Nosy Crow's Blog, page 12

Read an exclusive extract from The Nowhere Thief by Alice M. Ross

This March we’re absolutely thrilled to be publishing The Nowhere Thief  – a mind-bending multiverse adventure about theft, family, and finding your home from Alice M. Ross.

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

Twelve-year-old Elsbeth has an extraordinary power: she can travel to parallel worlds and bring objects back with her. But as freak weather events become more frequent and a strange boy, Idris, starts to turn up everywhere she travels, she has to ask herself: does her gift come with a price?

Take a look inside:

The Nowhere Thief  will be published on March 2nd – 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.

The post Read an exclusive extract from The Nowhere Thief by Alice M. Ross appeared first on Nosy Crow.

The Tree Book Wins Silver at the 33rd Hong Kong Print Awards

We’re thrilled to announce that The Tree Book recently won silver at the 33rd Hong Kong Print Awards, in the Book Printing, Children’s Book category!

About the awards

The Hong Kong Print Awards are organized by the Graphic Arts Institute of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Publishing Institute and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and co-organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

The awards aim to encourage local printing, design, publishing and related industries to produce high-quality and competitive printed materials, and showcase Hong Kong’s high-quality design, publishing and printing services to other industries and overseas so that they are widely recognized. Find out more about the awards here.

About the book

The Tree Book by Hannah Alice is an incredibly inventive board book with five die-cut pages and amazing see-through acetate, in which readers can discover how trees change through the seasons.

It’s a fantastic first look at nature for curious children everywhere, and an exciting way to explore all the amazing things trees can do.

Take a look inside:

Watch the trailer:

Congratulations to all of the Nosy Crow team involved in making this book a reality!

Have you, or your little ones, read The Tree Book? If you’ve yet to discover its magic, click here and select your preferred retailer to purchase your copy.

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Kids’ Club January 2023

Welcome to the Nosy Crow Kids’ Club: a new monthly feature with plenty of 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 to print for your little ones.

Write a Story

Our kids’ writing exercise for this month is inspired by the second in the hilarious Frank and Bert series: The One Where Frank Learns to Ride a Bike, by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros. Find out more about this hilarious picture book that’s guaranteed to get kids giggling here!

You might need to read out the writing exercise to help your kids get started, and don’t worry if they go off on a tangent – it’s all part of the fun!

Imagine two characters. These could be animals like Frank and Bert, they could be humans, they could even be objects that can talk! Whatever you’d like.

One of your characters has to teach the other to do something that they don’t know how to do, like riding a bike, swimming, or even making pottery. However, the character who is learning this new skill finds it very difficult and keeps struggling!

What happens? You can tell your story through words, drawings – or even both! – and you can make it as funny or as serious as you’d like. It’s up to you!

 In a nutshell: write a story about a character that tries to teach their friend something new, but their friend is not very good at it.

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

In these free, downloadable activity sheets for Frank and Bert: The One Where Bert Learns to Ride a Bike, kids can help Bert through a bicycle maze, spot the difference and colour in the hilarious duo! Download the sheets here.

 

Do let us know what you thought of our first Kids’ Club, and if there are any other activities you would like us to include, by getting in touch via email or  social media.

And if your little ones enjoyed all of our Frank and Bert activities, then don’t miss Chris Naylor-Ballesteros, author and illustrator of Frank and Bert, on his UK bookshop tour in February. You can find details of all the events here.

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Read an exclusive extract from Press Start! by Thomas Flintham

We’re absolutely thrilled to be publishing Press Start! Game On, Super Rabbit Boy!, and Press Start! Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up! next month – the first two books in a full-colour series of graphic novels about, and for, kids who love gaming by Thomas Flintham.

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

Join Sunny as he and Super Rabbit Boy take on the world, one move at a time!

