeva Joenpelto Literary Prize (10,000 euro award) for her literary masterpiece Inherited Land.

Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages, while her first adult novel Inherited Land has been sold to 23 territories. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

About author


Tuutikki Tolonen

Tuutikki Tolonen is the author of several acclaimed children’s books, plays and academic articles. She teaches creative writing and has worked as an editor and reporter at Vinski, a Finnish literary magazine for children. For Monster Nanny she received the Arvid Lydecken award.  Her inspiration for the Monster Nanny trilogy sparked during a family breakfast. “My son Leo, then six, said: ‘I heard on the radio yesterday that all moms have to go on vacation and monsters will take their places,” she says.

Her other bestselling series is the Agnes-series, of which the first book "Agnes and the Garden of Dreams" was in 2021 nominated for the Arvid Lydecken Award, received an honorable mention for the Runeberg Junior Award, and won the Luku Varkaus Award. Tolonen tells that the inspiration for Agnes comes for her interest for weird and inexpicable tales, ghost stories and mysteries: "I wanted to write a book my daughter Aili, then nine, would like to read - not too long, not too scary, but very curious."