Nosy Crow's Blog, page 10

Read an exclusive extract from Princess Minna: The Best Princess by Kirsty Applebaum & Sahar Haghgoo

We’re very excited to be publishing the fourth Princess Minna adventure next month: Princess Minna: The Best Princess! This full-colour, illustrated chapter book series from Kirsty Applebaum and Sahar Haghgoo is perfect for readers just moving on from picture books and visual readers.

And today we’re delighted to be sharing a preview of the book – you can read the first few chapters below!

In The Best Princess, Princess Minna’s mirror ALWAYS tells her that she’s the best princess of all, so she’s SHOCKED when one day it says that PRINCESS SKY-BLUE is the best! Princess Minna sets out to put things right again but learns instead that being a BEST FRIEND is far better!

Read an extract of The Best Princess here:

Princess Minna: The Best Princess will be published on June 1st – you can order a copy from Waterstones here, Bookshop.org here, or from Amazon here. Do let us know on socials what you thought of the first few chapters when you’ve finished reading!

If you’d like to stay up-to-date with all of our latest book news, including exclusive previews, giveaways, award news and more, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

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Kids’ Club April 2023

Welcome to another instalment of our Nosy Crow Kids’ Club: a monthly feature with lots of engaging activities for the young readers in your life! Each month we’ll post a creative writing prompt based on one of our recent publications, and some downloadable activity sheets for you to print for your little ones.

Write a Story

Taking inspiration from My Life on Fire by Cath Howe – a tense, page-turning story that sensitively deals with themes of family upheaval and kleptomania – our writing prompts this month are written by the author herself, and taken from our Teaching Resources for My Life on Fire, which you can find in their entirety here. These exercises will work best if children have first read the book, which you can purchase here.

Shabbir’s Stone

In Chapter 36 we find out that Ren stole Shabbir’s stone, but we don’t read about the event as it happens.  Write the scene where Ren takes Shabbir’s stone. How and when do you think she does it and how does she  feel about taking it during and after the theft?

Alternative Viewpoint

Write the scene in the art cupboard, Chapter 39-42, from either Ren’s or Jake’s viewpoint. Try to get right inside  their heads and focus on what they are thinking about and how they are reacting.

The Mr Softie Stories

Think about these stories, told by Ren to her little brother – Chapter 7.

• Write about how these stories make you feel about Ren?

• What kind of sister is she?

Make sure you consider the scene in Chapter 33 and 34 where Petie goes out in the night, and she sets out to  find him.

Lessons Learnt

Ren doesn’t take things because she needs them, but she does get into a habit and decides she’s good at stealing.

• Do you think she will ever steal again?

• What has she learned through the events of this story?

Make a list of ideas about Ren’s character and actions.

The Teacher’s View

What would Miss Chatto say about her first year as a teacher and the events that happened in her class: the bird,  Ren and Caspar, the art project and the spate of thefts?

Write Miss Chatto’s monologue – start with the words, “I never would have dreamed that my first year in

teaching would have been such a mixture……”

All about Gran

Ren’s gran changes her mind about Ren. Have a look at scenes where we see her.

Write about Gran.

• What kind of person is Gran?

• What did you think of her by the end of the story?

Look at Chapters 12, 26 and 46 in particular.

My Life on Fire

What do you think the book title “My Life on Fire” means? Discuss and write your opinion.

Share your kids’ creative writing with us on social media, by tagging us @NosyCrow! You never know, we might even share a selection on our channels …

Activity Sheets

Children can build their dream house and design their very own ‘life in a box’ in these free activity sheets for My Life On Fire! Download the resources here.

 

We hope you enjoyed the fourth instalment of our Nosy Crow Kids’ Club! Be sure to let us know if your little ones partake in our activities, and if there’s anything else you would like us to include, by getting in touch via email or social media.

 

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Read an exclusive extract from Mermaid Academy: Isla and Bubble by Linda Chapman, Julie Sykes & Lucy Truman

This May we’re absolutely thrilled to be publishing Mermaid Academy: Isla and Bubble – a mermazing action-packed underwater adventures for young readers written by Linda Chapman and Julie Sykes , and with black and white illustrations throughout by Lucy Truman.

And today we’re very pleased to be sharing the first few chapters of the book – you can read an extract below!

Hidden deep beneath the waves is Mermaid Academy, a magical school where mermaids are paired with their very own dolphin and must discover their unique mermaid magic, with plenty of adventure along the way!

