Hungarian rights to Monster Nanny by Tuutikki Tolonen sold to Tessloff Babilo

We are thrilled to announce that the Hungarian publishing house, Tessloff Babilon, has acquired Hungarian rights in a two-book-deal to Monster Nanny (Tammi 2015) and its follow-up Monster Route (a working title, Tammi 2016) by Tuutikki Tolonen, illustrated by Pasi Pitkänen. Tessloff Babilon is one of the leading Hungarian children’s literature publishing houses.

“A monster nanny was my dream when I was little — don’t ask why. So I am really happy to finally meet a real monster nanny. And I am even happier to be the nanny of the Hungarian edition of the book Monster Nanny. This book is charming, funny and never scary. I’m sure the Hungarian kids will love it.”
-Réka Mán-Várhegyi, Editor, Tessloff and Babilon Publishing House

A blend of Where the Wild Things Are, Mary Poppins and My Neighbor Totoro, Monster Nanny tells the story of a contemporary family whose daily routines are turned upside-down when a hairy, swamp-smelling creature said to be specializing in childcare shows up at their doorstep.

Book I in Tolonen’s middle-grade duology was published in Finland by Tammi in 2015. Book 2 will follow in the fall of 2016. Contact the Agency for an English sample of Book I!

RIGHTS SOLD
Original publisher: FINLAND, Tammi
ESTONIA, Tiritamm
GERMANY, Carl Hanser Verlag
HUNGARY, Tessloff Babilon
ROMANIA, Editura Univers
SPAIN (Spanish), La Galera
SPAIN (Catalan), La Galera

Reading materials:
English sample
English synopsis
Full Finnish text

Contact: info@ahlbackagency.com

Tuutikki Tolonen

Tuutikki Tolonen is the author of several acclaimed children’s books, plays and academic articles. She teaches creative writing and has worked as an editor and reporter at Vinski, a Finnish literary magazine for children. For Monster Nanny she received the Arvid Lydecken award. Her inspiration for the Monster Nanny trilogy sparked during a family breakfast. “My son Leo, then six, said: ‘I heard on the radio yesterday that all moms have to go on vacation and monsters will take their places,” she says.

Her other bestselling series is the Agnes-series, of which the first book "Agnes and the Garden of Dreams" was in 2021 nominated for the Arvid Lydecken Award, received an honorable mention for the Runeberg Junior Award, and won the Luku Varkaus Award. Tolonen tells that the inspiration for Agnes comes for her interest for weird and inexpicable tales, ghost stories and mysteries: "I wanted to write a book my daughter Aili, then nine, would like to read - not too long, not too scary, but very curious."

Tuutikki is nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2026.

Photo credit: Otto Virtanen

About author

Tuutikki Tolonen