Michael Grant has blown me away with Front Lines, an epic reimagining of WWII in which women are drafted into the army. Two of Electric Monkey’s finest debuts from last year follow up with crackingly good second titles: Lisa Heathfield with the heart-wrenching Paper Butterflies and Rachel McIntyre’s bittersweet The Number 1 Rule for Girls. And newcomer Eugene Lambert’s futuristic The Sign of One will get readers’ hearts thumping – then possibly counting their fingers!’


Leah Thaxton at Faber Children’s Books Rebel of the Sands is a sensational, rich blend of Wild Western days and Arabian nights.


Beautifully soothing, Dozy Bear and the


Secret of Sleep, guarantees a stress-free bedtime. I can’t wait to see Where’s Macavity? our first (and utterly joyful) lift-the-flap. Summer Evening, The Shrew that Flew and Building Boy are three more picture book beauties I wouldn’t want anyone to miss. In the autumn look out for another enormously exciting YA novel from us, The Graces, alongside Podkin One Ear, a Tolkienesque triumph. The master storyteller Emma Carroll is back with more, Strange Star, and lastly, oh my word, The Smell of Other People’s Houses – devastatingly utterly brilliant.’


Rachel Denwood, Publishing & Creative Director,


HarperCollins Children’s Books says: ‘David Baddiel’s star is on the rise in 2016 with his World Book Day title, The Boy Who Could Do What He Liked, coming in March, followed by yet another hilarious novel. We can’t wait to share the third instalment of the amazing Darkmouth series by exciting new talent Shane Hegarty, and Sarah Lean is back with a beautiful new novel, The Last Snow Leopard, and a brand new younger fiction series, Tiger Days. We’ve also got a brilliant new picture book about a very special dog coming from everyone’s new favourite illustrator, Rob Biddulph! If that wasn’t enough, 2016 will be the Year of Dr. Seuss, with a colourful new look for his classic titles, as well as beautiful gift editions for those special moments in life when Seuss says it best.’


Rachel Wade, at Hodder Children’s Books says: ‘The book I’m most excited about in 2016 has to be Cherub: New Guard. It’s something completely new, and yet at the same time it’s the end of an era, since it’s the last ever Cherub book to be published (sob!). It has a starring role for James Adams and his friends, up against the new guard of agents like Ryan Sharma. And for younger readers, I’m proud that we’re publishing Rabbit’s Bad Habits this month, the first in a new series called Rabbit and Bear – illustrated by Jim Field, it’s the perfect next step for readers of the bestselling Oi Frog. I love it because it’s hilarious, and because parents will enjoy it as much as their kids.’


Kate Agar, Senior Commissioning Editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers is excited about Jenny Colgan’s second children’s book Polly and the Puffin: The Stormy Day. ‘Jenny has a perfect sense of timing and she brings gentle humour to everyday events and feelings. Combined with Thomas Docherty’s beautiful illustrations, which we print in black and orange (quite possibly my favourite way to produce a book!), the whole package is incredibly special. This time, Polly is waiting for her fisherman daddy to come home and finding it hard to be patient. Luckily she has her puffin friend Neil to keep her company, and a wonderful mum who knows that eating a sticky cinnamon bun can make a long wait easier . . .’


Venetia Gosling at Macmillan has a new book from Frank Cottrell Boyce: ‘Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth, illustrated by the brilliant Steven Lenton, is a really moving and funny novel about a foster child who opens the door to a chameleon-like alien who helps him to speak up, join in and save the world on the way... Kieran Crowley’s The Mighty Dynamo is about a boy so desperate to play in the schools’ football world cup, he joins the local girls’ team. Full of humour and heart and illustrated throughout by Marta Kissi, this is a book which will surprise and charm you, footie-fan or not! And finally we are proud to be the UK publisher of New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist, The Thing About Jellyfish.’ Her colleague Rachel Petty says: ‘We’re publishing two outstanding debut UKYA novels in the first half of next year: Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard, a gorgeous, heart-breaking ode to female friendship, and The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood, which has one of the most touching examinations of first grief and first love I’ve ever read. I’m


4 Books for Keeps No.216 January 2016


ridiculously excited about Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky which is Heathers via Harry Styles (a very dark, very funny reminder that you should never tangle with a fangirl) and David Levithan and Nina LaCour’s You Know Me Well which is such a celebration of love and acceptance that your face will hurt from smiling as you read it.’