Impulsive Isla isn’t afraid of breaking a few rules to win the school treasure hunt and her dolphin, Bubble, is always up for a dare. But the seas surrounding the academy are swirling with magic, and soon Isla and Bubble find themselves in very deep water…

Take a look inside:

Mermaid Academy: Isla and Bubble will be published on May 4th – you can order a copy from Waterstones here, Bookshop.org here, or from Amazon here. Do let us know on socials what you thought of the first few chapters when you’ve finished reading!

If you’d like to stay up-to-date with all of our latest book news, including exclusive previews, giveaways, award news and more, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

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Seven Steps to Save the World

Today is Earth Day! Here at Nosy Crow we believe it is very important that we source the suppliers and materials used for our books responsibly. Read more about our commitment to doing the right thing here.

We’re proud to have published some great books that deal with sustainability and taking care of the world, including Earth Heroes by Lily Dyu, our Earth Friends series by Holly Webb, and more. You can view our selection of books for a better planet here – from inspiring stories of people saving the world to the joy of growing things and helping endangered animals, there’s something for all young readers to explore.

Now more than ever it’s important to protect our planet, as we all become increasingly aware of the impact we have on the environment. And what better way to help create a more sustainable future than teaching children about sustainability at a young age?

Empower your young readers to make a difference with these small steps for implementing sustainability in their daily lives, taken from How to Help a Hedgehog and Protect a Polar Bear, written by Dr Jess French and illustrated by Angela Keoghan.

Our beautiful planet is in danger. If we do not act soon, we will all be fighting for survival. But don’t despair! If we are kind to the environment, it will give us everything we need for happy, healthy lives. We can change the future. We can save the planet. And the power to do it is in YOUR hands. 

Save Energy

Only use things that run on electricity when you really need to and turn them off when you are finished. Using electricity burns up fossil fuels such as oil and coal, which is poisonous to the atmosphere.

Recycle

Recycle as much as you can! Cans, bottles, paper, cardboard, plastic and glass can all be turned into brand new products if they are recycled.

Speak Out

Tell everyone you meet about the problems facing our planet and how we can fix them. We will all need to work together to solve the problems we have created.

Save Water

Turn off the tap when you are not using the water. Creating clean drinking water uses lots of energy and produces pollution.

Reuse

Use things more than once! Before you throw something away, ask yourself how you could use it again.

Reduce

Think before you buy! Reduce the amount of waste you produce by buying less in the first place. Also avoid buying things with lots of packaging.

Pester Power

Grown-ups often make most of the decisions about what to buy from the shops. Use your pester power to remind them to look for products that are friendly to the environment and don’t have lots of packaging.

 

How do you help to protect our planet? Let us know if you and your kids have followed any of the above steps, by tagging us on social media!

 

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A guest post from Grandpa and the Kingfisher illustrator, Sarah Massini

This month we’re absolutely delighted to have published Grandpa and the Kingfisher – a beautiful picture book celebrates the awesome power of nature illustrated by Sarah Massini. And today, we’re very excited to be sharing a guest post from Sarah!

—

My illustrations for Grandpa And The Kingfisher have been shaped by the three most important men in my life. I know… that sounds like a ludicrously over-blown statement. But it’s something I realised whilst thinking about what to write for this blog post. I’d better explain….

Firstly, there’s my husband.

Peter is an ecologist. We’ve been together since we were 19, and I decline to say how long ago that was, but well let’s just say… it’s been a while. Peter’s expert knowledge about the natural world, and all of our 100s of walks together – with binoculars in hand – have rubbed off on me over the years. So consequently, Anna’s story appealed strongly on first reading. It was a story about nature that I not only felt very qualified to illustrate, but one that I had a deep-rooted interest in too.

These days Peter and I both work from home in adjoining rooms – me doing my illustration-thing, and him saving the world’s biodiversity. On discovering that the internet doesn’t have the answer to everything (!) I was able to holler questions at Peter through the wall, such as:

Does the kingfisher line its nest?
Are yellowflag irises common in other parts of the world?
What time of year does reedmace start to look fluffy?
I’d always be sure that the muffled reply coming back through the wall would be correct. So huge thanks to my brilliant husband for all his past and present help.

Here are stage workings of the Eurasian Kingfisher for the cover and title page – and also the Belted Kingfisher for the US/Canadian edition.

Then, there’s my son.

