Publishers and agents in the dPICTUS community

La Pastèque has been publishing graphic novels and picturebooks for over fifteen years – starting from the observation that graphic novels and picturebooks in Quebec should be more creative, artistic and personal. La Pastèque has won many awards, including the Bologna BOP ‘Best Children’s Publishers of the Year’ Prize.

Media Vaca has been creating atypical, highly illustrated books since 1998, and the time and care with which each book is put together permits the publication of only three titles per year. At present, Media Vaca has five different series: ‘Books for Children’, ‘Last Lectures’, ‘Big & Small’, ‘My Beautiful City’ and ‘The Map of My Body’.

Planeta Tangerina started in 1999 as a graphic design studio, and since 2004, has been dedicated to the creation of picturebooks for readers of all ages. Planeta Tangerina has received many accolades including BolognaRagazzi Awards, CJ Picture Book Awards, and the Bologna BOP ‘Best Children’s Publishers of the Year’ Prize.

Topipittori is a small Italian publishing company, founded in 2004 by Giovanna Zoboli and Paolo Canton. They publish eight to ten picture books for children and young adults each year, and aim to make books which contribute to the intellectual and emotional growth of children. Topipittori publish many international authors and illustrators.

Since its founding in Barcelona in 2004, Libros del Zorro Rojo has established itself as a publisher of stunning illustrated works. A large part of the publisher’s catalogue is of its own creation, and most of these are published in co-edition with renowned publishing houses in Europe and South-America.

Orecchio Acerbo was founded by Fausta Orecchio and Simone Tonucci in 2001, and has since built a strong catalogue of picturebooks and illustrated works with award-winning authors such as Maurizio Quarello, Fabian Negrin and Spider. In 2017, Orecchio Acerbo won the Bologna BOP ‘Best Children’s Publishers of the Year’ Prize.

Thames & Hudson is an independent publishing house founded in London in 1949. It’s one of the world’s leading publishers on the visual arts, publishing about 180 new titles each year and has a backlist of over 2000 titles. The company specialises in the arts, archaeology and history, architecture, design, photography, travel and popular culture.

L’Agrume is an independent publishing house focused on contemporary illustration, established in 2012 by Guillaume Griffon and Chloé Marquaire. L’Agrume’s books offer children and adults new reading experiences. These books can be manipulated and read in various ways, stimulating the senses and arousing the curiosity.

Lilla Piratförlaget is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and publishes high-quality literature for children. Authors and illustrators they work with include Pija Lindenbaum, Olof Landström, Emma Virke, Anna Höglund and Kitty Crowther. Their translated titles include books by Chris Haughton, Elise Gravel and Torben Kuhlmann.

Chronicle Books is an independent publisher based in San Francisco that has been making things since the Summer of Love. They are inspired by the enduring magic of books, and by sparking the passions of others, asking questions like: Does the design support and enhance the content? How does it feel in your hands?

Dwie Siostry is one of the most highly acclaimed publishers on the Polish book market. It specialises in children’s literature by both Polish and foreign authors, valuing tradition as much as innovation, and aims to breathe new life into children’s classics and to revive the work of Poland’s very best graphic designers.

Magikon publishes picturebooks, art books and other books with a focus on visual culture and communication. Its goal is to develop book projects that unite reading and visual experiences of high quality, for both children and adults. Magikon Publishing was established in 2007 and is owned by Kristin Roskifte and Svein Størksen.

Entirely dedicated to children’s books, l’école des loisirs is an independent family-owned publishing group founded in 1913. Originally specialising in school books, l’école des loisirs expanded to become the largest publishing house for children’s books in France. It’s main aim is to ‘make reading a pleasure for children’.

Baobab is a small, family-owned publishing house which focusses on alternative illustrated children’s books. They publish original texts and compelling translations, and cooperate with established artists and new talent. Alongside this, Baobab organises numerous book culture events including the annual Tabook Festival in Tábor.

Mundt Agency is a rights agency representing international children’s books, handling translation rights, e-book rights, audio rights and co-editions. Represented publishers include Peter Hammer Verlag, Moritz Verlag, Gecko Press, Edition Pastorplatz, Lingen Verlag, Monterosa Verlag, Takatuka Editorial and Edition bi:libri.

