Osaka Serves a Picture Book
Tennis champion Naomi Osaka is set to release her first picture book, The Way Champs Play, with HarperCollins via her co-owned media company Hana Kuma. The Way Champs Play, illustrated by Kamala Nair, will be published on December 6, marking the first publishing deal for Osaka’s media company with Stuart Duguid, Hana Kuma. The company centers on “empowering storytelling” and includes media across publishing, digital content, long-form storytelling, and more. Luana Horry, executive editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books, bought world English rights.
The book brings the lessons Osaka has learned from her many years on the tennis court to young readers, particularly girls, hoping to get into sports. The Way Champs Play focuses on the virtues that playing sports can teach young children such as patience, determination, and sportsmanship.
“The leadership, confidence, teamwork, and resilience I’ve learned on the court have been so valuable to me and that’s why I am so excited about my new book,” Osaka said in a release.
‘Librarian of Auschwitz' to Be Adapted into a Graphic Novel
Henry Holt Books for Young Readers has announced that author Antonio Iturbe’s YA novel The Librarian of Auschwitz will be brought to middle grade readers in the form of a graphic novel. The new book is adapted by Salva Rubio, illustrated by Loreto Aroca, translated by Lilit Thwaites, and edited by Laura Godwin. The harrowing tale of Dita Kraus, the child who acted as a secret librarian in an Auschwitz camp, will hit shelves on January 23, 2023. Iturbe’s prose novel received praise awards during its 2017 release. In a starred review, PW called the book “unforgettable and heartbreaking,” adding that “Iturbe interweaves the names and stories of other survivors and victims of Auschwitz, turning the narrative into a monument of remembrance and history.”