When I posted the cover reveal for ‘Grandpa And The Kingfisher’ on Instagram, and Mathew commented, ‘Looks lovely Mum’, I suddenly realised that I’d done it again! I’d illustrated Mathew again. So many of the children in my books look like Mathew when he was little. I am completely unaware that I’m doing this whilst I’m illustrating, but it’s something that happens over and over again. There are subconscious longings here for sure!

Here’s Mathew starring in some of my Nosy Crow books: Grandpa And The Kingfisher/ The Velveteen Rabbit /The Boy And The Bear.

And finally, there’s my father, John.

During the time I worked on ‘Grandpa And The Kingfisher’ he suffered a major health crisis with  with both cancer and Covid, and he wasn’t expected to pull through. So my anxiety about him informed my ability to convey how Grandpa looks and feels during the course of the book – his increasing infirmity and quiet reflectiveness. To be honest, I haven’t talked to Dad about this book at all because the subject seems too sensitive with all he’s been going through. But he was – this time consciously – always on my mind whilst I was illustrating.

Here’s my dad John (left), and Grandpa. You can see they look alike. But it’s important to note that there is much of Anna’s dad Martin (right) in Grandpa too. Indeed, it was Martin who provided the inspiration for this beautiful story, and it’s his personality that shines through Anna’s telling of it. Both our fathers are very present in Grandpa.

So, this has been a most personal and poignant journey – much more so than for any book I’ve illustrated before. I guess there’s a lot of love in this book. Love for the natural world and love for my family. And lived experience too. I hope that these quiet understandings get picked up by readers as they go on their own personal journey with ‘Grandpa And The Kingfisher’.

Some early character studies.

—

Thank you, Sarah!

Take a look inside:

 

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Read an exclusive extract from Lenny Lemmon and the Invincible Rat by Ben Davis & James Lancett

This May we’re absolutely thrilled to be publishing Lenny Lemmon and the Invincible Rat – a hilarious school-based comedy for 7+ written by Ben Davis, and with black and white illustrations throughout by James Lancett.

And today we’re very pleased to be sharing the first few chapters of the book – you can read an extract below!

Lenny Lemmon is looking forward to Olden Days Day at school. It’s a chance to break the routine and try school as it was years ago. It explains the blackboard in the corner, his teacher’s bad temper and why his friend Sam looks like Oliver Twist.

And Lenny’s pleased with his own contribution, too. It’s in a cardboard box at the back of the class at the moment because it’s not yet time to shine. Except it escapes and ends up in the bowl of sick, sorry, gruel, that Amelia Kelly has brought up, sorry, in.

Soon there are small, gruelly footprints all over the classroom and also a lot of screaming because the rat that Lenny found by the back of the chip shop is FREE. It takes the arrival of cool new girl, Jessica Conrad, to distract everyone. Jessica has a plan to catch the rat but it’ll cost them.

Can the three kids round up the rat before more damage is done? Or will they end up in the headmaster’s office – again. Maybe, but they’re going to need a bigger net…

Take a look inside:

Lenny Lemmon and the Invincible Rat will be published on May 4th – you can order a copy from Waterstones here, Bookshop.org here, or from Amazon here. Do let us know on socials what you thought of the first few chapters when you’ve finished reading!

If you’d like to stay up-to-date with all of our latest book news, including exclusive previews, giveaways, award news and more, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

 

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Nature goes on like this. Nature goes on forever. – a guest post by Anna Wilson

This month we’re absolutely delighted to have published Grandpa and the Kingfisher – a beautiful picture book celebrates the awesome power of nature written by Anna Wilson. And today, we’re very excited to be sharing a guest post from Anna!

—

Grandpa and the Kingfisher is inspired by my lovely dad who died nearly eight years ago. His favourite place was the river in my home town – the Medway in Tonbridge, Kent. It was where he would go to unwind after a hard week at the office. He would take his canoe out on a Sunday morning and enjoy the peace and the wildlife. He was like the character Ratty in Kenneth Grahame’s novel The Wind in the Willows who says, “There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

Dad and me in a punt on the river Cam in Cambridge

When my sister and I were old enough, he took us out too. He would name the plants and creatures, pointing out willow, hazel, beech, bulrushes, water mint, moorhens, coots, water voles and ducks. He would also spot the kingfishers and shout, ‘There!’ as a flash of blue whizzed past our heads. We would always look too late, and the bird would dart away from us into the bank. “Too late. You missed it,” Dad would say with a sigh.

