German publisher for The Sauna Cookbook amongst this week’s deals

Many people associate the sauna with Finland, yet most will not know that it is also a place where cooking takes place. Finns have perfected the sauna ritual so that you can enjoy the sauna experience and also feed yourself, family and friends with delicious and easy recipes cooked on or in the sauna stove, as documented in The Sauna Cookbook (Tammi, 2014), which takes readers on a visual tour of a variety of saunas around Finland, accompanied by mouth-watering recipes that can also be cooked in a conventional kitchen with ease.

We are thrilled to announce btb Luchterhand have just acquired German rights to The Sauna Cookbook, for publication in 2017.  Rights have previously sold in Estonia (Pegasus).

Click here to request reading material

Praise for The Sauna Cookbook:
“I fell in love with this unpretentious cookbook that also includes interviews with steam aficionados and introduces us to their saunas.”  – Kauneus ja Terveys (‘Beauty and Health’) magazine, Finland“Fun activities for the summerhouse. Recommended!” – Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, Finland

Further deals closed this week:

Adult fiction
Her Enemy by Leena Lehtolainen – Pegasus (Estonia)
Escape from Sunset Grove and The End of Sunset Grove by Minna Lindgren – Albatros (Slovakia)
Escape from Sunset Grove by Minna Lindgren – Jensen & Dalgaard (Denmark)

Middle-grade and children’s fiction

Sisterland by Salla Simukka – Pegasus (Estonia)
The Giant Girl and Her Tiny Friend by Hannele Huovi & Kristiina Louhi – Jianxi (China)
Siri Finds a Seashell by Tiina Nopola – Turbine (Denmark)

About author


Hannele Huovi

Hannele Huovi (born 1949) is an acclaimed Finnish author who wrote her first children’s radio play while studying for her university degree. In addition to being known as a versatile creator of children’s and juvenile literature, she also writes poetry and prose for adults.

Huovi has received several awards and nominations for her work; among these is the Topelius Prize for the best Finnish youth novel in 2002 (for The Feather Chain), a Finlandia Junior nomination in 2011 (for The Giant Girl and her Tiny Friend), and a nomination for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

During her career Hannele Huovi has collaborated with a variety of illustrators and artists, namely with Kristiina Louhi (Jättityttö ja Pirhonen) and Jukka Lemmetty (Urpo ja Turpo). Hannele Huovi is also an accomplished translator into the Finnish language, having translated more than 50 children’s books.

About author


Kristiina Louhi

Kristiina Louhi is an artist and an awarded graphic designer, illustrator and author. She has illustrated dozens of children’s books over the years including illustrations for the texts by Hannele Huovi, Hannu Mäkelä, Leena Laulajainen, Katri Tapola and Riitta Jalonen.

Kristiina Louhi’s Aino series has been published since 1984 and Tomppa series since 1993. Books illustrated by Kristiina Louhi have been published in over ten languages all around the world.

About author


Leena Lehtolainen

Leena Lehtolainen is the top female crime author in Finland: her new titles always head straight to #1 on the Finnish bestseller lists.

Lehtolainen created her successful protagonist, detective Maria Kallio, in 1993. Having already featured in 16 novels and a complete TV series, a new Maria Kallio TV reboot series was launched in Fall 2021 on C More. Lehtolainen’s novels have been translated into 30 languages and have sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide.

And just like the events in Bodyguard, a that takes the heroine Hilja Ilveskero all around Europe, Lehtolainen’s own work takes her to book festivals, exhibitions and other events across the globe.

Leena Lehtolainen has also published outside the crime genre; her book The Charm of Figure Skating was voted sports book of the year 2010 in Finland, and A Life in Six Scenes showed her return to literary fiction.

The Crossing of the Green Dragon is her first title for YA audiences.

In her free time, Lehtolainen enjoys all kinds of music and follows lynx trails in the forests – just like Maria Kallio.

About author


Minna Lindgren

Minna Lindgren (b. 1963) is a freelance journalist and columnist known for her whimsical writing style and fearless approach to topics as strange as opera and death. In addition to novels, she has authored nonfiction books on classical music. In 2009, Lindgren won the Bonnier Journalism Prize for her article entitled “Father’s Death” (“Isän kuolema”).

Lindgren is best known for the Sunset Grove trilogy, which has been sold to 18 territories, and the final part, The End of Sunset Grove, was nominated for the International Dublin Literature Award in 2019. She has also written four standalone novels and a non-fiction book about the history of opera.

Minna Lindgren’s books have been critical and commercial successes, in Finland and internationally.

About author


Salla Simukka

Salla Simukka is the author of the international success story The Snow White Trilogy: rights are sold in 53 territories and in Hollywood. She has written several novels for young readers and her accolades include the Topelius Prize 2013 and the Finland Prize 2013. Simukka has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award  every year 2021–2024. Where It All Begins, published in 2022, is her first novel for adults and in 2024 she started a collaboration with JP Ahonen on a middle grade novel.

Previously Simukka has written book reviews for the newspapers, translated all kinds of texts into Finnish, worked as an editor at a literary magazine and as a screenwriter for a popular TV show for young audiences.  She has also been working on the programme of Turku Book Fair in 2017–2020.

Rights to Hannele Huovi’s Ware Bears series sold in China!

UrpoTurponewsletterJuly2015We are proud to announce that Zhejiang Literature & Art Publishing House has acquired Simplified Chinese rights to six titles in the popular Ware Bears series (Tammi) starring two teddy bears named Urpo and Turbo.

The series, first launched in 1987 and illustrated by Jukka Lemmetty, has been adapted into animated films and children’s plays. Following Urpo and Turbo’s adventures in the Wild West and outer space, for example, the books celebrate adventure and imagination.