In the first book, Sunny’s favourite game is Super Rabbit Boy and he loves to pit his skills against King Viking who hates fun and happiness and wants to steal Singing Dog and bring sadness to Animal Town FOR EVER! Can Sunny help Super Rabbit Boy get to Level 6 and rescue Singing Dog and restore joy to Animal Town? Only if he defeats the Robot Army, dodges the Robo-Crabs and Lakes of Lava before battling King Viking himself!Has Sunny got the skills? Has Super Rabbit Boy eaten enough super magical carrots (SPOILER: origin story)? You’ll have to read and find out …

Read an extract from Press Start! Game On, Super Rabbit Boy! here:

 

In Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up!, King Viking is planning to build a Super Robot to destroy EVERYTHING and Super Rabbit Boy must find the Super Power Up component before King Viking does. He has a map and his BRAVERY and SKILLS. Can he break the evil wizard’s curse, defeat the gobbling goblins and solve the riddles he finds in the Cold, Cold Caves? Or will King Viking get there first and DOOM EVERYTHING. You’ll have to read and find out …

Read an extract from Press Start! Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up! here:

 

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Two Books Old – a guest post by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

This month we’re absolutely delighted to have published Frank and Bert: The One Where Bert Learns to Ride a Bike – the second hilarious adventure featuring the fox and bear double act from bestseller Chris Naylor-Ballesteros. And today, we’re very excited to be sharing a guest post from Chris!

—

Now that Frank and Bert are officially Two Books Old, I’d like to write about how the characters came about and what the inspirations were for the stories.
Unusually for me, the basic idea sprung from a random ink doodle I did. I more often think a lot first about a story and then start sketching only when there’s a fairly solid idea in mind.

The drawing I did was of a huge but quite sad-looking animal standing behind a thin little tree. Underneath was a caption in the style of a natural history program that said the animal was “known for its highly effective camouflage, blending almost invisibly into its surroundings”, then invited the viewer to try to spot it in the picture.

It reminded me of when small children play hide-and-seek and they run off to stand behind the curtains – legs and feet sticking out below. But the silliest part of it all is when us grown-ups collectively pretend we can’t see them. “Oooh, where is she?”, “Gosh, where did he go?!” and then we start ‘looking’ for them. Meanwhile the child is getting more and more excited and proud of their ingenious hiding place.

I liked this hiding animal idea but it didn’t make much of a story. At first I thought about illustrating a little series of animals that were really bad at the thing they were supposed to be good at. Or animals that had just broken something or made a big blunder and were trying to own up and say sorry. Humans are like this, we’re always getting things wrong or not being very good at things. Even with our friends, we sometimes do or say the wrong thing then don’t quite know how to fix it. That’s what makes people fascinating. Those seemingly perfect ones who win all the time are very boring.

But you can’t play hide-and-seek on your own, so I needed a duo. And if one was a big, round-shaped bear sort of animal, then his partner could be a smaller, pointy-shaped fox sort of animal – Laurel and Hardy style. And my motto for their personalities was that Frank knows things, whereas Bert feels things. They both figure things out in their own way and get there in the end.

Then we were off! Except that thinking of stories that really work and don’t feel a bit contrived or slightly hammy sometimes takes me ages. But, with the patience, creativity and skill of the Nosy Crow Dream Team Lou Bolongaro and Nia Roberts, a lovely knitwear-based yarn for book one was developed. And towards the end of making this first book, Lou suggested that I might want to have a think about further Frank and Bert adventures. So I scarpered off and did just that.

This was the first time I’d been asked to write a second story featuring established characters and their world. There are pros and cons. On one hand a lot of the fundamental elements are already there. On the other hand, well… a lot of the fundamental elements are already there. What I mean is that there are constraints, things that are already set-up visually or that are in the characters’ personalities or relationship and you can’t do anything that isn’t credible within that pre-existing world. Again, Lou helped me loads in navigating it and this time Frank and Bert don their crash-helmets and go on a bike ride. Things inevitably go a bit wrong again.

Each story features an activity that children can relate to – playing hide-and-seek or learning to ride a bike. And then, just like real life, something doesn’t go quite to plan. There’s a bit of a disagreement or a dilemma to overcome, and they have to try to do the right thing by their friend and themselves.

An important point was to make sure that Bert doesn’t fall into the cliché of being the slightly dozy friend who is never quite up-to-speed on what’s happening; the hapless punchline to the story. In the first book when Frank lets Bert win at hide-and-seek, it at first seemed like a nice ending, all wrapped up. But something was a bit off. Frank knows Bert didn’t really win and we know Bert didn’t really win. We’re all in on a ruse that Bert is blissfully unaware of and that felt a bit patronising, slightly cruel. So a big part of the story was to find a final twist, something that lets Bert have his moment, to show us that he isn’t as daft as he at first seems and can even be a little bit sly, just like his friend Frank.

