kai vaalio

Two new children’s deals: DAD MAN and BENJAMIN BATEMAN sold to Denmark!

Posted on

We are thrilled to announce two new deals for our children’s authors! The Danish publishing house Bogoo acquired the Danish rights for DAD MAN AND THE EXPLODING POOP, the first title in the bestselling DAD MAN middle grade series by Arttu Unkari and Kai Vaalio. This series is a huge bestseller in Finland, with 100,000 copies sold! The German rights have been sold in a two-book deal to Mixtvision.

Bogoo also acquired the Danish rights to BENJAMIN BATEMAN AND THE CURSE OF THE MIND-POPPING PRANKS, the second volume in the BENJAMIN BATEMAN series by Hannele Lampela and Pasi Pitkänen. Book 1 published in Denmark at the end of June.

Both deals were closed by Anna Kappauf at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

If you are looking for hilarious middle-grade titles for reluctant readers, look no further! Rights are still available for France, Germany, Spain, Italy, World English language, etc! 

Download materials for the DAD MAN series here!

Download materials for the BENJAMIN BATEMAN series here!

The Dad Man series:

#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

Arttu Unkari, illustrated by Kai Vaalio

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

✓  German rights sold! (Books 1-2)

✓  For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

✓  A perfect “Gateway series to literature” for reluctant readers

✓  Books in the series have been nominated for the Storytel awards 2020, 2021, and 2022 (Best children’s audiobook), Best Newcomer of the Year 2020, and the Runeberg Prize 2023!

✓  Bold and fresh 4-colour comic-book style artwork that add visual jokes to the narration

✓  100,000 copies sold in Finland!

✓  4 books available and more to come, with 5th book coming in 2024 – work as standalones and can be read in any order!

Dad Man is a dad, and a policeman – but he also has a superpower! Too bad his superpower is one shared by almost all dads – an unwavering belief in himself and his own abilities. Dad Man truly believes he knows everything and can do anything, but as it goes with most dads, the reality is quite different. And it follows that Dad Man’s nine-year-old daughter Oona needs to solve all of the issues herself.

The Benjamin Bateman series:

#1 Benjamin Bateman – Super Embarrassed Superhero
#2 Benjamin Bateman and The Curse of the Mind-popping Pranks

Hannele Lampela, illustrated by Pasi Pitkänen

What if your superhero costume looked like a butterfly and your only superpowers would be having a good heart and a lively imagination? Welcome to the embarrassing life of Benjamin Bateman!

✓  First joint 3-book series for award-winning and bestselling writer-illustrator super team Hannele Lampela and Pasi Pitkänen!

✓  Film in development!

✓  Nominee for the Arvid Lydecken Award 2023

✓  Rights sold to Denmark!

The wholly hilarious and thrilling adventures of a super embarrassing superhero for middle-graders!

Benjamin Bateman is stunned when he finds out that he is part of a family of superheroes. Who would’ve believed that about poor Benjamin?

Benjamin’s superhero costume is quite embarrassing though – a butterfly. And his superpower is even more mortifying – having a good heart and great imagination! But when Benjamin must battle the terrifying Mortem, his imagination will come in handy.

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 Dadman 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. Three of his books (Dad Man and the Exploding poop, Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother, and Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis) have been nominated for best children’s audiobook in the 2020, 2021, 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.

Read more

About author


Hannele Lampela

Hannele Lampela's lovable works have been praised above all for their rich humor and ability to truly show the world from a child's perspective. She has the ability to enchant her readers, and that is why both children and adults love her stories. Lampela's works have been dramatized for example by the Finnish National Theater, Kuopio City Theater and YLE's radio plays. She has been awarded the prestigious Kaarina Helakisa Prize for her work and she has been nominated for Runeberg Junior award in 2019 and for Storytel Award, and Arvid Lydecken Award in 2020.

In addition to her fictional works, Lampela has written and created  a world of stories for the next national ABC book of Finnish schools. First graders across the country will learn to read through Hannele’s texts. Lampela lives in a small wooden house in the middle of apple trees with her family, and spends her days not only writing, but also pampering herself and others on a regular basis.

Read more Author's page

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 even 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 four books about this goofy detective and his clever little posse. The Dadman 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 Sciences.

Read more

About author


Pasi Pitkänen

Pasi Pitkänen has become known for his richly detailed illustrative work on several children’s books such as the extremely popular Monster Nanny trilogy by Tuutikki Tolonen. He has also worked at Rovio Entertainment as an illustrator, character designer, and graphic designer. Pitkänen is the illustrator of the popular Kepler62 series and the author of two Children's titles Monster Tournament and The Island of Lost Animals.

Among Pitkänen’s hobbies are quantum physics, people-watching, B-movies, insects and baking.

Read more Author's page

DAD MAN Series by Arttu Unkari and Kai Vaalio pre-empted in Germany by Mixtvision!

