Nosy Crow's Blog, page 108

Take a look inside next month’s new books!

We’ve got a fantastic collection of new books coming out next month – with wonderful new novelty, picture books, illustrated fiction and middle grade in shops in April, there’s something for everyone. Here’s what you can find from Nosy Crow next month.

There are two new books in our Listen to the… sound book series out in April  – beautifully illustrated by Marion Billet, and with six amazing real-life sounds in each book, adults and children alike will be enchanted by these charming board books. Here’s a look at the upcoming two titles – Listen to the Birds and Listen to the Baby Animals:

We’re publishing a trio of FANTASTIC new picture books next month.

We’ll be publishing  Edgar and the Sausage Inspector – a brand new picture book by multi-award-winning author-illustrator Jan Fearnley, creator of Mr Wolf’s Pancakes and Little Robin Red Vest. With a FANTASTICALLY funny text, beautiful artwork, and a stylish Paris setting (and an array of delectable food), this is a future classic in the making – witty, charming and with wonderful child appeal. Here’s a look inside the book:

Harvey the Hero by Hrefna Bragadottir will be out next month – a brilliant new picture book, brimming with heart and humour, from the author-illustrator of Baxter’s Book.

Harvey is Superhero Steve’s BIGGEST fan and dreams of being just like him . . . if only he could be a hero too! But when Steve leaves his cape behind and Harvey bravely sets off to the Big City to return it, he swiftly becomes a hero in his own right – without even realising it! It’s only when he returns home and sees the news on TV that he knows . . . he’s Harvey the Hero!

Children will love to spot all the action that Harvey misses on his walk through the city in this heart-warming story of accidental heroism. Here’s a look inside the book:

And next month will also see publication of Goldilocks and the Three Potties by Leigh Hodgkinson – from the author-illustrator of Goldilocks and Just the One Bear comes a quirky, gently funny retelling of the Goldilocks story. With its encouraging ‘keep-trying’ message, this adorable book will help set toddlers on the right track to a nappy-free day. Here’s a look inside the book:

And in April we’ll also be publishing the first paperback edition of There’s a Moose on the Loose, written by Lucy Feather and illustrated by Stephan Lomp.

A moose is on the loose and he’s in a serious hurry! As he rushes helter-skelter through town, Moose is chased by an ever-growing crowd who are anxious to retrieve all the things that have been caught on his antlers. But where is he off to in such a rush? Hang on, it’s a PARTY! Of course! Children will LOVE trailing the mapped-out route as they follow Moose on his mad dash across a busy town. Here’s a look inside the book:

We’ll be publishing the next book in the fantastic Secret Rescuers series, written by Paula Harrison and illustrated by Sophy Williams – The Secret Rescuers: The Sea Pony.  Set in a fantasy world populated by dragons, unicorns, and firebirds, this superbly-realised series for 7+ year olds is packed with magical adventures and baby creatures in peril.

Here’s a look inside the book:

Evie’s Ghost will be in shops next month – the new book from Helen Peters, author of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-shortlisted The Secret Hen House Theatre. Part Gosford Park, part Charlotte Sometimes, and part The Go-Between, this is an absolutely brilliant time-slip story – spine-tingling, moving, funny and heartbreaking.

Here’s a look inside the book:

And finally, in April we’ll be publishing Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: Up, Up and Away, written by Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton – the latest two-colour illustrated fiction title in the fantastic series featuring everyone’s favourite robber dogs-turned-bakers. And it’s all go for our brave bakers – the wacky race they enter in the Bakemobile is sabotaged by that pesky Red Rocket (yes, he’s back!), a mysterious parcel delivered to the café causes them no end of trouble, and a spate of robberies at a fancy hotel sees the boys going undercover in some dodgy disguises! It’s all fun and games, and there’s always a load of doughnuts to keep them going!

Here’s a look inside the book:

 

If you’d like to stay up to date with all of our book news, you can sign up to our books newsletter at this page, or with form below, and you’ll never miss a thing.

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Signed copies of A Piglet Called Truffle and A Duckling Called Button now available!

Last year we launched the truly wonderful Jasmine Green series, written by Helen Peters and illustrated by Ellie Snowdon – and signed copies of the first two books in the series, A Piglet Called Truffle and A Duckling Called Button, are now available to buy from the Nosy Crow shop!