Hopefully Frank and Bert will be having many more adventures. I’m working on book three now (featuring picnic-based peril) and I’m starting to feel like the best friends are making their own minds up about what happens in the story. I think I might just let them get on with it, what could possibly go wrong?

—

Thank you, Chris!

 

Take a look inside:

 

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Read an exclusive extract from Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire! A Spoonful of Spying by Sarah Todd Taylor

This month we’re absolutely thrilled to be publishing Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire! A Spoonful of Spying – the second in a delectable new series for 9+ readers by Sarah Todd Taylor.

Inventors and artists have gathered in Paris for the World Fair. All eyes are on the aeroplane exhibition – these incredible machines will take humanity to new heights! Alice suspects that some of these inventors are in terrible danger, but no one will believe her. Surrounded by enemy spies, Alice will need to use every trick in the recipe book if she’s to keep her friends safe and stop France’s greatest invention from falling into the wrong hands.

With a half-baked plan and a dash of daring, Alice must foil the enemy’s plot before the whole thing boils over…

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

Take a look inside:

Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire! A Recipe for Trouble will be published on January 12th – you can order a copy from Waterstones here, Bookshop.org here, or from Amazon here.

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.

The post Read an exclusive extract from Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire! A Spoonful of Spying by Sarah Todd Taylor appeared first on Nosy Crow.

Read an exclusive extract from There’s a Beast in the Basement! – the next (mis)adventure from Pamela Butchart

This January we’re absolutely delighted to be publishing There’s a Beast in the Basement! – the next hilarious (mis)adventure in the Baby Aliens series from Pamela Butchart.

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

Chaos and mayhem reign as Izzy and her friends take on another hilarious (mis)adventure. There’s no such thing as an ordinary day at school when they’re around… Izzy and her friends overhear their head teacher talking about “missing treasure” and “running out of time”. They know this means there’s TREASURE buried in the school somewhere and that Mr Graves wants it all for himself. So Jodi says they’ve got to find it first, and they should start by searching the staffroom. After seeing things they will never forget, they head to the basement. Gary Petrie’s dad is working down there and he’s seen something SHINY! So they send Zach’s cat down with a camera strapped to her head and study the footage carefully. What they see is SHOCKING and CHANGES EVERYTHING. It’s not treasure in the basement, it’s a BEAST with SHINING EYES and it’s coming to get them! RUN!!!

Take a look inside:

There’s a Beast in the Basement! will be published on January 12th – 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.

 

The post Read an exclusive extract from There’s a Beast in the Basement! – the next (mis)adventure from Pamela Butchart appeared first on Nosy Crow.

Nosy Crow’s Award-Winning Felt Flaps Series Turns 5!

Five years ago, we published the first title in our Felt Flaps series, Where’s Mr Lion? Today, it is one of our bestselling series in the Nosy Crow collection. We’re beyond proud at how far the series has come in so relatively short time – selling over 5 million copies worldwide, and has become one of our most recognisable and enduring series and a family favourite among babies, toddlers, parents, and carers alike.

Where’s Mr Lion? went on to win the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year Award in 2017, and has since released in a new, compact buggy book format – perfect for babies on the go!

 

We’ve published an astounding 33 titles in the series so far, our most recent being the delightfully festive Where’s Mr Snowman?

Next year, we’ll publish Where’s Mrs Panda? and Where’s Baby Bunny?, followed by Where’s Mr King? and Where’s Mr Train?

Where did it all start?

The Felt series is the brainchild of Camilla Reid, former Editorial Director of the Pre-School and Novelty list at Nosy Crow. Camilla came up with the felt novelty concept after Zoë Gregory – then Deputy Art Director, and now Art Director for Pre-school titles – suggested that they collaborate with Ingela P Arrhenius.

“The felt flaps idea that I developed was based on Ingela’s gorgeous animals, but the novelty required that the animals were naturalistic and pictured in their natural environment. However, what I immediately realised is that if you stand animals on all fours and they don’t have fun names or trousers, it can all get a bit factual and dull, and that is definitely not what I want in a book! Because for me, books need to have warmth and wit, so children can identify with the characters.” – Camilla Reid

We met with Camilla and Ingela in celebration of these incredible milestones, and to discuss the creative process behind the series in more detail. Read on below for this inspirational origin story.

Can you tell us more about the inspiration for the name of the series?

