Books Children’s Spotlight Children’s spotlight


The expanding success story of recent years, the kids’ market in print now accounts for one in three physical book purchases in the UK. But can this year’s performance replicate last year’s Harry Poter-fuelled, record-breaking year?


C Fiona Noble


Children’s and YA Previews editor


tfionanoblebooks HERITAGE


Philip Ardagh The World of Moominvalley


Macmillan, 19th October, £30, hb, 9781509810017


Given the passion so many peo- ple have for the Moomins, this official guide feels long over- due. Written by Ardagh with a foreword and chapter on cre- ator Tove Jansson’s early life by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, it features everything from sketches from the Moomin archive, to a char- acter guide, Moomin food, maps and favourite quotes—and it’s gorgeously produced, too, all finishes and gold ribbon. Content is based on the eight novels, considered the “canon”.


FICTION 9 –12 Cressida Cowell The Wizards of Once


Hodder, 19th September, £12.99, hb, 9781444936704


One of the biggest publish- ing stories of 2017 is this new series from Cowell, whose How to Train Your Dragon sales have topped a million copies in the UK. Shrouded in secrecy, it’s a magical adventure set in the wild woods of ancient Britain, starring a young boy wizard and girl warrior who have been trained to hate each other…


TEEN & YA E Lockhart Genuine Fraud


Hot Key, 7th September, £12.99, hb, 9781471406621


www.thebookseller.com


HILDREN’S BOOKS HAD another terrific year in 2016, enjoying record-breaking sales (for the third consecutive year) of £382.3m, up 6.5%.


Perhaps most impressively, one in three physical titles purchased last year was a kids’ book. Can this be repeated in 2017? I think 2016 is a hard act to follow— the impact of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is certain to be felt—but my instinct is that underlying growth across most categories will continue.


Previewer’s Picks


I’ve selected around 100 of the most exciting new books being published between April 2017 and March 2018, based on submissions from publishers big and small. All sales data is Nielsen BookScan for 2016, unless otherwise stated. Be aware that some publica- tion dates will inevitably change and new books will be added to the schedule—those gaps will be filled in my monthly previews. So what to look out for? The current profile of chil-


dren’s books means there is strong publishing across the board. There are celebrities aplent, but it’s also a year of literary names and an ever-growing focus on middle- grade and illustrated books. There’s an increase in books about social issues, from immigration to women’s rights, though still nowhere near enough diversit in the voices we hear from. Whatever the genre or category, the beaut of the book continues to be central. Finally, and most excitingly for me, we have Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust.


The clever, compelling and deli- ciously twisty bestseller We Were Liars is one of the most influential YA novels of recent years, and much imitated. This is Lockhart’s first novel since then and excitement is high. I’m told it’s a “startling and com- pelling” psychological thriller, with shades of The Talented Mr Ripley. The “whip-smart” hero- ine has a yen for reinvention and, as in her other writing, expect strong feminist themes.


TEEN & YA


Philip Pullman The Book of Dust


PRH/David Fickling, 19th October, £20, hb, 9780385604413


It’s finally here: the much- anticipated return to the world of His Dark Materials. Northern Lights came shortly after I began my first bookselling job, and the series has been a huge part of my working and read- ing life. This book is the first of three volumes, set 10 years


before Northern Lights and featuring Lyra Belacqua.


GIFT BOOKS Chris Riddell


Travels with my Sketchbook Macmillan, 13th July, hb, 9781509856565 He’s been an incredibly hard- working and effective Chil- dren’s Laureate and this beau- tiful illustrated record will be published as Riddell’s tenure draws to a close. Packed with sketches, doodles and pages from his Laureate Log, the con- tent has been curated by his daughter Katy. In September we return to Ada and Ghastly- Gorm Hall for more spooky mystery in Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony, and look out for Goth Girl paperbacks this summer.


HERITAGE


J K Rowling, Jim Kay (illus.) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Bloomsbury, 3rd October,


£30, hb, 9781408845660


Get set for a year of anniver- sary publishing and media events under the banner “20 years of Harry Potter Magic”. The books to look out for include this, the third volume of Kay’s triumphant reimag- inings; the House Editions in June, featuring bespoke extra content and anniversary jack- ets illustrated by Levi Pinfold; and, in November, the first fully illustrated edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, details yet to be announced.


FICTION 9 –12


Katherine Rundell The Explorer


Bloomsbury, 10th August, £12.99, hb, 9781408854877


The Wolf Wilder was my favou- rite book of 2015 and I can’t wait for this adventure, fea- turing survival and bravery as a group of children negotiate the wild jungle after a crash landing in the Amazon rain-


forest. Rundell takes inspira- tion from her own expedition to the Amazon and also from Eva Ibbotson’s classic Journey to the River Sea. In October comes her first picture book, The Christmas Wish, illustrated by Emily Sutton (Bloomsbury).


FICTION 9 –12 Robin Stevens The Guggenheim Mystery


Puffin, 3rd August, £9.99, hb, 9780141377025


The late Siobhan Dowd’s The London Eye Mystery was criti- cally acclaimed and her best- selling book. This is the long- awaited sequel, which sees 12-year-old Ted embroiled in the mystery of a painting theft. Following Dowd is no easy task, but Stevens is a terrific writer and I’m excited to see where she takes this. Meanwhile, her detective duo Hazel and Daisy are in Hong Kong for Murder Most Unladylike book six, due in October.


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