YUVAL NOAH HARARI-HISTORIAN, PHILOSOPHER, AND AUTHOR OF SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND – TO PUBLISH DEBUT CHILDREN’S BOOK WITH PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE U.S., CANADA, U.K. OCTOBER 2022
UNSTOPPABLE US, ILLUSTRATED BOOK SERIES FOR MIDDLE GRADE READERS, LOOKS AT THE EPIC TRUE STORY OF HUMANKIND
Volume One: How Humans Took Over the World focuses on the rise of early humans and will release in the U.S. on October 18, 2022
Toronto, ON (March 23, 2022)-Prominent historian, philosopher and author, Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind), will publish a new illustrated middle grade book this Fall 2022, announced globally today by Penguin Random House children’s groups in the US, UK and Canada. UNSTOPPABLE US: Volume One: How Humans Took Over the World will release on October 18, 2022.
UNSTOPPABLE US: How Humans Took Over the World is the first book in a projected four-volume series and will be released simultaneously by Bright Matter Books in the U.S., an imprint of Random House Children’s Books (RHCB) led by Tom Russell, VP & Publisher; Puffin Canada, an imprint of Tundra Book Group, the children’s division of Penguin Random House Canada; and on October 20th by Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House Children’s Books UK.
Yuval Noah Harari brings his talents to the page for young readers for the very first time to share how humans eventually came to dominate Earth. And how – through triumph and growth, but also relentless, destructive voracity – they became truly unstoppable. From learning to make fire and using the stars as guides, to inventing stories and cooperating in huge numbers, the secrets of how our ancestors evolved millions of years ago will be uncovered, revealing the superpowers that brought us to ‘now,’ and how they were used to make us invincible…but also insatiable.
UNSTOPPABLE US is packed with full-color illustrations by Ricard Zaplana Ruiz that bring to life Harari’s dynamic, unputdownable writing.
Said Harari, “Unstoppable Us is the book that I wanted to read as a kid. It tells the history of humans since the time we were just apes living in the savannah, until the time we almost became god-like by flying in airplanes and spaceships. It’s a fun book – I hope young readers won’t want to put it down; and it’s also dead serious – aiming to preoccupy you with the questions it raises. Every question from why we have nightmares and why we like sugar, to why people believe in gods and why there are so many wars. Unstoppable Us has one key message for kids: The world in which we live didn’t have to be the way it is. People made it what it is. And people can change it.”
“Yuval has revolutionized how we think about ourselves and our place in the world, and Canadian readers have responded to his books for adults with incredible passion and enthusiasm,” said Publisher of Tundra Book Group Tara Walker. “We’re tremendously excited to be working with our partners in the United States and Britain in bringing Yuval’s ideas to young readers: to encourage young people’s interest in human sciences, to challenge them to think outside the box and to give them the tools they need to make positive change in the world.”
Elizabeth Kribs, Associate Publisher, Tundra Book Group, acquired Canadian rights from Yuval Noah Harari and will work closely with Sapienship, the social impact company co-founded by Itzik Yahav and Yuval Noah Harari in 2019, which is producing the series.
Follow the conversation online via #UnstoppableUs.
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About Prof. Yuval Noah Harari
Historian, philosopher, and the bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and Sapiens: A Graphic History. His books have sold over 35 million copies in 65 languages, and he is considered one of the world’s most influential public intellectuals today.
About Ricard Zaplana Ruiz
Ricard Zaplana Ruiz is an illustrator born in Barcelona in 1973, who has an extensive track record of illustrating books and magazines for children and young people, for brands such as Disney and Lego. He started his career in the field of animation and storyboarding for film and tv, working on films like The Impossible (J.A. Bayona, 2012), and he has been illustrating books for Random House Spain since 2014.
Unstoppable Us, Volume 1: How Humans Took Over the World
By Yuval Noah Harari
Illustrated by Ricard Zaplana Ruiz
208 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774882214 | Puffin Canada
Release Date: October 18, 2022
Even though we’ll never outrun a hungry lion or outswim an angry shark, humans are pretty impressive – and the most dominant species on the planet. So, how did we become “unstoppable”? The answer to that is one of the strangest tales you’ll ever hear. And it’s a true story. From learning to make fire and using the stars as guides to cooking meals in microwaves and landing on the moon, prepare to uncover the secrets and superpowers of how we evolved from our first appearances millions of years ago. Acclaimed author Yuval Noah Harari has expertly crafted an extraordinary story of how humans learned to not only survive but also thrive on Earth, complete with maps, a timeline, and full-color illustrations that bring his dynamic, unputdownable writing to life.