Brilliant story-telling that will make you laugh and cry, and beautifully illustrated by Ellie Snowdon, this series is James Herriot for a new generation. And the books are already attracting lots of admirers – here’s what The Guardian’s Imogen Russell Williams said about A Piglet Called Truffle:

“For readers aged five to eight, Helen Peters’ A Piglet Called Truffle is sensitively illustrated by Ellie Snowdon, and reminiscent of Dick King-Smith at his best … This involving, unsentimental little book is the first in a new series that should appeal strongly to animal lovers.”

Jasmine’s dad is a farmer, and her mum is a large-animal vet, so Jasmine spends a lot of time caring for animals and trying to keep them out of trouble. Unfortunately, this often means getting herself out of difficulty, too!

In A Piglet Called Truffle, Jasmine rescues a tiny piglet from certain death. But Jasmine’s parents don’t believe in farm animals being pets and insist that Truffle must be sold as soon as she’s big enough. So Jasmine begins a campaign to keep her – one that doesn’t seem to be going very well as Truffle gets older and ever-closer to market… In the end, it takes two lost guinea pigs and one cold, frosty night-time adventure to save the mini piglet from disaster…

Here’s a look inside the book:

Buy a signed copy.

And in In A Duckling Called Button, a nesting duck is killed in a terrible accident, and Jasmine and her best friend Tom rescue the eggs and try to hatch them in an incubator. It’s a risky business but soon Button is running around, getting into scrapes. Until the day he gets into a scrape with no escape…

Here’s a look inside the book:

Buy a signed copy.

If you’d like to stay up to date with all of our book news, you can sign up to our books newsletter at this page, or with the form below, and you’ll never miss a thing.

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The Jamie Drake Equation is The Times’ Children’s Book of the Week

The Times have named The Jamie Drake Equation, the new book from The Many Worlds of Albie Bright author Christopher Edge, their Children’s Book of the Week!

Alex O’Connell writes: “This is a story about space, aliens and the bind of having to share your parents with other people, told with the intelligence and heart we expect of Christopher Edge […] Edge has found the equation that solves the problem of how to write a fun, intellectually challenging novel with an emotional centre for 7 to 11-year-olds. It’s a big tick.”

You can read the full review here.

And here’s a look inside the book:

Combining action and adventure with cutting-edge space exploration and a compelling emotional core, this is truly awesome storytelling.

Jamie’s dad is an astronaut.This is a good thing, because how cool is that? And a bad thing, because he’s orbiting Earth and Jamie misses him badly.

Doing his homework at the observatory one night, Jamie inadvertently picks up a weird signal on his mobile phone. Could it be from an alien civilisation? Turns out, they’re the only ones who can help Jamie bring his father back. But how do you rescue an astronaut without heading into space yourself?

You can buy the book online here.

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Come to the next Nosy Crow Illustrator Salon, with Jamie Littler!

There are a couple of months to go until the next edition of the Nosy Crow Illustrator Salon, our programme of quarterly evening events celebrating the art of illustration – with special guest Jamie Littler, the fantastic illustrator of The Secret Diary of John Drawbridge, Medieval Knight in Training. And tickets are selling fast – if you’re interested in attending, book your place today!

We’ll be returning to The Book Club, in Shoreditch, for Jamie’s Salon, on the evening of Tuesday 30th May. After an interview with Jamie there’ll be a Q&A with the audience, followed by a book signing and drinks.

And you can save money on a signed copy of The Secret Diary of John Drawbridge, Medieval Knight in Training by buying one now with your ticket!

General admission costs just £4. £7 will include entry to the salon, PLUS a signed copy of the book.

Doors will open at 6.30pm for drinks and conversation, and the salon will start at approximately 7.00pm.

Booking is essential and tickets are extremely limited – save your place today!

Here’s a look inside The Secret Diary of John Drawbridge:

If you don’t want to miss out on any of our future salon events, sign up to our mailing list below.

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We hope to see you there!

Nosy Crow to publish picture book written by Mal Peet with his wife, Elspeth Graham

We are incredibly proud to be publishing a picture book by award winning author Mal Peet and his wife Elspeth Graham. The couple worked together on several picture book,s and this is one of the last stories they created before Mal’s death in 2015. The picture book, The Treasure of Pirate Frank, is illustrated by Jez Tuya and will be published on 4th May.

