Prolific Finnish illustrator and children's author Mauri Kunnas has been picked up by a Chinese publisher, and plans are in place to start publishing Kunnas’s books as a series in China.
The first four books in the planned series - One Spooky Night and Other Scary Stories (1985), Pirates Ahoy! (1994), Good Night Mr Clutterbuck (1999), and The Vikings Are Coming! (2006) - will come out in November. Each book’s first edition will consist of 10,000 copies.
Four Chinese publishing houses were said to be interested in Kunnas. Kunnas’s publisher-to-be Beijing Yuanliu Classic Culture Ltd has previously acquired recognition for example by publishing the works of American children’s author Richard Scarry.
Beijing Yuanliu Classic Culture Ltd is part of a famed Chinese publishing firm, Guizhou People's Publishing House.
China included, Kunnas’s books are now being published in 29 languages in 32 countries.
The rights to the 2006 volume The Vikings Are Coming! were bought earlier this year by a British publisher for release in the UK and the United States.
