DAD MAN sold to Estonia!

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We are super happy to announce that the DAD MAN series by Arttu Unkari, illustrated by Kai Vaalio now travels to Estonia, as Ühinenud Ajakirjad has acquired the rights to DAD MAN AND THE EXPLODING POOP! The deal was closed by Satu Sallantaus at Ahlbäck Agency.

“We are very happy to publish this great series and appreciate the effort made by Arttu Unkari and Kai Vaalio, to bring more fun to the lives of our young readers!”
– Marko Tamme, Managing Director of Ühinenud Ajakirjad, Estonia

The Dad Man series has sold over 300,000 copies in Finland! The series is fast-paced, visually bold, and hilarious – perfect for readers 7+! Book #7 in the series will be published this Spring – stay tuned!

Request materials for the DAD MAN series here!

Dad Man is a dad to a nine-year-old daughter Oona, and a policeman who think he knows everything, but the reality is different. Oona and her friends follow her dad and helps him secretly to solve all of the issues herself. The series offers a fast-paced adventures and humor for all ages, especially lower middle grade. Bold and fresh 4-colour comic-style artwork adds visual jokes to the narration. A perfect “gateway series to literature” for reluctant readers and for fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants.

The rights for the series are still available in Sweden, Turkey, France, Czechia…

The Dad Man series:
Arttu Unkari, illustrated by Kai Vaalio

#1 Dad Man and the Exploding Poop
#2 Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother
#3 Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis
#4 Dad Man and the Impossible Time Warp
#5 Dad Man and the Doppelgänger Disaster
#6 Dad Man and the Mysterious Puppet Master
coming up soon #7 Dad Man and the Secret Script

The quirkiest cop in town! The Dad Man Series offers fast-paced adventures and humour for all ages – especially lower middle grade.

DAD MAN AND THE EXPLODING POOP
Isämies ja räjähtävä kakka
Otava 2020, 176 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
DENMARK: Bogoo (2 books)
ESTONIA: Ühinenud Ajakirjad (1 book)
GERMANY: Mixtvision (3 books)
NETHERLANDS: De Vier Windstreken (2 books)
POLAND: Kropka (2 books)

Reading materials:
Finnish editions, German edition books 1-3, Danish edition book 1, English sample book 4

About author


Arttu Unkari

Arttu Unkari is a teacher from Helsinki and a Master of Education (University of Helsinki, 2015) who majored in ethics and philosophy.  He combines his educational background and experience as a teacher in his books – his stories are anarchist and zany, but at the same time the humour often revolves around profound and intriguing concepts such as honesty, obedience, and morality in ways that speak to children in their own language. His books are enjoyed by adults as well because they contain layers that open up differently to readers of all ages. This is one of the reasons Dad Man is such a great series for the whole family.

As an author Unkari is a Runeberg prize nominee 2023 for the third instalment of the Dad Man series: Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis (Isämies ja hyytävä hypnoosi, Otava 2022). The Runeberg Prize is a literary prize awarded by the newspaper Uusimaa, the City of Porvoo, the Finnish Writers' Union, the Finnish Critics' Association and the Finland’s-Swedish Writer’s Association. The prize was established in 1986 and it is awarded annually in Porvoo on 5th February, the day when Finland celebrates their national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg.  All of his previous books (Dad Man and the Exploding poop, Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother, Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis and Dad Man and the Impossible Time Warp) have been nominated for best children’s audiobook in the 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 Finnish Storytel awards. He’s also participated in making a Finnish language schoolbook (Loikka 3, Otava 2022).

Unkari is a sought after inspirational speaker in his home country. He’s visited schools all over Finland advocating for the importance of reading.

Photo credit Jonne Räsänen / Otava 2019

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About author


Kai Vaalio

Kai Vaalio (b. 1986) is an illustrator, comic artist, and a bit of a cosmopolitan as well. He’s written and illustrated underground comic books for adults about his travels in South-East Asia and Latin America — the latter won Mondo magazine’s Travel book of the year award back in 2014. Recently he’s ventured into the world of illustrating children’s books mainly with Arttu Unkari’s Dad Man Series. Together they’ve made several books about this goofy detective and his clever little posse. The Dad Man Series has received Storytel Awards and Runeberg Junior 2023 award nominations. Vaalio’s been on and off in the graphic industry since 2005 when he graduated as a graphic designer from Lahti College of Arts and Crafts. In 2018 he got his bachelor’s degree from Lahti University of Applied Science.

Photo credit: Jonne Räsänen / Otava

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