Peter
Gill, MD Graffeg: We are particularly excited to be
republishing Joyce Dunbar and James Mayhew’s classic Mouse and Mole series in May in a larger hardback format to really show off James’s gorgeous illustrations. Joyce’s funny and moving texts about the furry friends are timeless and we couldn’t believe these lovely books had been out of print for such a long time. We’re delighted to have the opportunity to bring these wonderful stories back to life.
Katherine Agar, Editorial Director at Hodder Children’s Books: I’m over the moon to have brought Zanib Mian to our list. Her debut middle grade, The Muslims, was the winner of the Little Rebels Award in 2018 (and also longlisted for the UKLA Award, and nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal). Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet is the story of Omar, an ordinary British Muslim boy with a huge imagination – and it’s brimming with warm humour. Zanib has expanded the story with hilarious new scenes and we’ve re-illustrated it with artwork by Nasaya Mafaridik, ready to launch the series to a broader audience.
Rosemarie Hudson, Publisher Hope Road: The chronicles of Will Ryde and Awa Maryam Al-Jameel is the first in a thrilling historical trilogy by Rehan Khan, called A Tudor Turk. The action is set in Istanbul in 1591 during the reign of the all-powerful Sultan Murad III. When the Staff of Moses is stolen from his palace, a small group of undercover warriors is assembled to track down the thieves. Fast-paced and furious, the story is a Mission Impossible of its time, with a rich and authentic multicultural cast of characters.
Hannah Ray, Editorial Director Picture Books and Gift Books Macmillan Children’s Books: The Go-Away Bird was inspired by a real African bird whose call sounds as if it’s shouting, ‘Go away!’. And in the book, the eponymous bird lives up to her name and is aloof and rude - giving short shrift to other birds that approach her tree. The story is written in Julia Donaldson’s inimitable, pitch-perfect rhyming style, and Catherine’s Rayner’s illustrations are stunning – full of movement and colour, perfectly bringing to life the personality of each bird.
Suzanne Carnell, publisher of Two Hoots: Kate Read is a fantastic new talent and her brilliantly simple yet fiendishly clever One Fox: a Counting Book Thriller is a joy. At one level a straightforward counting book, the atmospheric (farmyard noir!) story is also perfect for slightly older children who are learning what numbers really mean. When one fox with two sly eyes creeps under the fence, three plump hens had better watch out! The collage artwork, incorporating paint and print-making, is stunning. The whole book is ingenious, witty, with a bit of an edge – which is just how we like things at Two Hoots.
Venetia Gosling, Publisher 6+ Macmillan Children’s Books: We have fantastic new books coming from our biggest middle-grade names – Chris Riddell, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Lauren St John, Hilary McKay – but we are also very excited to have tempted Sibeal Pounder to the list to write a spooky sequel to Eva Ibbotson’s The Secret of Platform 13 – Beyond Platform 13 is brilliant and funny and a terrific tribute to Eva from one of her biggest fans. We also revisit Alice in Return to Wonderland with short stories about favourite characters by some of the bestselling names in children’s fiction, including Robin Stevens, Maz Evans, Patrice Lawrence and Piers Torday.
Kirsty Stansfield, Head of Fiction at Nosy Crow: I couldn’t be more cheerful about publishing The Middler by Kirsty Applebaum in April. It’s a brilliant MG novel – sharp, funny and underpinned with menace; a real page-turner. Maggie’s voice perfectly leads you through her seemingly ordinary world, and as you start to wonder about the wanderers who roam the town boundary and ask why a family’s eldest child must always be sent to the never-ending-but- never-seen Quiet War, so does she. But it’s her determination to discover the truth that makes the book impossible to put down.
Ruth Huddleston, Publisher, Old Barn Books: Like his 2018 Australian Book of the Year, How to Bee, Bren MacDibble’s The Dog Runner is set in a world blighted by climate change – here wiping out all vegetation. Again, Bren brings us resourceful and determined young characters to lead us through a nail-biting adventure (with dog sleds!) to an understanding of how ancient
knowledge might save the future. Forty years after school readings from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring awoke my own ecological awareness, Bren’s compelling writing makes food security and environmental management personal at a crucial time for a new generation. Can’t wait to see what it unleashes!
Helen Thomas, Editorial Director at Orion Children’s Books: The Star Outside my Window by Onjali Q. Rauf follows on from her much-admired empathy-building debut, The Boy at the Back of The Class, with another funny, sad and page-turning story which is also a deft handling of a big topic (domestic violence).
Janetta Otter-Barry, Publisher Otter-Barry Books: I have chosen Migrations: Open Hearts, Open Borders, edited by the International Centre for the Picture Book in Society. This unique collection of words and pictures by illustrators from 28 countries, on the theme of migration, is based on the exhibition at the Biennial of Illustration, Bratislava, in 2017. Over 50 illustrators from around the world created beautiful and moving postcards depicting birds, each sending a powerful message about human migration. With an introduction by Shaun Tan, and contributions from PJ Lynch, Jon Klassen, Isol, Roger Mello, Chris Riddell, Jackie Morris, Marie-Louise Gay, Jane Ray and Axel Scheffler, among many other renowned artists, our book shows that cultures, ideas and imagination will flow despite borders, barriers and bans.
Liz Cross, Children’s Publisher, OUP: If I must choose just one book – so difficult! – then I think it must be The Closest Thing to Flying by Gill Lewis. Gill has an incredible knack of tackling thought-provoking issues in a way that feels at the same time global and intensely personal. This new book shines a light on women’s rights, refugees’ rights, and personal freedoms of all kinds – and for the first time in Gill’s novels, has a historical strand alongside the modern-day. With two amazing heroines who are totally different and yet have a surprising amount in common, it’s a story that will inspire and uplift its readers.
Sarah Odedina, Editor at Large, Pushkin Children’s Books: Bearmouth by Liz Hyder is a unique novel about the abuse of power and the power of friendship. Told in the first person from the point of view of the main protagonist this original novel stands alongside Maggot Moon and Ridley Walker. Newt is a teenager working in a mine, accepting of the status quo until Devlin arrives and starts to upset the established order. Liz researched child labour in mines to write this novel which skilfully looks at social injustice and the belief that helps people make positive change.
Sarah Lambert, Editorial Director at Quercus Children’s Books: I’m absolutely dying to publish bestselling crime writer Elly Griffith’s spine-tingling first foray into children’s fiction – A Girl Called Justice stars super-smart super-sleuth Justice Jones in a truly page-turning school murder mystery that will keep readers hooked till the edge-of-your seat finale…
Janice Thomson, Scallywag Press: Hat Tricks by Satoshi Kitamura is trademark Kitamura – imaginative, amusing and an absolute treat to share with a child. Hattie is a very small rabbit with a huge talent. Along with her hat and the magic words ‘Abracadabra Katakurico!’ a procession of bemused animals are produced spread by spread. The cat is first (his facial expression throughout says it all), then a squirrel, an octopus(!), a moose, and an elephant who gets stuck in the hat. The team effort that leads to his release is hilarious. This is a bravura performance from Satoshi.
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