Volt Children's Books Rights Guide - spring 2022

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

LITTLE FOX AND THE QUIET WORLD

Thysa Zevenbergen and Ru de Groen

A new adventure with the beloved Little Fox

One day, when Little Fox looks outside, she can’t believe her eyes. The whole world is covered in a blanket of white. At first, she and her friend Gijs have fun playing in the snow, but the flakes keep falling, and pretty soon they find themselves snowed into their fox hole. Luckily, it’s cosy in side and they have enough to eat, but they’re worried about their friends.

Would Deer, Giraffe and Elephant be all right?

In short poems, Ru de Groen tells the particularly timely and exciting story of two little foxes who bravely hibernate in their little den.

With hand-cut paper art by Thysa Zevenbergen

— A philosophical picture book about longing and loneliness

More than 10,000 copies of Little Fox sold

Thysa Zevenbergen was born in The Netherlands but grew up in the United States and France. She debuted in 2019 with Little Fox looks for Everything & Nothing, which features her signature papercuts.

Ru de Groen is a novelist, who from 2004 to 2008, translated several children’s books. In 2019, he began writing for the Little Fox series.

AYDIN, THE TRUE STORY OF A BELUGA WHALE

Olaf Koens and Mark Janssen

A read-aloud book about the true story of a beluga whale from Turkey

Sometimes a memory can follow you for life. A little boy becomes fascinated with whales after seeing a white beluga whale named Aydin on the news. Would he ever see a whale himself in the Dutch sea?

Years later he comes face to face with a beluga whale on one of his many trips. His childhood memories come flooding back: whatever happened to the white beluga? The Turkish village where Aydin was last spotted is still under the spell of the mythical white whale. Everyone, from Kemal the fisherman to the mayor to a mysterious professor, has something to say about the almost magical and very true story of Aydin the beluga whale.

Olaf Koens takes the reader along on his quest for the mysterious beluga whale

— Beautiful illustrations by Mark Janssen

Photographs of the real beluga whale at the end of the book

Olaf Koens is a writer and a journalist. He lives in Istanbul and travels across the Middle East as a correspondent. Aydin is his first children’s book.

Mark Janssen graduated from the Acad emy of Fine Arts in Maastricht in 1997 and has worked as a full-time children’s book illustrator ever since. In 2016, he began creating his own picture books.

MORE BOOKS BY MARK JANSSEN:

OUR SEPARATE LEAFLET

Russian and Turkish rights sold

SNOWY WHITE Daan Remmerts de Vries and Mark Janssen

Second read-aloud book by successful duo

She is kind and gentle, but also a little scatterbrained and naive. She lives in her father’s big castle and has only two friends: Cook and Charles the Naughty, a wandering cat. Her father, King Alfred the Eighth, has remar ried Zilla Tarantel, a tall, icy woman who spends most of her time in the Red Tower. Since his marriage to Zilla, the king has been in a mysterious state of stupor. One day, Zilla overhears a conversation between Snowy White and Cook and, from that moment on, the new queen tries to get rid of the king’s daughter. Snowy White flees into the forest. She ends up in a secluded cottage where seven dwarves live. Here she can hide, and slowly she discovers that she can decide for herself who or what she wants to be... This is how Snowy White slowly changes into Snow White, until she finally feels strong enough to free her father from the grip of the mean queen...

The well known, grim fairy tale by the brothers Grimm retold by master storyteller Daan Remmerts de Vries, with charming illustrations by be loved illustrator Mark Janssen.

Daan Remmerts De Vries has written more than fifty children’s books. He has been awarded two Gouden Griffel awards, five Zilveren Griffel awards (both for Dutch-lan guage children’s literature) and several Vlag en Wimpel awards (honourable mentions by the juries of the Zilveren Griffel/Gouden Griffel or Gouden Penseel/Zilveren Penseel awards for illustrations in children’s litera ture). In 2021, he received the prestigious Theo Thijssen Prize for his entire oeuvre.

From his first children’s book illustrations until now, Mark Janssen has worked on no fewer than five hundred publications for Dutch, Belgian and Chinese publishers. Many of his picture books have found their way abroad and they have been translated into almost twenty languages. He has been making his own picture books since 2016, including the Dutch Children’s Book Week gift 2021.