At the O’Brien Press Helen Carr says: ‘The book I’m most excited about in 2016 is A Darkness At the End: Book 3 in the Crack in Everything series by Ruth Frances Long, publishing Autumn. Like its predecessors, this story of Izzy and Jinx and their difficult relationship (given that she’s a normal teenager – albeit with newfound powers – and he’s a fae warrior) deals with ancient powers, sacrifice and treachery. Great characters, a fast-paced storyline and a real sense of the Fae world being just a step away from our own.’


Felicity Johnston, at Orion Children’s Books: ‘There are lots of brilliant books I’m looking forward to this year, but if I can pick one, it would be Caroline Lawrence’s return to


Rome with her new series, The Roman Quests. It’s vivid and gripping and full of energy – in short, it’s every bit as good as you’d expect. The first book, Escape from Rome, sees Juba and his siblings fleeing their home and journeying to Roman Britain, a land of wolves and warriors and blue-painted barbarians. We can promise you peril, plot twists and powerful baddies – including the Emperor Domitian, as powerful as they come. (And no spoilers, but there may also be cameos from a few old favourites from the Roman Mysteries – now grown up…)


Janetta Otter-Barry highlights Otter-Barry Books launch title Zim Zam Zoom! Zappy Poems to Read Out


Loud by James Carter: ‘This fabulous poetry collection, presented as a picture book, contains sixteen poems for four-to-eight-year-olds, written especially to be read out loud, at home or at school. I was immediately drawn to the range of characters, settings and stories within the poems, from the hilarious Billy Goats Gruff Rap to gentle Teddy Afraid (does a teddy take a teddy up to bed?). I love the warmth of the writing, its careful crafting for a young audience, and that all the poems have been successfully ‘road-tested’ by this hugely popular poet on his school visits. This is poetry that is really accessible and fun to perform, and it has deliciously playful colour pictures by the talented young illustrator, Nicola Colton.’


Rachel Williams at Quarto is looking forward to Christmas: ‘For Wide Eyed we’re particularly excited about the follow up to Lucy Letherland’s first book, Atlas of Adventures. This Christmas Lucy’s much-loved animals take the stage with a tour of nature’s unmissable events, in an Atlas of Animal Adventures. The natural history theme continues with the first book in a new series illustrated by Owen Davey, and curated by Amanda Wood and Mike Jolley: Curiositree, Natural World: a visual compendium of maps, cutaways and charts. We also have a stunning new book inspired by the work of Italian duo Carnovsky, llluminature, and our first science title from Tom Clohosy Cole, Destination: Space. On the Frances Lincoln Children’s Books side, our picture book list has some corkers, many commissioned by star editor Katie Cotton. The Road Home, written by Katie herself and illustrated by


Sarah Jacoby, is a look at love and survival in nature. We will also be publishing Victoria Turnbull’s much anticipated Pandora, a heart-warming story of regeneration. We have practical gifts for parents, with new series of books that deal with real issues


for little people, the Life and Soul Library, illustrated by Louis Thomas and written by two child psychologists, and gifts that nurture storytime, with A Year Full of Stories from Chris Corr and Angela McAllister.’


‘It’s an exciting time in the world of QED Publishing!’ says Maxime Boucknooghe of QED with a brand new range of board, cloth and activity books in the Wee Gallery series. ‘Talented Surya Sajnani created fresh illustration with engaging educational content


for toddlers and pre-schoolers. For those who want to combine reading for pleasure, phonics and uncontrollable giggling, then try our new series Monsters’ Nonsense! written by the expertly humorous Peter Bently. Encourage children to grunt along with Pem Pem, Gop, Nid and San in four magical adventures. The Tudors are next in line adding to our successful 50 Things you should know

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