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Best selling author Jeremy Dronfield's new book to Penguin 11 Mar 2022
Puffin has secured Fritz and Kurtz by Jeremy Dronfield, a retelling of the “extraordinary” true story The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz (Penguin Michael Joseph) for middle-grade readers.
Commissioning editor Tom Rawlinson acquired world rights, excluding North America, from Andrew Lownie at the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency. The book will be published in paperback and e-book in January 2023.
Lownie said: “Jeremy Dronfield is a very talented writer and researcher and the adult version of The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz was deservedly a bestseller throughout the world with rights sold to 21 countries. This version for children should bring this remarkable and powerful story to new readers. I am proud to be associated with it.”
In The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz, Dronfield retold the story of Gustav Kleinmann through the latter’s secret concentration camp diary. Now, adapting the account for readers aged nine and over, Dronfield hopes he will help educate and inspire children with a powerful account of two brothers’ experiences during the Holocaust.
Fritz and Kurtz will follow the brothers of the title who – on opposite sides of the world – navigate “one of the most appalling periods in modern history”. With immense courage, they find the hope that can emerge even in the darkest times.
The synopsis reads: “In 1938, Hitler’s Nazis come to Vienna. Fritz and his little brother Kurt wonder what will happen. The Nazis hate everyone who isn’t like themselves, especially Jewish people. Fritz and his father are taken to a Nazi concentration camp – a prison of death and fear. But when his father is sent to Auschwitz, the most evil, deadly place on earth, Fritz can’t face losing his beloved Papa. He chooses to go with him. Meanwhile, to be safe from the Nazis, Kurt must go on a frightening journey, all alone, to the far side of the world. These two brothers long for the family they left behind, wondering if they’ll ever be able to return home…”
David Ziggy Greene’s “sensitive and informative” illustrations will accompany the text and the book will be published alongside teaching resource to support readers and contextualise its history.
Rawlinson commented: “I am immensely proud that Puffin are publishing this book. The Boy Who Followed his Father into Auschwitz was a work that astonished me when I first read it… and I am astonished all over again by this retelling. With immense skill, Jeremy brings the remarkable stories of Fritz and his brother Kurt to a children’s audience. He has done that most extraordinary thing – writing these terrible events in a way that is sensitive to the age group, but ultimately honest. And I cannot think of a better illustrator than David, whose artwork is just so brilliant, and adds to the emotional power and truthfulness of the story.”
Dronfield added: “I can’t describe how thrilled I am to have had the opportunity to create this all-new, illustrated retelling of this incredible story. Ever since The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz was first published, I’ve had readers tell me how deeply affected they’ve been by the story of Fritz and Kurt, and that they want their children to be able to read it. When I first saw David Ziggy Greene’s cartoon work, I knew I’d discovered the key to making a children’s version a reality. It was important to me that this must be a completely new telling of the story, not just a simplified edition. I revisited my original research, uncovering new information and fresh insights, explaining things that had been mysterious before, and truly unlocking the experiences of two boys sent along such different, traumatic courses.”
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Recent Foreign Rights sales 06 Oct 2020
French rights in Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz.. The 16th translation deal for the bestseller.
Chinese rights in Mary Hollingsworth’s Princes of the Renaissance.
Hungarian rights in Hitler’s Last Plot : The 139 Men, Women, and Children Saved from Imminent Execution in the Final Days of the Third Reich by Ian Sayer and Jeremy Dronfield
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz optioned for film 22 Sep 2020
Maze Pictures have optioned Jeremy Dronfield’s international bestseller The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz with Dronfield helping to write the script.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz spends 4 months in bestseller list 09 Sep 2020
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz has spent almost four months in the Canadian bestseller lists.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 2 24 Jul 2020
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield whose The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 2 in Canada after eight weeks in the bestseller list.
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Dronfield no 1 in Canada 19 Jun 2020
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 1 in the Canadian best seller lists this week.
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Dronfield remains at no 2 11 Jun 2020
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is #2 spot for a second week in the Canadian best seller list.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 2 07 Jun 2020
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield. The new North American release of The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz has gone straight into the Canadian bestseller list at number 2.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz 'Book of the Year' 06 Jan 2020
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield who ended a successful year with ‘Book of the Year’ selections in the Express and Mail on Sunday for The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz.
