HEADLINER
Children's Books
MORRIS AND THE MAGIC OF STORIES
A feel-good book about the benefits of reading. It has sold more than 3,700 copies in France and translation rights have been sold for 5 languages including world rights for both English and Spanish.
Maurice the cat has found the trick to attract mice: read them great stories. The mice approach and together, they laugh, they play, they marvel. But it then becomes impossible for Maurice to eat them after so many pleasant moments spent together. Maurice the cat isn’t very athletic. This extremely friendly black and white cat, dressed in a big yellow sweater, prefers to relax in his chair and read stories to mice in order to catch them more easily afterwards. But, alas, the superpower of stories works against him. As he reads them "tales full of unhappy princesses and wolves cut into slices" everyone is in tears and Maurice no longer has his heart in hunting. So, "Maurice decides to try funny stories, they’re probably better. Jokes for example. But Maurice laughs so much that he has to keep taking breaks, and the mice are laughing right along with him. It then becomes impossible for Maurice to eat someone he’s laughed with." While enjoying his coffee, doing yoga, or resting in his box, Maurice thinks. Is there a solution to this dilemma? "A tender, funny and delightful story about the benefits of reading aloud! A bit of humor enhanced by funny, joyful and expressive illustrations that add a touch of fantasy, "comments one of the many Instagrammers, with whom this book was an immediate success. "Laughter, wonder, fear... a marvelous work that illustrates the power of books," enthuses a professor on his blog. Foreign publishers were also drawn by "the story, the timeless style of the illustrations, and the frequent references to folk tales," explains Stéphane Husar, editor at ABC Melody. Published in September 2022 and presented at Frankfurt in October, foreign language rights have been sold to Korea, China and Taiwan. World English and world Spanish rights have also been sold. Rights for German, Italian, Greek and Japanese are in negotiation. Created by Didier Lévy (author of Tuk-Tuk Express, winner of the Prix des Incorruptibles 2021) and Lorenzo Sangiò (winner of the Bologna Illustrators Exhibition 2023), the work is the first in a series on "superpowers" – It looks promising, so stay tuned! Katja Petrovic
March 2023
A feel-good book about the benefits of reading. It has sold more than 3,700 copies in France and translation rights have been sold for 5 languages including world rights for both English and Spanish.
Maurice the cat has found the trick to attract mice: read them great stories. The mice approach and together, they laugh, they play, they marvel. But it then becomes impossible for Maurice to eat them after so many pleasant moments spent together.
Maurice the cat isn’t very athletic. This extremely friendly black and white cat, dressed in a big yellow sweater, prefers to relax in his chair and read stories to mice in order to catch them more easily afterwards. But, alas, the superpower of stories works against him. As he reads them "tales full of unhappy princesses and wolves cut into slices" everyone is in tears and Maurice no longer has his heart in hunting. So, "Maurice decides to try funny stories, they’re probably better. Jokes for example. But Maurice laughs so much that he has to keep taking breaks, and the mice are laughing right along with him. It then becomes impossible for Maurice to eat someone he’s laughed with."
While enjoying his coffee, doing yoga, or resting in his box, Maurice thinks. Is there a solution to this dilemma?
"A tender, funny and delightful story about the benefits of reading aloud! A bit of humor enhanced by funny, joyful and expressive illustrations that add a touch of fantasy, "comments one of the many Instagrammers, with whom this book was an immediate success. "Laughter, wonder, fear... a marvelous work that illustrates the power of books," enthuses a professor on his blog.
Foreign publishers were also drawn by "the story, the timeless style of the illustrations, and the frequent references to folk tales," explains Stéphane Husar, editor at ABC Melody.
Published in September 2022 and presented at Frankfurt in October, foreign language rights have been sold to Korea, China and Taiwan. World English and world Spanish rights have also been sold. Rights for German, Italian, Greek and Japanese are in negotiation. Created by Didier Lévy (author of Tuk-Tuk Express, winner of the Prix des Incorruptibles 2021) and Lorenzo Sangiò (winner of the Bologna Illustrators Exhibition 2023), the work is the first in a series on "superpowers" – It looks promising, so stay tuned!
Katja Petrovic
March 2023
March 2023