Lena Zeise

How the Cat Came to Us

Wie die Katze zu uns kam
Of Cats and Men.

Egyptian deity or shipboard mouse catcher, heroine of fairy tales and myths or beloved pet: it is impossible to imagine our lives without cats! For many thousands of years, they have had a place in our homes, yards and hearts. We accompany the cat on its foray through world events - from the hearths of our Stone Age ancestors to its celebrity appearance in millions of YouTube clicks .
This book gives a fascinating account of the many ways those velvet paws came to us - and have stayed until today! Innovative comic strips complement the informative text and animate the stories of these whiskered protagonists in an entertaining way.

Lena Zeise

Balto and Togo - The Run to Nome

Balto & Togo
Alaska, 1925. In the dead of winter, an epidemic has taken hold in the small city of Nome. Isolated as it is by snow and ice, the only way the city can obtain much-needed medication is by dogsled.
For 650 miles dog drivers and their teams of sled dogs, depending completely on each other, fight heavy snow and ice storms in a race against time. The “Serum Run to Nome”, as this real event became known, captured the world’s attention well beyond the Alaskan border.

Lena Zeise’s retelling and illustrations of this true story of wilderness survival makes a breathtaking tale of companionship, courage and the unique bond between the dog drivers and their teams.
Mehrdad Zaeri, Werner Holzwarth

Winter of the Squirrel

Der Winter des Eichhörnchens
The Happiness of Not Finding!
Squirrel is young, and life is beautiful! Gathering nuts, burying them, and having a good winter - no problem at all!

Then, squirrel grows old. Gathering nuts and burying them takes a lot of energy. Finding the nuts again is an even bigger problem - especially when one forgets what one was looking for! It's enough to make a squirrel tired, a little sad, even angry!

Then, everything starts to make sense again.

Mehrdad Zaeri's magical illustrations invoke the inner life of a squirrel. A positive parable of life in this picture book story written by Werner Holzwarth.
Kathrin Wolf, Isabel Kreitz

In an Old House in Berlin

In einem alten Haus in Berlin
In 1871 the Schwartz family, keeper of a pharmacy, proudly moves into their new house – a house that will showcase German history and everyday life in Berlin for the next 150 years. We follow the family through five generations and witness with them the days of Empire and World Wars, and the building, then the fall, of the Wall. And throughout, we see the constant activity of its children: Karl and Martha, Ursula and Peter, and Laura and Ben. We look on as the events of the wider world shape their own lives.

Detailed pictures teeming with activity and informative captions make history easier to grasp, and bring Berlin to life!
Henrike Wilson: Ganz schön langweilig!
Henrike Wilson

Pretty Darn Boring!

Ganz schön langweilig!
A little bear trots through the forest and isn’t quite sure where to go. He’s bored and
no one has time for him- everyone’s busy. At last, he lies down on the forest floor
and decides to do nothing- absolutely nothing. And even though he isn’t occupied,
lots of things are happening. Slowly but surely he begins to feel calm and his senses
begin to awaken. He begins to pay attention to the sounds around him and to feel,
see, sense, and discover more and more. His head feels free, his curiosity is
awakened, and lots of new ideas begin to come to him. Entertained and restored, he
starts off on his next adventure.
In a time in which even kindergartners need weekly planners and everyone always
has something to do (at least on a tablet or the like), Henrike Wilson remembers the
value and necessity of boredom and free, unstructured time, and pays homage to
these with vivid visuals. The ability to enjoy aimless time can be so fulfilling.

Rights sold to China, USA, Spain, Italy

Henrike Wilson

Squirrel Finds a New Home

Eichhörnchen zieht um
It’s springtime! Squirrel wakes up from its winter sleep full of energy and purpose, and is amazed to see flowers in front of its usual nest opening. How can that be? Flowers in the middle of the treetops? Mouse knows: a storm blew the
tree over last night. So squirrel has to find a new place to live! Squirrel’s garden companions offer to share their homes.