“With comically characterised illustrations by Jukka Lemmetty, these vignettes cast a philosophical light on life as seen from a small child’s viewpoint, whether the subject is monsters at bedtime, what to play on a rainy day, using the family dog as a sailing ship or learning good manners.”
Books from Finland literary journal

Hannele Huovi’s many accolades include the Topelius Prize for the best Finnish youth novel in 2002 (for The Feather Chain), a Finlandia Junior nomination in 2011 (for The Giant Girl and her Tiny Friend), and nominations for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

Find out more about Huovi’s work at hannelehuovi.fi!

RIGHTS SOLD
THE WARE BEARS SERIES
Original publisher: FINLAND, Tammi
CHINA (Simplified Chinese), Zhejiang Literature & Art Publishing House
RUSSIA, Azbooka-Atticus
ESTONIA, Varrak

The Ware Bears series has also been published in (rights reverted): Sweden

THE FEATHER CHAIN
CHINA, Beijing Publishing Group
GERMANY, Carl Hanser Verlag
JAPAN, Komine Shoten

THE GIANT GIRL AND HER TINY FRIEND
ARABIC, Boustany’s Publishing House
RUSSIAN, TEXT
VÕRU, Võru Instituut

Contact: info@ahlbackagency.com

About author


Hannele Huovi

Hannele Huovi (born 1949) is an acclaimed Finnish author who wrote her first children’s radio play while studying for her university degree. In addition to being known as a versatile creator of children’s and juvenile literature, she also writes poetry and prose for adults.

Huovi has received several awards and nominations for her work; among these is the Topelius Prize for the best Finnish youth novel in 2002 (for The Feather Chain), a Finlandia Junior nomination in 2011 (for The Giant Girl and her Tiny Friend), and a nomination for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

During her career Hannele Huovi has collaborated with a variety of illustrators and artists, namely with Kristiina Louhi (Jättityttö ja Pirhonen) and Jukka Lemmetty (Urpo ja Turpo). Hannele Huovi is also an accomplished translator into the Finnish language, having translated more than 50 children’s books.

Bibliography


2011, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

The giant girl and her tiny friend

Hannele Huovi


2010, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Too-wit, too-woo, too-who?

Hannele Huovi


2010, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

When You Are Tiny

Hannele Huovi

International publication news for Hannele Huovi and Tiina Nopola

Huovi newsletter Aug212014We are happy to present a German edition, Die Federkette, of Hannele Huovi‘s critically lauded fairytale novel The Feather Chain (Höyhenketju, Tammi 2002) and a Hungarian edition, Sári gólt lő, of Tiina Nopola and Mervi Lindman‘s Siri Makes a Goal (Siiri tekee maalin, Tammi 2011), the 9th book in the Siri series. Die Federkette was published by Hanser with a translation by Anu Stohner. Sári gólt lő was published by Kolibri with a translation by Ottilia Kovács. Both were published in July.

Winner of the 2002 Topelius Prize for the best Finnish youth novel, The Feather Chain tells the story of a girl who becomes blinded by a hawk after she tries to grab hold of its foot. The girl and the hawk are subsequently tied together by a feather chain that will be broken only after they find a spell that will set them free. The book has previously been published in Japan. Huovi’s The Giant Girl and her Tiny Friend (Jättityttö ja Pirhonen, Tammi 2011) was nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize. Rights have been sold in Arabic, Russian and Võru.

The Siri series narrates the adventures of a spirited little girl and her friends, and enjoys tremendous popularity internationally. The 12th book in the series, Siri and the Star (Siiri ja kadonnut tähti, Tammi 2014), will arrive in bookstores in September. Rights to the series have been sold in 15 languages.

RIGHTS SOLD
THE FEATHER CHAIN

Original publisher: FINLAND, Tammi
GERMANY, Carl Hanser Verlag
THE GIANT GIRL AND HER TINY FRIEND
ARABIC, Boustany’s Publishing House
RUSSIAN, TEXT
VÕRU, Võru Instituut

Reading materials for The Feather Chain
German edition
English sample

RIGHTS SOLD: THE SIRI SERIES
Original publisher: FINLAND, Tammi
ARAB WORLD, Dar Al Saqi
CHINA, Graphic Communications Press
DENMARK, Carlsen
DENMARK, Turbine
ESTONIA (Võru), Võru Instituut
GERMANY, Ellermann
HUNGARY, Kolibri
KOREA, Chackgama
LATVIA, Zvaigzne
LITHUANIA, Nieko Rimto
POLAND, Foksal
SWEDEN, Bonnier Carlsen
SLOVAKIA, Verbarium
TURKEY, Marti
UKRAINE, BAT

Reading materials for the Siri series:
Full English text of book 10 (Siri and the Yeti)
English sample of books 1, 3-5, 9
German sample of book 9
Spanish sample of books 9 and 11
Japanese sample of book 1

About author


Hannele Huovi

Hannele Huovi (born 1949) is an acclaimed Finnish author who wrote her first children’s radio play while studying for her university degree. In addition to being known as a versatile creator of children’s and juvenile literature, she also writes poetry and prose for adults.

Huovi has received several awards and nominations for her work; among these is the Topelius Prize for the best Finnish youth novel in 2002 (for The Feather Chain), a Finlandia Junior nomination in 2011 (for The Giant Girl and her Tiny Friend), and a nomination for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

During her career Hannele Huovi has collaborated with a variety of illustrators and artists, namely with Kristiina Louhi (Jättityttö ja Pirhonen) and Jukka Lemmetty (Urpo ja Turpo). Hannele Huovi is also an accomplished translator into the Finnish language, having translated more than 50 children’s books.