Mal and Elspeth began their writing careers working together; they produced over 100 easy readers. Mal then turned to books for an older audience. He was a highly-acclaimed children’s author, receiving the Carnegie Medal for Tamar and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize for Exposure. The husband and wife continued to work together, writing stories for younger children, including Cloud Tea Monkeys a retelling of a Chinese folk tale.

Elspeth Graham said: ‘One of the great pleasures in our life was to walk together every day with our dog – and it was on the beach that Pirate Frank came to us. I told Mal the first lines then together we played with the rhyme and the words until we ended up with this cumulative text story. We were intrigued by Nosy Crow, watching the company grow and sharing its picture book apps with all the children we knew. Listening to Kate talk we realised how much we wanted to give her this story, and I know Mal would be so pleased to know The Treasure of Pirate Frank had found its home at Nosy Crow.’

Kate Wilson said: ‘I’m hugely proud that we are publishing this book. I’d admired Mal’s work since reading Tamar in 2005, but, given his huge strength in YA (and we don’t do YA), I never expected to have the privilege of publishing him. I met Mal at an event about independent publishing at The Society of Authors in 2014 and shortly afterwards he got in touch asking if I’d like to see the picture book he and his wife Elspeth had created. It took us time to find the right illustrator: we wanted someone who would bring freshness and humour to the text, which is exactly what New Zealander Jez Tuya does.’

You can take a look inside The Treasure of Pirate Frank below:

Nosy Crow shortlisted for four British Book Awards!

The shortlists for the 2017 British Book Awards were announced today at the London Book Fair, and we are absolutely thrilled that Nosy Crow have been shortlisted in four categories!

We’re shortlisted in the Children’s Publisher of the Year category (sponsored by TESCO), against an incredible list of much larger and older publishers – Penguin Random House Children’s, DK, Scholastic Children’s Books, Macmillan Children’s Books, Walker Books, Usborne Publishing, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, and Faber Children’s.

We’re shortlisted for the Independent Publisher of the Year award (sponsored by Firsty Group), against another incredibly strong field – Oneworld, Bradt Travel Guides, Faber & Faber, Summersdale, Kogan Page, Head of Zeus, and Unbound.

Nosy Crow’s amazing Rights Manager, Ola Gotkowska, is shortlisted (for the second year running) in the Rights Professional of the Year category (sponsored by Frankfurt Book Fair) – against Sarah Scarlett (Penguin), Monique Corless (Vintage), Kate Hibbert (Little, Brown Book Group), Andrew Sharp (Machete Children’s), Michele Young (Pan Macmillan), Amy Hunter (Summersdale), and Karine Marko (Quarto Group.

And finally, Nosy Crow’s incredible Editorial Director, Camilla Reid, is shortlisted for the Editor of the Year prize, against Wayne Brookes (Pan Macmillan), Jane Griffiths (Simon & Schuster), Rachel Leyshon (Chicken House), Lucy Malagoni (Little, Brown), Juliet Mabey (Oneworld), Carole Tonkinson (Bluebird), Jenny Tyler (Usborne Publishing), and Rowland White (Michael Joseph).

You can read the full shortlists for every category here – the winners will be announced at the British Book Awards evening on Monday 8th May.

Congratulations to everyone who’s been shortlisted!

Sweet Pizza by G.R. Gemin shortlisted for the 2017 Tir na n-Og Award

The shortlists for the 2017 Tir na n-Og Awards have been announced, and we are absolutely thrilled that Sweet Pizza, by G.R. Gemin, has been recognised in the English Language category.

The awards are presented annually by the Welsh Books Council to honour original work by authors and illustrators of children’s books in Welsh and English, and are sponsored by CILIP Wales (The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) and the Welsh Books Council. Giancarlo’s debut children’s novel, Cowgirl, won the prize in 2015, and it’s an incredible honour to be shortlisted again for Sweet Pizza.

Like Cowgirl, this is another wonderful book for 9+ readers. A great story that has immigration at its core, Sweet Pizza is perfect for fans of Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Morpurgo – it’s got fantastic dramatic writing, strong characters, and big-hearted social realism.