Petra Ediciones publishes beautiful books for children and young adults: photography, art, fiction and non-fiction by renowned international authors, illustrators and artists. The company has received several national and international awards including the Bologna BOP ‘Best Children’s Publishers of the Year’ Prize.

Editions Thierry Magnier is an independent publishing house founded in 1998 by the renowned editor, Thierry Magnier. It publishes about a hundred titles a year – from picturebooks to novels – and has a stong focus on illustration. Editions Thierry Magnier has been regognised in various international awards including the BolognaRagazzis.

Gecko Press, founded in 2005 by Julia Marshall, is an independent publisher of ‘curiously good books’. They translate and publish children’s books by some of the world’s best writers and illustrators, choosing books that are excellent in story, illustration and design, with a strong ‘heart factor’.

Pastel, founded in 1988 in Brussels, is the autonomous imprint of the French publishing company, l’école des loisirs. Pastel is faithful to its readers’ demand for literary and graphic quality, and has a ‘great deal of respect for the child reader’. Pastel’s children’s books are published in many countries around the world.

Editions Format is a publishing house which has ‘a high opinion of readers and believes that the recipients of books, including the little ones (and perhaps especially the little ones), deserve to be treated seriously’. In 2018, Editions Format received a Special Mention in the Fiction category of the BolognaRagazzi Awards.

Orfeu Negro is a Lisbon-based independent publisher focussing on contemporary illustrated books for children and adults. Through the Orfeu Mini and Casimiro series, Orfeu Negro offers excellence in illustrated content and design, and features award-winning artists such as Oliver Jeffers, Catarina Sobral and Benjamin Chaud.

Editorial Amanuta is a children’s book publisher which has been creating books for young people for over 12 years. The Chilian publishing house strives to bring together traditional and modern approaches to children’s literature, and to celebrate cultural heritage and new ways of looking at the world.

Corraini is a publishing house working with major contemporary artists to produce children’s art books, comics, picturebooks and pop-ups. They also publish reprints and unpublished projects from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. In 2018, Corraini won the Bologna BOP ‘Best Children’s Publishers of the Year’ Prize.

De Eenhoorn is an independent publishing house that was founded in 1990. At first, it only published a newspaper for children and a health magazine. Today, the catalogue of De Eenhoorn contains over 500 children’s books which are published around the world. The publishing house is well-known for giving artists the freedom to experiment.

NordSüd Verlag was founded in 1961, and publishes children’s book authors and illustrators from all over the world. NordSüd has a strong international focus, publishing a unique range of children’s books in German, with many of the books also being published in English by the American Imprint, NorthSouth Books.

Tate Publishing is one of the world’s leading publishers on the visual arts. It publishes exhibition books for the Tate galleries and books in its series on Modern Artists, British Artists and Movements in Modern Art. They also publish an innovative range of books for children with a strong focus on contemporary design and illustration.

Liels un mazs (big and small) develops Latvian children’s literature and book art, and publishes quality translations, aiming to expand the territory of well-developed literary and visual taste. They focus on contemporary picturebooks, involving dozens of talented Latvian artists who represent a variety of different genres of art.

Éditions Sarbacane, founded in 2003, publishes picturebooks, young adult fiction, comics for adults and children, game books, novelties, cross-over titles, illustrated classics and graphic novels. With over 450 titles in its catalogue, Sarbacane champions stories told from original viewpoints and often explores unusual formats.

George Bernard Shaw’s quote, ‘Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself’ is at the heart of Little Gestalten’s vision. The children’s book imprint of the Berlin-based art book publishing house, Gestalten, strives to publish illustrated books for children that appeal to adult readers on a different level.

Koja Agency, based in Stockholm, represents independent children’s publishers, authors and illustrators, handling licensing rights, co-productions, film and TV rights, and more. Represented publishers include Urax Förlag, Mirando Bok, La Pastèque, Natur & Kultur, Alvina Förlag, Berghs Förlag, Hippo Förlag and Planeta Tangerina.

