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Literature in translation specialist Pushkin Press is launching a children’s imprint, with plans to publish works that have seen success overseas but have not yet been published in the UK.
Publisher and m.d. Adam Freudenheim and associate publisher Stephanie Seegmuller, who bought the publishing house last year, are aiming to release 10 to 15 titles annually, covering the five to 12 age range and a mix of commercial and more literary works.
The programme begins in May with an eco-fable that won the Icelandic Literary Prize, The Story of the Blue Planet by Andri Snaer Magnason with illustrations by Áslaugh Jónsdóttir (£12.99, hb), plus two picture books for five to eight-year-olds from Danish duo Kim Fupz Aakeson and Niels Bo Bojesen, Vitello Scratches a Car and Vitello Gets a Yucky Girlfriend (£6.99, pb).
Its lead title, coming in June, will be the first in the bestselling Oksa Pollock series from France, The Last Hope by Anne Plichota and Cendrine Wolf (£12.99, hb), described by Seegmuller as “a thrilling fantasy adventure series with a feisty new heroine for readers aged 10 and over”. The series is published in 27 languages.
Other 2013 titles include bestselling Dutch classic The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt (£14.99, hb), and a French collection of modern fairytales, The Good Little Devil and Other Tales (hb, £12.99) by Pierre Gripari, already published in 18 languages.
In 2014, Pushkin will publish the Italian “Save the Story” series which features classic stories such as Cyrano de Bergerac retold for children by authors including Umberto Eco.
Freudenheim said: “Pushkin is passionate about introducing fantastic books from all over the world to the UK . . . many of which have never been translated into English before.”