THE HUT BOOK FOR YOUNG BUILDERS

Susanne Roos

An ode to play, fantasy and independence

Every child has a hut. A blanket over two chairs, an open spot under a bush or even a tree house. A place where you can retreat and that is all yours.

Theatre-maker Susanne Roos visited twelve different huts and inter viewed the young builders. She went in search of tips and stories about building for children. How can you build safely? How do you learn to use a drill? What is a willow hut?

At the same time, Susanne discovered how many different meanings the word ‘hut’ can have. And that it isn’t really about the hut itself, but about building it. And who you do it with: a sister, a grandfather or a friend from your neighbourhood.

The Hut Book is an ode to play, fantasy and independence. A book about mud, sawing and scrapes that don’t hurt. No ready-made plans, but a book that encourages your imagination. It’s not about searching for the perfect plank, but about using what you find. A book that enables you to make new discoveries all the time. The most beautiful huts are never finished but grow with you throughout your life.

Susanne Roos is a theatre-maker, idea generator and writer. Together with Jaap Robben, she started theatre group Fien, which tours the Netherlands and Belgium. She also creates performances and short films for museums. She lives with her family in an old farmhouse in Germany, where she likes to work. For her birthday, she prefers to get tools.

NELSSON - ALWAYS CHILL

Nellerike de Voogd

For everyone who always wants to be chill!

Nelsson is always chill, really always…

Unless he has a poop shoe and he has to choose between his parents two poop-removal-methods (one is with a cheese fondue fork?!)

Unless he is laughed at in class by two annoying horse girls.

Unless he has a sleepover in the creepy guestroom at other grandpa and grandma’s house.

Unless his parents have a parenting attack and they only buy healthy food and tell him to do his homework.

At home, at school and on the road, Nelsson finds himself in not so chill situations. Fortunately, he can always read the letters of his grandpa, who experienced bizarre adventures – probably not true, but exciting none theless – and who always knows just what to do.

• Full of funny black and white illustrations

• Also for children with a fear of reading

Nellerike De Voogd is a theatre maker and writer. For years, she has toured the country with her children’s theatre compa ny Vet Kindercabaret, for which she writes theatre texts and lyrics. Her book Grappen makers (Jokers) was nominated for the Chil dren’s Jury Prize. She also does creative and editorial work for television.

Hardcover, Black and white illustrations

SINBAD THE SAILOR

Tiny Fisscher, Thé Tjong-Khing, Linde Faas, Daan Remmerts de Vries, Jeska Verstegen, Juliette de Wit, Sophie Pluim and Pyhai Enchanting new book by bestselling author Tiny Fisscher

The seven travel stories of Sinbad the Sailor were taken from the world-famous tales of The Thousand and One Nights. Travel with Sinbad across raging seas to mysterious places where danger is never far away. Escape from Cyclopes, giant snakes, birds as tall as a castle, swirling rivers and untrustworthy people. Along the way, Sinbad learns about himself and the world around him. This Arabic story is retold for children by Tiny Fisscher. The exciting adventures of Sinbad the Sailor come to life in the magical illustrations of seven illustrators: Thé Tjong-Khing, Linde Faas, Daan Remmerts de Vries, Jeska Verstegen, Juliette de Wit, Sophie Pluim and Pyhai.

• Full colour edition with unique mix of seven illustrators

• More than 50,000 books sold in the Netherlands of Fisscher’s retranslations

Tiny Fisscher writes for all ages and in various genres, from picture books to 12+ novels. In recent years, she has also devoted herself to translating famous classics, so that new generations can enjoy them too.

For Volt she successfully translated The Little Prince, Oliver Twist and Around the World in 80 Days. She works from home in Amsterdam, where wheeled suitcases and skateboards rattle past her window, but she wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Hardcover, Colour illustrations

PROFESSOR S. AND THE SECRET DIARY

Erik Scherder, Fred Diks and Mariëlla van de Beek

A brand-new adventure of Professor S.!

Brian and Zhé want to earn money for a good cause. That’s why they tidy the basement of Zhé’s grandfather, the famous Professor S. In a secret room, they discover a mysterious diary and the remains of a girl who was kidnapped and murdered over a century ago. Zhé has a brilliant idea: if they fly back to the past in the rocket, they might be able to free the girl in time.

