Finally, fantastic news from Italy for HLA’s hit children’s title, the Finlandia Junior winner A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large, written by Sofia Chanfreau and illustrated by Amanda Chanfreau: after a heated auction, Italian rights have been sold to Salani.
This is the 8th foreign rights sale for the title, after the recent acquisitions in Mainland China (Everafter) and Korea (Dasan).
Founded in Florence in 1862, Adriano Salani Editore is one of the oldest publishing houses still operating in Italy. Salani has made a name for itself in the world of children’s books by publishing some of the best mainstream fiction and juvenile literature, and creating series that have fired the imagination of whole generations of youthful readers. It is the home of books by J. K. Rowling, Astrid Lindgren, Roald Dahl, Tove Jansson and many other children’s classics. Recently the house has also started to expand its offering by signing up successful writers of adult fiction.
From HLA’s list, Salani has previously acquired another Finlandia Junior winner, children’s novel Radio Popov, by Anja Portin.
A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large has already sold ca. 10,000 copies in Finland altogether, and has been the fastest-selling title on HLA’s list this spring. In Finland, the book was published by Schildts & Söderströms.
In addition to winning the most prestigious literary award in the country, Finlandia Junior Prize, the book was also nominated for Runeberg Junior Prize and received an honorary mention in the competition.
Congratulations to the authors for such a success!