The Old Lion Publishing House is one of the leading Ukrainian publishing houses that specialises in children’s literature. It produces board books and picturebooks, as well as poetry and prose for children and young adults. The publishing house has been recognised in the BolognaRagazzi Awards on several occasions.

Mirando Bok is a small publishing house founded by Jenny Franke. They aim to publish picturebooks to wonder and marvel at – stories which awaken both curiosity and questions in readers. Mirando Bok translates picturebooks into Swedish and collaborates closely with Swedish authors and illustrators on their own projects.

Book Island was founded in 2012 in New Zealand by Belgian-born translator Greet Pauwelijn, and in 2016 moved to Bristol in the UK. It publishes picturebooks in translation, specialising in beautifully illustrated, high-quality titles for all ages. Book Island won the Bologna BOP ‘Best Children’s Publishers of the Year’ Prize.

Wytwórnia was founded in 2005 with a mission to restore the tradition of 1960s Polish illustration, and bring quality children’s books to the Polish market – with innovative graphic design and a modern interpretation of literature. The small publishing house has been recognised in the BolognaRagazzi Awards several times.

The Picture Book Agency represents French publishers abroad, and aims to introduce exceptional books that stand out for their content as well as their form. The agency represents Les Apprentis Rêveurs, L’Agrume, Graine 2, Grains de sel, Magnani, Les Editions des Elephants, Benjamins Media and Dada.

Urax is a small independent picturebook publisher, founded in Stockholm in 2012. It publishes high quality picturebooks and champions many of Sweden’s most exciting emerging artists. Urax is run by Ebba Billengren, Ellen Karlsson and Johanna von Horn, who also run Bokslukaren, a small children’s book shop in Stockholm.

Les Fourmis Rouges (The Red Ants) launched its first titles in Spring 2013. It was founded by Valérie Cussaguet, former picturebook editor at Editions Thierry Magnier, who has gained a strong reputation for discovering exciting new illustration talent. Les Fourmis Rouges’ titles include picturebooks and pop-up books.

Bear Books aims to make books for children which connect the past, present and future. They publish picturebooks by emerging artists, picturebooks about Korean culture and translated picturebooks from different countries. In 2018, Bear Books was nominated for the Bologna BOP ‘Best Children’s Publishers of the Year’ Prize.

Pato Lógico is an independent publishing house which was founded in 2010 by André Letria, a renowned Portuguese illustrator. Pato Lógico publishes picturebooks and illustrated books by established and emerging artists, and has received various international accolades, including a Special Mention in the BolognaRagazzi Awards.

Iyagikot is a picturebook publishing company founded in 2012. They aim to publish artistic and socially relevant picturebooks, and believe that in a time when so many books are going digital, physical picturebooks should impart a warm human touch. Iyagikot has been recognised in the BolognaRagazzi Awards several times.

Alfabeta Bokförlag is an independent publisher which publishes about 70 titles each year for both adults and children. Its aim from the beginning has been to build a publishing house with a tight focus on quality. Alfabeta publishes books by many of Sweden’s most renowned authors and illustrators, plus a number of international highlights.

Hannele & Associates , founded by Hannele Legras, is a French publishers’ agency specialising in children’s books and coffee-table books. They represent Les Fourmis Rouges, Éditions MeMo, Marcel & Joachim, Okidokid, Salamandre, Editions Courtes et Longues and Rue du Monde. The agency also organises workshops on selling rights.

AstroRey, founded by Jordi Rosique in 2015, publishes illustrated books for adults. The Barcelona-based publishing house seeks out literary gems by the greatest writers of the 19th and 20th century, and gives them a fresh new perspective by collaborating with national and international graphic artists and illustrators.

Fondo de Cultura Económica is the biggest publisher in Mexico and one of the most important in Latin America. It publishes books on many topics including philosophy, economics, history and art. The children’s books division offers a wide selection in fiction, non fiction and picturebooks by acclaimed authors and illustrators.

Phileas Fogg Agency was founded in Milan in 2014 by Valentina Colombo. The agency represents publishers and illustrators, and handles rights sales, coeditions and the negotiation of electronic rights for picturebooks. Represented publishers include Bruaá, rueBallu, Tate Publishing and Éditions Notari.