WaterBrook, an imprint of Penguin Random House, is celebrating the milestone sales achievement of The Wingfeather Saga reaching more than one million copies sold. Authored by Andrew Peterson and illustrated by Joe Sutphin, The Wingfeather Saga is a series of middle grade fantasy novels. The four books follow the three Igiby siblings on a perilous journey where they discover their true identities, fight against evil, and attempt to save their world from destruction. The bestselling series has been licensed for translation in 14 languages worldwide and adapted into an animated television series by Angel Studios, with Peterson as an executive producer along with J. Chris Wall.
WaterBrook originally published the first two books in the series, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness and North! Or Be Eaten, in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Peterson had a vision for the story to stretch across four books and published books three, The Monster in the Hollows, and four, The Warden and the Wolf King, through Rabbit Room Press. In 2020, WaterBrook repackaged and released all four books in hardcover: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, North! Or Be Eaten, The Monster in the Hollows, and The Warden and the Wolf King, followed by the short story collection, Wingfeather Tales (2021), and the wildly inventive, Pembrick’s Creaturepedia (2021), catapulting the series onto the bestseller lists and finding a whole new generation of readers.
The Wingfeather Saga’s books have garnered many accolades, including the 2009 Christy Award Winner for Young Adult Fiction (North! Or Be Eaten), WORLD’s 2015 Children’s Book of the Year (The Warden and the Wolf King), and the 2015 Clive Staples Award for Fantasy Fiction (The Warden and The Wolf King).
Aside from his work as an author and producer, Peterson is also an award-winning recording artist, songwriter, and founder of The Rabbit Room, which nourishes community through music, story, and art. He is quick to share the credit for his books’ success – and his gratitude.
“‘Wow, I’m so grateful,’ is the first sentence that comes to mind, but ‘grateful’ isn’t big enough for how I really feel toward the agents, publishers, booksellers, librarians, teachers, and especially the readers who made this happen. ‘Exceedingly grateful’ gets a bit closer,” said Peterson. “Seriously, I can’t overstate how wonderful it feels to have connected with so many readers—and there’s even more Wingfeather stuff to come. The second sentence that comes to mind is, ‘A million is a crazy number so there must be some mistake, but I hope nobody in accounting notices.’”
Upcoming additions to the Wingfeather universe include A Ranger’s Guide to Glipwood Forest in November 2023, a paperback edition of North! Or Be Eaten in January 2024, a picture book The Prince of Yorsha Doon in August 2024, and other longer-term projects coming down the pike, including season two of the animated series early next year.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled in celebrating this moment for The Wingfeather Saga. Aside from being honored to work with such a talented and wonderful author as Andrew, we’re so proud of the entire Wingfeather publishing team who have all given their best to see this kind of success come to fruition,” WaterBrook’s EVP & Publisher Tina Constable said. “We’re grateful to the retail partners who have helped place these books into the hands of young readers, and we look forward to sharing so much more of Andrew’s creative genius in the years ahead.”
WaterBrook is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.