Joe’s family run the local cafe in Bryn Mawr. It’s seen better days and Joe’s mam wants to sell it. But it was started before the war by Joe’s Italian great-grandfather, and he can’t bear to see it shut. And Joe loves his Italian heritage: the language, the opera, the lasagne! As Joe looks down the depressing High Street, he’s determined to bring this diverse town together through good food and fine times! He vows to save the family business, and find out more about his past at the same time….

Here’s a look inside the book:

Buy the book.

You can read more about the prize, and find the full shortlist, here – the winner will be announced at the CILIP annual conference in Llandudno on Thursday, 11 May.

Congratulations, Giancarlo!

The next Nosy Crow Reading Group is almost here – we’re discussing Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans

The Nosy Crow Reading Group is back in a couple of weeks – we’ll be discussing Wed Wabbit, by Carnegie Medal-shortlisted author Lissa Evans.

And if you’re interested in coming along, there are just a couple of places remaining!

We’ll be meeting on Tuesday, March 28th at 6.30pm, here at the Nosy Crow offices – 10a Lant Street, London, SE1 1QR – for a discussion of the book (along with wine and crisps).

If you’d like to come along, just register for a place with the form below, or at this page – if the reading group becomes fully booked, you can add your name to our waiting list, and we’ll notify you if a place opens up.

You can order Wed Wabbit online from Waterstones here.

We hope to see you there!

Two Nosy Crow books longlisted for the 2017 Klaus Flugge Prize!

The longlist for the 2017 Klaus Flugge Prize have been announced today – and we’re absolutely thrilled that two Nosy Crow books have been recognised!

Established in 2016, the Klaus Flugge Prize is awarded to the most promising and exciting newcomer to children’s book illustration. It honours publisher Klaus Flugge, founder of children’s publisher Andersen Press and a supremely influential figure in picture books.

The judges for the 2017 prize are Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo; Nicolette Jones, children’s books editor of the Sunday Times; Tamara Macfarlane, owner of Tales on Moon Lanechildren’s bookshop; and last year’s winner Nicholas John Frith. The panel will be chaired by Julia Eccleshare, director of the children’s programme of the Hay Festival.

And we’re incredibly pleased that Baxter’s Book, by Hrefna Bragadottir, and Little Mouse’s Big Breakfast, by Christine Pym, have both been longlisted!

Brimming with heart and humour, and with an adorable (and unusual) hero, Baxter’s Book is perfect for fans of Open Very Carefully and other books-about-books – it’s a remarkable picture book debut. Here’s a look inside:

Buy the book online.

And smart, funny, and brilliant to read aloud, Little Mouse’s Big Breakfast is another fantastic debut, from super-talented author/illustrator, Christine Pym. Here’s a look inside the book:

Buy the book online.

The shortlist for the Klaus Flugge Prize will be announced in May, and the winner will be revealed in September. You can read more about the award, and find the full longlist, here.

Congratulations, Hrefna and Christine!

Read the opening chapters of Evie’s Ghost, the new book from Helen Peters

Next month we are incredibly proud to be publishing Evie’s Ghost – the new book from Helen Peters, author of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-shortlisted The Secret Hen House Theatre, The Farm Beneath the Water, and the highly acclaimed Jasmine Green series for younger readers.

And today you can take a look inside the book for the first time – we’re sharing an exclusive preview of the opening two chapters.

Part Gosford Park, part Charlotte Sometimes, and part The Go-Between, this is an absolutely brilliant time-slip story – spine-tingling, moving, funny and heartbreaking.

Evie’s been sent to stay with her ancient grandmother in an old creaky house in the middle of nowhere. Her phone is broken and she can’t believe how hugely unfair everything is.

Then, on the first night, Evie sees a strange, ghostly figure at the window. Spooked, she flees from the room, feeling oddly disembodied as she does so.

Out in the corridor, it’s 1814 and Evie finds herself dressed as a housemaid. Little does she know that she’ll need all her cunning to fix the past and stop everything falling apart in the future…

Here’s a look inside the book:

Evie’s Ghost will be in shops in April – you can find more about the book here. And if you’d like to stay up to date with all of our book news, and for exclusive competitions, giveaways, and more, you can sign up to our books newsletter at this page, or with the form below.

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