THE MOONLING

Maria Papayanni

Isbn:

978-960-16-7294-6

Age Group:

Category:

Children's Fiction & Novels

Number of pages:

Tabs

BOOK

High up in the sky, in a neighbourhood above the Earth, lives the Moonling child. Growing up, he thinks he's better than everybody else, that he needs no one to survive. One day he meets a sunray which impresses him and together they set out on a journey. She looks strong, fast, different. But the sunray reminds him of himself: she has need for absolutely nobody, which she tells him clearly, and so the Moonling is left alone in an unfamiliar place. Then a firefly approaches him, who can feel the Moonling's sadness. He admits to her that he has lost his way and together they try to return him home. During their journey back, the Moonling comes to understand how important friends are in life. He discovers how much strength, courage and optimism they offer right when he needs it. As they arrive at the place where the sea becomes one with the sky and the Moonling prepares to dive into the water to return home, he calls out to the firefly the lesson he's learned: 'Friends come in pairs! There's got to be at least two, always!'

A tender, poetic tale, made with the ingredients of dreams and talking about friendship, loneliness, selfishness and love, trust and uniqueness, by the award-winning creators Maria Papayanni and Effie Lada. Because life is beautiful and vibrant with colour when we share it with others.

AUTHOR

Maria Papayanni

Maria Papayanni was born in the city of Larissa in Greece. She grew up in a house full of people, family members and beloved friends. Her older cousins provided her with books and music. Every summer they would spend three months playing, swimming, biking and watching movies in open-air cinemas. She went on to study Greek Language and Literature in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. More friends there, more of exchanging (books and music) and a lot of travelling. When she graduated, she moved to Athens, where she worked as a journalist for many years. In 1996, she married the composer Thanos Mikroutsikos. Her first book, Goodnight, Mum, was published in 2001, the same year as her second child was born. In 2002 she co-authored with Philippos Mandilaras the middle-grade adventure Catch them! and together they received a Merit Award by the Greek section of IBBY. Ever since then she writes stories for toddlers, children and adults alike and her books have won important awards (As If By Magic: Greek section of IBBY Award & Diavazo Literary Magazine Award. The Lonely Tree: National Award & Diavazo Literary Magazine Award). Her story "You Will Win Another Day", illustrated by Eve Tharlet, was translated in multiple languages by Minedition and in Greek by Patakis Publishers. She also writes for theatre, libretto and plays, performed in the Athens Concert Hall and other stages, accompanied by the music of Thanos Mikroutsikos. If you want to know more about Maria Papayanni, here she is in her own words: www.mariapapayanni.gr

ILLUSTRATOR

Effie Lada

Effie Lada was born in a small village in Peloponnese, Greece. She studied painting with the well-known Greek painter Yorgo Voyatzis. She has participated in collective painting exhibitions. Illustration of children's book has always been her main interest, and she has exclusively been working in that field since 1991.

She has illustrated covers of many books and has published more than 60 books.

She is a member of the non-profit organization: Plant Your Roots in Greece, has done voluntary work for the "Children's Village S.O.S." designing Christmas cards and is a member of the " Circle of the Greek Children's Book" and the "Women's Group for Literature". Member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI )

*Ιn 1998 she participated as an illustrator in the 15η Mostra internationale d' illustrazione per l' infanzia in Sarmede, Italy, with the book "The emperor's new clothes".

*In 2004 she participated in the International Illustrators Exhibition, in Bologna. with the title: " bareffot pictures"

*On January 26th – February 5th, 2005 was held her exclusive exhibition in Athens (Gazi, 100 Piraeus Str.) under the title: Once upon a time in Athens... under the auspice of the Municipality of the city of Athens and the sponsoring of Livanis Publications.

*In 2005, she designed the stage for the musical performance of the Irish tale "The Christmas Cuckoo", held on (14-18 December) at the Music Hall of Thessaloniki.

Her book "Infanta's Birthday" (Patakis Publications) was translated in Italian and Korean.

*In 2006 her book "Sundays in the park" was nominated for the National Illustration Award.

*2008-2009 Participation in the 26th international exhibition of Illustrations.

18th October-21st December 2008, Sarmede.

2009: Verona, Monza, Siena, Vicenza

*2009: Illustration award from the Circle of the Greek Children's Book for the book "A rain of stars"

*Her name was written on the honorary board of IBBY for the illustration of the book "A rain of stars"

*Nomination for the "Diavazo" award for the book "A rain of stars".

*2009: Individual exhibition at the Black Duck Gallery with the title "Fairytales under the roofs"

*2009. "A Rain of Stars" nominated for the State Prize for Children's Book Illustration (short list).

*2010. Nomination for the 2011, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

*2010. Nomination for the 2012, Hans Christian Andersen Award

Rights Update

"Fenia" published in Turkish!

12 Sep 2016

The book "Fenia, the Fairy of Sounds", by author Yota K. Alexandrou and illustrator Effie Lada, was recently published in Turkey by the publisher Kuraldışı Yayınları.

New comic book about Yanis Varoufakis!

25 Jul 2016

Just published in Greece: “WOW V for V”, a contemporary political comic book in Greece amid aspects of fantasy, which depicts the battle in the arena of negotiations between Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, code name V, and the authoritarian elite of Europe, the Troikan army and the European Minotaur.

New Chinese editions for our picture books!

19 Jul 2016

Four picture books illustrated by Effie Lada have just been published by the Chinese publisher Shanghai 99 Culture Consulting CO.! Three stories based on traditional tales, "Teardrop's Feat", "The Tower Manuscripts" and "Mary and the Sugarplum Man" by author Athina Biniou, and "The Birthday of the Infanta", Oscar Wilde's story retold by the illustrator.

Turkish and Korean rights for Angeliki Darlasi's "Badboy" sold!

27 Jan 2016

Angeliki Darlasi's beautifully illustrated heart-wrenching book, Badboy, had its Korean rights acquired by Seedbook while Turkish language rights were sold to Kuraldisi Yayincilik.

Korean rights sold for Yanis Varoufakis' book!

18 Dec 2015

TALKING TO MY DAUGHTER ABOUT THE ECONOMY by Yanis Varoufakis will be published in Korean by BookInMyLife Publishing, one of the well-known children’s and YA publishers in Korea. Rights for the book are acquired in 14 territories so far.