When Dad was dying, his one last wish was to be able to get back down to the river. We talked about it every time I went to visit him in hospital. He never managed it, which still makes me sad. I came to look after him in the last month of his life. One evening I was sorting through some books he had had as a child and I came across a beautiful old picture book called Martin: the Kingfisher by a French writer, Père Castor. It was what would now be called a “narrative non-fiction” book about the lifecycle of a kingfisher. Dad’s mother, my grandmother, had chosen it for Dad because his name was Martin too.

I sat on the landing of my childhood home reading and weeping, as it seemed to me that, in giving him this book, Grandma had predicted my dad’s life and his life-long happy marriage to Mum.

In the book, Martin the kingfisher works hard every day, fishing in the river. One day he meets his mate, Martine, and they build a life together. Martine, we are told, never leaves Martin’s side:

“She fidgets about, never very far away from him.”

As the story goes on, the birds stay together all the time.

“They are like twin arrows. They never leave one another. Never.[…] Winter comes, to be chased away by spring; the seasons succeed one another; time goes on. But Martin and Martine remain.”

Then one day, just as Dad did, Martin the kingfisher falls ill, and Martine’s behaviour becomes very distressed, just as my mum’s did:

“Poor little Martine! She doesn’t know what to do. She perches beside him.”

Martin dies, and a few days later, so does Martine. The narrator buries them both in the same grave, just as my sister and I scattered our parents’ ashes in the same spot in the river Medway. It is a sad ending of course, but there is hope in the arrival of the new chicks.

“I am happy,” the narrator tells us. “I realise that life goes on, goes on forever.”

These words from Dad’s old book found their way into the eulogy that my sister and I wrote for him. My son Tom also read from The Wind in the Willows, so we managed in a small way to bring the river to Dad at the end.

However, I found that I couldn’t leave things there, so I decided to write my own kingfisher story, borrowing a little from Père Castor’s book, to help others talk to children about the circle of life in a hopeful and comforting way. In this way I feel I have memorialised Dad as well as reaching out to others who are grieving a loved one.

I was thrilled when Sarah Massini agreed to illustrate the book because I knew that her delicate, sensitive style would be just right for the nature aspects of the story. However, what I was not prepared for was the perfect way she captured the relationship between the child and Grandpa, which sums up my relationship with my dad as well as his bond with his grandchildren. I feel very emotional whenever I look at Sarah’s gorgeous artwork. I know my dad would be blown away by it, too.

I still miss Dad. I think of him every day. But, as Grandpa says in my story, life – like nature – goes on forever. I know my dad would agree with that, because he had already seen so much of himself in my son Tom who loves nature as much as he did. And I like to think Dad’s out there somewhere, anyhow – still messing about in boats.

“It’s just like Grandpa told me: Nature goes on like this. Nature goes on forever.”

—

Thank you, Anna!

Take a look inside:

 

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Kids’ Club March 2023

Welcome to another instalment of our Nosy Crow Kids’ Club: a monthly feature with lots of engaging activities for the young readers in your life! Each month we’ll post a creative writing prompt based on one of our recent publications, and some downloadable activity sheets for you to print for your little ones.

Write a Story

Taking inspiration from The Nowhere Thief by Alice M. Ross – a mind-bending multiverse adventure about theft, family, and finding your home that we published earlier this month – our story prompt this month focuses on creating your very own Somewhere! (In the book, twelve-year-old Elsbeth has the power to travel to parallel worlds – also known as Somewheres.)

This activity is taken from our Discussion Notes and Activity Ideas for The Nowhere Thief, which you can find in their entirety here.

Imagine you can travel to another Somewhere of your choosing, what would that world look like? Write three to four  paragraphs describing your new sphere, either as if you are walking into it for the first time, or you are introducing it  to a newcomer. If you need help, think about the below:

Are you in a city, the countryside, the jungle, or somewhere else?What types of buildings are there and what do they look like?What is everyone wearing?Is it hot, cold, stormy, and how does this affect everything else?

Share your little ones’ finished stories with us on social media, by tagging us @NosyCrow! You never know, we might even share a selection on our channels …

Activity Sheets

Children can design an object or creature from another Somewhere and create their very own kaleidoscope in these free activity sheets! 08Download the full resources here.

 

We hope you enjoyed the third instalment of our Nosy Crow Kids’ Club! Be sure to let us know if your little ones partake in our activities, and if there’s anything else you would like us to include, by getting in touch via email or social media.

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PRESS RELEASE: Nosy Crow to be distributed by HarperCollins

Nosy Crow and HarperCollins are very happy to have come to an agreement on a multi-year deal for Nosy Crow’s distribution in the UK and export. HarperCollins will begin distributing Nosy Crow titles from the beginning of August 2023.

