Tel Aviv's Stephanie Barrouillet Offers Work from Turkey and France

Authors and illustrators from Istanbul, Carcassonne, and Paris are featured in new children’s books that Tel Aviv-based literary agent Stephanie Barrouillet is taking to Frankfurt.

From the S.B. Literary Agency’s 2017 foreign rights catalog. This is the work of illustrator Gökçe Akgül, who’s the artist for Şiirsel Taş’ ‘Sol Sağ Kitabim’ (‘Left or Right’).

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

A Belief in ‘Kids and Future’

Knowing “which way is right and which way is left can be confusing for children,” says Stephanie Barrouillet.

And not just for children, we might say back.

Barrouillet, the literary agent whose S.B. Rights Agency is based in Tel Aviv, and in the run-up to Frankfurt Book Fair, October 11-15, she has two titles of particular significance headed for Buchmesse’s Literary Agents & Scouts Center (LitAg).

Here’s some information from her about them.

Sol Sağ Kitabim (Left or Right) is written by Şiirsel Taş, illustrated by Gökçe Akgül, and published by Redhouse Kidz in Turkey.

It offers what Barrouillet describes as “a fun and interactive approach to learning and remembering left and right. During a walk in the forest, the narrator asks the reader to point to elements on the pages or, more challenging, to give a kiss to the right page while touching the left page with their right elbow.

“The charming illustrations combine adorable characters and comic strips, and are a perfect match to the playful dimension of book.

“For as long as Şiirsel Taş can remember,” Barrouillet’s material says, “she has been fascinated with every bit of nature. Her stories are mostly based on urban nature or natural landscapes. She lives with her daughter in a district of Istanbul with lots of stray cats and many many seagulls.

Illlustrator Gökçe Akgül also lives and works in İstanbul. He’s a graduate of MSGSÜ’s painting department (class of 2005), and has focused on children’s literature, comics, and animation.

Akgül “believes in kids and future,” Barrouillet tells us.

L’Imagier des fonds marins (The Book of Ocean Beds) is written by Ingrid Chabbert, illustrated by Gabriella Corcione and published by Les Petites Bulles Editions in France.

The book “takes the reader underwater,” Barrouillet says, “and to the most atmospheric scenes.”

In the book, two little fish decide to start a race. The first to reach the kingdom of jellyfish wins.

On your fins, get set, swim: combining an adventure, a seek-and-find element, and many new words, this big board book is a beautiful package and a pleasure for the eyes.

Chabbert was born in 1978 and she lives and works in Carcassonne. She’s the author of many books including the award-winning title The Day I Became a Bird from Canada’s Kids Can Press.

Illustrator Corcione lives and works in Paris. She studied architecture, and has illustrated several books for Les Petites Bulles Editions.

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About the Author

Porter Anderson

Porter Anderson is a non-resident fellow of Trends Research & Advisory, and he has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.