That’s nice, but squirrel needs a cozy place of its own, so the search begins for a new home in the most beautiful tree in the garden – and there, squirrel finds a delightful surprise!

This is a story of helping hands and friendship, garden creatures and the magic of springtime, in a warm-spirited, richly illustrated new book by Henrike Wilson.
Henrike Wilson

Felix and His Monster

Felix und sein Monster
Monster Alert!

Felix would be content with life, and with himself, if he just weren't so afraid! He often has this feeling that something scary is lurking ahead. He gets spooked easily and then he worries about what the other kids will think of him. Then one day he gets into a terrible rage about this fear he can't shake. He takes it out in wild scribbling on a piece of paper. What's left is a monster! A super-cool monster!

Henrike Wilson writes with great sensitivity about finding the courage to face one's fears. A book about courage and friendship - and a very special monster!
Henrike Wilson: Fünf Nüsse für Eichhörnchen
Henrike Wilson

Five Nuts, Squirreled Away

Fünf Nüsse für Eichhörnchen
It's fall! The leaves whirl in the wind and the squirrel is beginning to stockpile nuts for the winter. So far, five nuts have been gathered. The squirrel wants to hide them where no one will find them. It does so with great enthusiasm and finds excellent hiding spots. However, it was working with such zeal that it, unlike the reader, didn't notice that other animals were watching the whole time. When winter comes and everything's covered by a thick blanket of snow, the cheerful little squirrel tries to gather its nuts—only to find that the first four have apparently grown legs and escaped! Luckily the fifth and best nut (the one with the tiny hat!) is still there in its fantastic hiding place.
So it's no problem that the other animals helped themselves to his supply.
A book about the art of finding pleasure in what you do have instead of worrying about what you don't. But this is also a story about garden animals and the changing of the seasons, with all its many marvels—lovingly told with atmospheric illustrations by Henrike Wilson.

Rights sold to China, Denmark, France, Spain and Korea

Henrike Wilson: Ich war einmal abends...
Henrike Wilson

I Was Sitting in My Room One Night...

Ich war einmal abends...
„I was sitting in my room one night, all snug and comfy, when there was a knock on
the door. Now, who might it be …. my friend!“
Now, that’s as snug and promising a beginning to a never-ending book as one could
wish for, isn’t it? The bear gets a visit from the fox, who is in turn visited by the
hare, the squirrel goes to see the hare and is visited by the owl. And the owl? Well,
the owl is comfortably ensconced in her wing chair knitting happily away until
Kingdom come. But who could ever be in need of such a long scarf as this? Well, if it
isn’t her friend, the big brown bear, whom we’ve already met at the very beginning!
Henrike Wilson’s cosy pictures tell a story that is no less exciting for being simple,
and which never really comes to an end. Not only will the readers enjoy guessing
who it might be now knocking on the door, but they’ll be amazed at what all those
animals of the forest will get up to of a night, how and where they live, and how glad
they are to have their friends over. This is a great book about friendship, and about
the art of storytelling - you couldn’t ask more for a bedtime story!

Right sold to China, Faroe Islands, Hungary, Korea, The Netherlands/Belgium, Slovenia and Spain

Silke Vry, Claudia Lieb

The Dinosaur at the Rock. The Adventures of the First Bone Hunters.

Der Dinosaurier im Fels
Who discovered Tyrannosaurus rex?

A twelve-year old girl stands alone on the rough cliffs of southern England and taps rhythmically with a hammer against the rock; two renowned scientists compete for a discovery in a »fight to the bones«; one day, a young adventurer peeks into the empty eye sockets of a Tyrannosaurus rex... this book tells the suspenseful stories of the first fossil hunters. At a time when most people still believed that the Earth was just a few thousand years old, and few imagined that giant prehistoric lizards once ruled the planet, these hardy pioneering researchers were literally prying dinosaur bones out of the rock – and proving just the opposite to a skeptical world.
With many illustrations, fossil and research profiles, and appendices.