Comedian Olaf Falafel has signed a three-book deal with HarperCollins Children’s Books. The former art director will both write and illustrate the books.

Olaf put out a call for a publisher for his picture book on Twitter on November 22nd, igniting a frenzy of interest from publishers and agents alike.  Within 24 hours, Alice Blacker, Picture Books Publishing Director at HarperCollins Children’s Books had secured the deal from Jo Unwin at JULA Ltd. 

Aimed at the pre-school market, his first book Old MacDonald Heard a Parp is the hilariously reimagined take on the classic nursery rhyme that sees Old MacDonald suspecting each animal on his farm of parping – before discovering the very surprising culprit!  Complete with a how-to guide for recreating the animal parp sounds, it will publish in paperback in April 2017 with simultaneous release in e-book and audio book format.

“Olaf is a huge talent – and to find that talent on Twitter and acquire so swiftly is beyond thrilling”, commented Alice Blacker. “His experience as a children’s comic and art director means he has a unique approach to the joy of words and pictures.  Old MacDonald is wildly funny and has huge child appeal.  We can’t wait to get it into the hands of our pre-school readers.”

Falafel said “I’m really excited – this is the kind of book that a six year old Olaf would have loved. The fact that I also love it now shows you how much I've grown up!”

Jo Unwin at JULA Ltd commented “I saw a tweet from Olaf on Wednesday, he was my client on Thursday, did a three book deal by Friday. We chilled on Sunday.”

Falafel performed his debut stand up show, ‘Olaf Falafel and The Cheese of Truth’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to critical acclaim. As well as finding comedic success onstage, he has also enjoyed huge online fame with his short viral videos. These absurdist movies include a croissant-coiffured talking Donald Trump puppet, slices of truth telling cheese being thrown onto newspapers and the Bee Gees hiding in his beard.