Kate Wilson, Group CEO of Nosy Crow, comments:

“Following the announcement of the proposed closure of GBS, who have been our trusted distribution partners since the very start of Nosy Crow’s journey, we are delighted to have managed to secure such a great distribution solution. While our visit to the centre at Bishopbriggs – full of capable, friendly and committed staff – convinced us of the short-term benefits of the move, we are also excited by the vision of HarperCollins new automated distribution centre in Robroyston from 2025, and by the enthusiasm of so many of the existing distribution centre staff about the move.”

Gordon Scott, Managing Director – HarperCollins Supply Chain, comments:

“We are very proud that Nosy Crow has chosen HarperCollins to take over its distribution from this summer. The HarperCollins distribution team is the best in the industry and more than ready to take on the responsibility of distributing Nosy Crow’s fantastic and acclaimed list, both from our Bishopbriggs site and in two years from our new, state-of-the-art centre in Robroyston.”

Nosy Crow will be communicating directly with all of its UK and export customers about the move in the coming weeks.

 

ABOUT NOSY CROW

Nosy Crow is a multi-award-winning publisher which began publishing child-focused, parent-friendly children’s books and audio books in 2011. It was named Children’s Publisher of the Year (2017 and 2019) and Independent Publisher of the Year (2020) at the British Book Awards, and was awarded the Independent Publishers Guild’s overall Independent Publisher of the Year twice (2016 and 2021). It has also won the IPG’s Children’s Publisher of the Year seven times, mostly recently in 2023. Nosy Crow’s perspective is international: it has won the IPG’s International Achievement Award five times; the British Book Award for Export twice; and is the only book publisher ever to win two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for International Trade. Other prizes include the Stationers’ Company Innovation Excellence Award, the Nectar Small Business of the Year Award, the Growing Business Awards Young Company of the Year Award and many others for individual titles. Nosy Crow is also proud that it has been shortlisted for the IPG’s Sustainability Award and Diversity and Inclusivity Award.

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Celebrating a Very Good Week at the Crow’s Nest

Last week was a very good week for Nosy Crow.

The first and biggest excitement to report was that we won the 2023 Children’s Publisher of the Year award at the Independent Publishing Awards run by the Independent Publishers Guild. This was unexpected. We were up against, among others, David Fickling Books, who have had a stellar year with Jamie Smart’s Bunny vs Monkey series, and Magic Cat, one of the most impressive publishing launches of recent few years. It was, amazingly, the seventh time we’ve won in 12 years.

Judges said, “Nosy Crow… had another superb year of international sales, overcoming a dip in business in China by finding more new markets. It established new authors in the UK while making the most of its backlist. Nosy Crow are so strong in every area … you can sense the heart and emotion there. What stands out all the time is the way that they don’t just buy big brands but create them.” I am so proud of the team. The truth is that the judges were right to point up the way we have managed so well in the context of a pretty dramatic reduction in sales to China over the last few years: we have seen our UK, export and rights and co-edition sales more than make up for this drop, but I’d be the first to say that the whole team is having to work harder to keep us on top – and we’ve grown the team to reflect this. To see this effort recognised was a big morale-boost for us, and those of us who were in the office on Thursday evening celebrated with fizzy wine at our weekly all-company meeting.

Congratulations to @NosyCrow, the @Claysltd Children’s Publisher of the Year for a remarkable seventh time! #ipgawards2023 pic.twitter.com/Rz0MuAAskW

— IPG (@ipghq) March 22, 2023

We also got to hand over another Independent Publishing Award: The Ola Gotkowska Young Independent Publisher Award, which we sponsor in memory of Ola, our rights and then contracts manager who died from ALS at 36 just over a year ago.  The award went to Will Dady, the publisher of Renard Press.

Meanwhile, we received news that we’d got our first Kirkus starred review for one of the titles in our Nosy Crow Inc launch list. But I can’t tell you which one until 29 March! Plans for the Nosy Crow Inc launch in North America are gathering pace daily: our first books are out in May. Kirkus stars are few and far between, and to have one is such a great stamp of approval for North American librarians, teachers and carers.

And finally, we had two books on the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis picture book shortlist! We’ve never had a book nominated for this prestigious German prize before and so we were delighted to see the German editions of How To Count to One, written by Caspar Salmon and illustrated by Matt Hunt, and Frank and Bert, written and illustrated by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros in the six-book line up.

A good week all round…

 

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