The exciting adventures of Brian, Zhé, Professor S. and Pavlov the dog are set in about 1918. Can they find the girl and her killer in time?

And will Professor S.’s invention come in handy?

In the three books about Professor S., exciting fiction alternates with factual information. After each chapter of the story, the books provide facts and figures about the brain. The informative colour illustrations make the information visually appealing.

‘Thanks to Professor S., this great book is not only very funny, but has a scientific basis and easy-to-understand explanations.’ – www.hebban.nl

• All three books can be read separately

• English excerpts available

• Mix of fiction and non-fiction

• Attractive and illuminating illustrations

Erik Scherder is Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the VU University in Amsterdam. His books for adults, Don’t Let Your Brain Down and Singing in the Brain, are bestsellers. Scherder became known to the general public as a result of his appearances on the popular Dutch television programme De Wereld Draait Door (The World Keeps on Turning).

Fred Diks is a journalist and has many children’s books to his name. His bestknown series is Koen Kampioen (Champion Koen), which has sold 800,000 copies.

Mariëlla van de Beek works as a free lance illustrator. She has illustrated, among many other things, the Aruba Children’s Book Week gift.

See also our separate leaflet

Hardcover, Colour illustrations 13,5 x 21,5 cm, 188 pages

PRESSURE

Jeannette Jonker, Claudia Lagermann and Liesbeth Vijfvinkel

Make time for Pressure

Getting good grades at school, getting lots of likes on your photos, performing at sports competitions and making wise choices for the future: it all seems so important. But constantly doing your best and studying or training even harder can result in a lot of pressure.

In Pressure, young people talk about how they deal with it. Togeth er with experts, they give tips on what you can do about worrying, lying awake or having knots in your stomach. Discover how to keep pressure under control using relaxation techniques, quick tests and questionnaires.

This book explains what happens when you have too much on your mind, and why. That is useful to know because it helps you learn how to prevent it in future. Say goodbye to all that pressure and hurrah to a more relaxed life.

• Everything you need to know if you have too much on your mind

• Extensive media attention

• Collaboration with Kidsweek

• Teaching materials available

As Firma Fluks, Jeannette Jonker, Claudia Lagermann and Liesbeth Vijfvinkel write books and teaching materials for children and young people about everything that concerns young people. They discovered that many young people suffer from busyness and chaos in their heads, so they decided to write a book to help them. Previously, they wrote Scheid! (Separate!).

SPEEDY SAM: THE KIDNAPPING

OLAV MOL

The fourth part in the Speedy Sam series! 20.000 copies sold!

Thanks to his job at the new go-kart track, Sam has been learning all about the world of go-karting. He decides to enter the national go-karting competition only to find out that racing with the best of the best is not as easy as he thought. As the youngest of all the driv ers, Sam has to work hard to make it onto the podium.

During the last race weekend, Sam and his friend Carel are allowed to spend the night in Sam’s dad’s van. In the middle of the night, they’re jolted awake when the van starts moving. There are men in the front seat speaking a language they’ve never heard before. That’s when they know—they’ve been kidnapped!

Will the boys be able to escape? And can Sam get to Italy in time to defend his Pizza Cup?

The fourth instalment in the successful Speedy Sam series

— Easy reading

Discover the world of Formula 1

Olav Mol is a commentator for Formula 1 races. He won the Theo Koomen Award for his commentary on Max Verstappen’s win in Barcelona. His Speedy Sam books are inspired by his grandchildren.

Renee Rienties works as a cartoonist and illustrator. In 2015, she graduated from CIBAP and made her start in the world of comics and illustrations. Her inspirations include American comics and Japanese manga.

RECENT RIGHTS SOLD

Turkish rights sold to Can

Korean rights sold to LIME via Momo Agency Vietnamese rights sold to Kim Dong

Polish rights sold to Dwie Siostry

German rights sold to Fischer Verlag Taiwan rights sold to Lingin via Grayhawk Agency

Vietnamese rights sold to Kim Dong

Simplified Chinese rights sold to Ginkgo/Post Wave via Grayhawk