Jesper Juul Lecture for Children's Book Club Members

Family therapist, public speaker and author Jesper Juul may be from Denmark, but his books and readers can be found in many countries in a range of languages. Swedish publisher Bonnier Fakta has for many years published Juul's books - and with the release of his latest, Bonusföräldrar (Bonus Parents), the publisher has brought Juul to Sweden to meet his readers.

"Jesper has a huge audience in Sweden and there's a lot of interest in hearing him speak," says Lina Wijk, PR and information manager for Bonnier Fakta. "Therefore we thought early on that we would like to have an event for his many readers and not just the media."

For the event, held February 3 at the Skandia theater in downtown Stockholm, the publisher worked in partnership with Barnens Bokklubb (children's book club) and Unga Klara, which was Stockholm's city public theater for children and youth until 2009, when it became independent.

"We've had the pleasure of working with Barnens bokklubb before," says Wijk. "They have the right target group for the book and they have a broad reach. At the same time, we learned that Unga Klara had begun a three-year project about raising children. Their artistic director Suzanne Osten has been very inspired by Jesper. To have them join as partners is exciting and will hopefully lead to further common projects in the future."

The evening at Skandia will include a lecture by Juul, as well as a conversation between him and Suzanne Osten about raising children. Bonnier Fakta will also be offering the book for sale afterwards. More than 450 people have bought tickets to the event, primarily Barnens bokklubb members.

"Many like Jesper Juul because he is so nuanced and talks about equality between children and adults, while he helps us get out of the helicopter-parent cockpit," says publisher Ann Pålsson of Bonnier Fakta. "That children are competent beings that lead us in the right direction if we listen is a thought that returns again and again in his books. He's so warm and wise that it's not so hard to also face the tough truths he speaks."

Lina Wijk hopes that the event with Juul will be the first of many.

"Bonnier Fakta will be investing in more books about parenthood in upcoming years," says Wijk. "Finding good partners we can develop with is important and exciting for us."