Korean and Chinese rights sold to A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large

More thrilling news about the hit title on our children’s & YA list, the Finlandia Junior winner A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large, written by Sofia Chanfreau and illustrated by Amanda Chanfreau: 7 territories have been sold in fast pace, the most recent acquiring publishers being Everafter in Mainland China and Dasan in Korea.

Moreover, a heated auction in Italy is still ongoing.

A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large (2022)

Everafter is one of the famous children’s books publishers in China. They aim at middle grade (7–12) and picture books and have many award-winning titles on their acquisition list, such as Sydney Smith’s Small in the City. Besides books written in English, Everafter is keen on publication of non-English language children’s books.

Dasan Books has been one of the fastest growing publishers in Korea since its founding in 2004. It publishers various kinds of titles for adult and children, including fiction, nonfiction, educational literature and other. In addition to this acquisition, Dasan has also recently acquired children’s novel Radio Popov, by Anja Portin, which won the Finlandia Junior Prize in 2020 and has been sold to 24 territories already.

We thank for the Chinese deal to the Grayhawk Literary Agency, and AMO Agency for the Korean deal.

Amanda & Sofia Chanfreau (photo: Mikael Moroueta)

A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large is an illustrated novel for the middle grade readers and a tale of longing to be part of a family, to find one’s place in the world, and to be loved as one is; a story of childlessness and dreams that fade or morph into nightmares. Page by page, it swells with inevitable force into a horror story that firmly holds the reader in its agonizing grip. 

Whenever a ten-year-old Vega, who has always lived with her father, tries to ask about her mother, the only answer she gets is mysteries. Once a not-so-nice girlfriend starts dating her father, and Vega gets an unexpected pen pal, she decides to set out on an adventure to find out more about her mother. The book is a superb read for a child alone or for parents and children together.

The book has already sold ca. 10,000 copies in Finland altogether.

In addition to winning the most prestigious literary award in the country, Finlandia Junior Prize, the title was also nominated for Runeberg Junior Prize and received an honorary mention in the competition.

Congratulations to the authors for such a success!