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US rights sold in The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz 15 Dec 2019
Harper Collins have bought US rights in Jeremy Dronfield’s international bestseller The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz.
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Another week for The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz 25 Nov 2019
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz remains in the paperback bestseller list at no 7.
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Dronfield is no 8 14 Nov 2019
Jeremy Dronfield is no 8 in the paperback non-fiction list for The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz
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Dronfield remains in bestseller list 11 Nov 2019
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield whose The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz remains in the Sunday Times paperback bestseller list at no 6.
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Two agency books in top ten 30 Oct 2019
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield who is no 6 for The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz and Cathy Glass who is no 10 for Innocent in the paperback non-fiction list.
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Jeremy Dronfield remains in bestseller list 23 Oct 2019
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz remains in the paperback non-fiction list moving down one place to sixth.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 5 09 Oct 2019
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield whose The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 5 in the paperback non-fiction list.
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Jeremy Dronfield is no 4 03 Oct 2019
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz remains in the paperback non-fiction list at no 4.
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Two agency books in top ten 30 Sep 2019
The agency continues to have two books in the top ten paperback non-fiction list – Jeremy Dronfield’s
The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz at no 4 and Cathy Glass’s Innocent at no 6.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 2 in bestseller list 22 Sep 2019
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz remains in the Sunday Times paperback non-fiction list at no 2 meaning agency titles take two of the top three slots with Cathy Glass’s Innocent at no 3.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 1 04 Sep 2019
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz has taken the top spot in the paperback non-fiction list.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 2 27 Aug 2019
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield whose paperback The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz has gone straight in to be number 2 on the paperback charts after three days.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is a #1 in Hungary. 11 Apr 2019
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is a #1 in Hungary.
Kurt Kleinmann , whose brother Fritz is the subject of the book, was awarded a medal of honour at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s annual National Tribute Dinner last night.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 3 05 Mar 2019
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 3, down from 2nd place, in the Times bestseller list
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Sixth week in Top Ten for The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz 27 Feb 2019
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is spending a sixth week in the Sunday Times top ten - this week at no nine.
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Fifth week for Dronfield in Sunday Times list 24 Feb 2019
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield whose The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is number 4 - a fifth week in the Sunday Times list .
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 4 19 Feb 2019
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield whose The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is number 4 this week in the Sunday Times .
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Jeremy Dronfield is no 5 16 Feb 2019
Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 5 in the Sunday Times bestseller list this week - its third week in the chart.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz remains no 4 11 Feb 2019
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield whose The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz remains at no 4 in the Sunday Times best seller list.
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The Boy who Followed his Father into Auschwitz is Portuguese bestseller 09 Feb 2019
The Portuguese edition of The Boy who followed his father into Auschwitz has gone straight into the top ten bestseller list for Portugal’s two leading retailers, Bertrand and Fnac.
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Jeremy Dronfield is Sunday Times bestseller 29 Jan 2019
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield whose The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is no 4 in the Sunday Times bestseller list this week.
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Dronfield is Amazon No 1 26 Jan 2019
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield whose The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz has gone straight to no 1 on Amazon.
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Recent Foreign Rights sales 27 Nov 2018
French rights in Julia Boyd’s Travellers in the Third Reich.
Polish and German rights in Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz..
Czech rights in Hitler’s Last Plot : The 139 Men, Women, and Children Saved from Imminent Execution in the Final Days of the Third Reich by Ian Sayer and Jeremy Dronfield.
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Recent Foreign Rights sales 04 Jul 2018
Portuguese rights in Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz.
Greek rights in Sir Steven Runciman’s Sicilian Vespers, A History of the Crusades and The Great Church in Captivity.
Korean rights in Desmond Seward’s A Brief History of The Hundred Years War: the English in France 1337-1453
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dronfield-is-amazon-no-1 26 Jan 2019
Congratulations to Jeremy Dronfield whose The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz has gone straight to no 1 on Amazon.
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the-boy-who-followed-his-father-into-auschwitz-is-portugues 09 Feb 2019
The Portuguese edition of The Boy who followed his father into Auschwitz has gone straight into the top ten bestseller list for Portugal’s two leading retailers, Bertrand and Fnac.