Posted on

We are thrilled to announce the first international sale for the bestselling DAD MAN series written by Arttu Unkari and illustrated by Kai Vaalio: the German rights have been pre-empted, in a two-book deal, by the prize-winning publisher Mixtvision! The deal was closed by Anna Kappauf and Elina Ahlback at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Publishing Director Lena Frenzel at Mixtvision loves the Dad Man Series:
“ A real firework of humour and absurdities! Our readers will love the Dad Man series, no doubt about that!”

DAD MAN is a hilarious series for the reluctant readers and for fans of Captain Underpants and David Walliams – with the comic-style illustrations and priceless plot lines, one just has to keep on turning pages. The series has sold over 100 000 copies in Finland and has been nominated for the Runeberg Prize and for Storytel Awards! 

“A funny and engaging series [–] The series has such delightful characters, carefree school anarchy, and flight of imagination, and one is looking forward to the continuation.”
–Ilkka Valpasvuo on Kulttuuritoimitus magazine

“The duo smartly combines the narrative styles of comics and prose. Vaalio’s illustrations offer many visual jokes and almost accidentally urges one to read Unkari’s story.”
– Savon Sanomat newspaper

Download materials for the DAD MAN series here!

 

 

Dad Man and the Exploding Poop

Arttu Unkari, illustrated by Kai Vaalio

Adults who think they know everything and children who are forced to clean up the messes – the Dad Man series offers hilarious adventures!

  • Nominated for Storytel awards 2020 (Best children’s audiobook) and Best Newcomer of the Year 2020
  • For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

A horrific poop explosion flies the minister of education to the Moon in the middle of a regular evening. And even worse is yet to come: it turns out there’s a mad inventor behind it all, who is threatening more explosions if no one solves his twisted riddle.

The pride and role model of the police force, the heroic Dad Man, is not one to flinch and immediately sets out to solve the case. However, his nine-year-old daughter Oona knows that Dad Man’s investigations lead to nothing but disarray. Oona has no choice but to take matters into her own hands.

 

Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother

Arttu Unkari, illustrated by Kai Vaalio

Little siblings are always up to no good – sometimes they even get tangled in thefts!

  • Nominated for Storytel awards 2021 (Best children’s audiobook)
  • For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

Something odd is going on, because adults have started to behave stranger than usual – they are telling the truth!

At the same time, there’s a wave of mysterious gold thefts in the city – even goldfish go missing! Oona is sure that her cute little brother Veikka knows more than he lets on. But how to prove it? As usual, the totally incompetent policeman Dad Man is mishandling his robbery investigations, and Oona must rush to the rescue. But the evil little brother is always one step ahead.

 

Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis

Arttu Unkari, illustrated by Kai Vaalio

If students act well-behaved and don’t cause trouble, something’s seriously wrong.

  • Nominated for Storytel awards 2022 and for the Runeberg Prize 2023!
  • For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

When Oona and Eeli’s class gets a substitute teacher, strange things start to happen at school: the students become obedient, and at the same time get all excited about playing the recorder. Meanwhile, a strange series of factory fires keep policeman Dad Man busy, who, as usual, is vigorously chasing a false lead.

The appearance of the new teacher at the crime scenes makes Oona suspicious. Even the adults start to become obedient as the weird flute playing trend is spreading like wildfire and this time Eeli is of no help to Oona. Will Oona succeed on her own in stopping the substitute teacher from taking over the world?

 

Dad Man and the Impossible Time Warp

Arttu Unkari, illustrated by Kai Vaalio

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

  • Series sold over 100 000 copies in Finland!
  • For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

Oona and her friends find out that Dad Man would never have gotten into police school without help – from them! How is that possible? The friends have no choice but to jump into a time machine and go back to Dad Man’s police academy years to find out.

The four friends find themselves at the centre of a mysterious series of art theft. The case is being investigated by the police academy’s quirkiest cadets, including, of course, Dad Man. Luckily, Oona and friends have a clue of their own. There is a criminal in the police school who they have already caught once.

Isämies ja räjähtävä kakka
Otava, 2020, 176 pp.
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
GERMANY: Mixtvision
Reading materials:
English synopsis, Series presentation, Finnish pdf

 

Isämies ja paha pikkuveli 
Otava, 2021, 176 pp.
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
GERMANY: Mixtvision
Reading materials:
English synopsis, Series presentation, Finnish pdf

 

Isämies ja hyytävä hypnoosi
Otava, 2022, 192 pp.
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
Reading materials:
English synopsis, Series presentation, Finnish pdf

 

Isämies ja mahdoton aikasolmu
Otava, 2023, 174 pp.
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
Reading materials:
English sample & synopsis, Series presentation, Finnish pdf

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 Dadman 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. Three of his books (Dad Man and the Exploding poop, Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother, and Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis) have been nominated for best children’s audiobook in the 2020, 2021, 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.

Read more

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 even 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 four books about this goofy detective and his clever little posse. The Dadman 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 Sciences.

Read more