A Birthday Friend

A new picture book from the author of What Makes Us Human (a 2023 White Ravens selection, already translated into 25 languages) and from the illustrator of Rabbit, Coffee, Snowdrop, Lost (a 2022 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book and a 2022 USBBY Outstanding International Book).

Pedro’s birthday is coming up soon. This year, things will be different. Pedro and his parents had to leave their home country in search of a better life, and all of Pedro’s friends stayed behind. For his birthday, all Pedro wants is a friend. A touching story about immigration, hope, and friendship.

Author’s project

All rights available including world English

Rights sold: Dutch and Korean languages

Awards:

Selected for The Unpublished Picturebook Showcase 6 (with 19 votes by a jury of international publishers)

Reviews:

“A beautiful book that reflects the experiences of many readers and shelters them, feeling like a sunflower growing towards hope.”

— Catarina Sobral (illustrator), winner of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair International Award for Illustration (2014 ) and winner of the Portuguese National Illustration Prize (2024)

“A powerful, delicate story.”

— Isabella Labate (illustrator), winner of the 2024 Premio Andersen Award for Best Illustrator

Authors:

VICTOR D.O. SANTOS (author) is a Brazilian-American author of over ten children’s books and a proud immigrant himself. His books, translated into over twenty-five languages, include the acclaimed picture book What Makes Us Human (selected for the prestigious 2023 White Ravens catalogue, My Dad, My Rock (a Kirkus Best Book of 2022 in the USA), Before I Forget, and People are Weird (upcoming in Spring 2025, illustrated by Catarina Sobral). Victor lives in the USA Midwest, where he raises two immigrant children with his Ukrainian-American wife. Visit his website at authorvictorsantos.com.

ANNA MARGRETHE KJAERGAARD (illustrator) is a well-known Danish illustrator whose picture books have been translated into multiple languages. She was the winner of the Danish Ministry of Culture’s Illustrator Prize 2015 and her picture book Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost (published by Enchanted Lion Books) was a 2022 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book in the USA and a 2022 USBBY Outstanding International Book. Anna lives on Bornholm, a beautiful small island in the Baltic Sea. Visit her website at amkjaergaard.dk.