Camilla: Everything I do as a writer is inspired by my experience of reading to my own children. As a parent of a baby, I wanted books to identify the animals so my daughter could start to learn and speak the words. But, as a writer, I felt it was a bit dull to just say, “Where’s the lion? Here it is!” Adding a Mr/Mrs prefix gave the animals both character and gender, which I felt was important as I found myself calling all animals “he”. I also wanted to avoid giving them cheesy names like ‘Larry Lion’, which always slightly grates for me.

How does it feel to have reached five years and over 5 million copies worldwide?

Ingela P Arrhenius: Unreal and fantastic! When we started I could never imagine this to happen and that we have done SO many titles.

Camilla: It feels great! I have to admit that as soon as we finished the first book, Where’s Mr Lion?, I knew it was good. I knew we had made something that really worked for its audience and that looked gorgeous, so I was pretty confident that the series would do well. You never quite know how it will perform, though, so it’s really pleasing that this has done as well as I’d hoped.

What did you enjoy the most when working on the series?

Ingela: First of all, to work together with Zoe and Camilla on these has been wonderful. So happy to have gotten to know them! I also enjoy working on them because it´s such a fun challenge to find the perfect balance between childish and edgy. You shall always have the child in mind so that they understand and enjoy the picture but it´s  interesting to see how graphic and clean you can go, if you understand what I mean.

Camilla: It’s always about the collabs! Though it was my concept and I planned the text and layouts, many people contributed to shaping the first books. Zoe Gregory (now Deputy Head of Design) proposed Ingela P Arrhenius as an illustrator, Catherine Stokes (Nosy Crow Head of Sales and Marketing) suggested the mirror ending, Imogen Blundell (then Head of Production) found a printer who could supply good quality felt at the right price, and Ingela, of course, drew the most wonderful pictures! I very much enjoy the experience of working with smart, passionate people, who all want the book to be the best it can be.

What has surprised you the most about the series?

Camilla: I’m surprised, and delighted, that it has sold into so many different markets. These books seem to work for a huge range of consumers, from those who shop at British supermarkets, to those in the US, France, even the Far East. That’s quite unusual.

Ingela: That it has sold like this and that every book is still fun to do after all these titles! 

What advice would you give to someone who wants to write for children for children?

Camilla: Read to them first – a lot! Observe how they engage with books, and try to understand what they find exciting about them.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to illustrate for children?

Camilla: The same applies – you can learn so much by seeing a book through a chid’s eyes. For example, as a young editor, I never liked big, goggly eyes on characters as I felt they were too cartoony. However, once I had babies myself, I realised that they really connect with goggly eyes, so I changed my taste completely! 

Ingela: Never forget the children´s perspective. And visit an antiquarian bookstore, children´s book section, SO much inspiration! 

Explore all 33 titles in the series so far here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Nosy Crow’s Award-Winning Felt Flaps Series Turns 5! appeared first on Nosy Crow.

The Award-Winning Felt Flaps Series Turns 5!

Five years ago, we published the first title in our Felt Flaps series, Where’s Mr Lion? Today it is one of our bestselling series in the Nosy Crow collection. We’re beyond proud at how far the series has come in so relatively short time – selling over 5 million copies worldwide and fast becoming one of our most recognisable and enduring series, and a family favourite among babies, toddlers, parents, and carers alike.

Where’s Mr Lion? went on to win the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year Award in 2017, and was released earlier this year in a new, compact buggy book format – perfect for babies on the go!

 

We’ve published an astounding 33 titles in the series so far, with the latest being the delightfully festive Where’s Mr Snowman?. Next year, we’ll publish Where’s Mrs Panda? and Where’s Baby Bunny?, followed by Where’s Mr King? and Where’s Mr Train?

Where did it all begin?

The Felt series is the brainchild of Camilla Reid, former Editorial Director of the Pre-School and Novelty list at Nosy Crow. Camilla came up with the felt novelty concept after Zoë Gregory – then Deputy Art Director, and now Art Director for Pre-school titles – suggested that they collaborate with Ingela P Arrhenius.

“The felt flaps idea that I developed was based on Ingela’s gorgeous animals, but the novelty required that the animals were naturalistic and pictured in their natural environment. However, what I immediately realised is that if you stand animals on all fours and they don’t have fun names or trousers, it can all get a bit factual and dull, and that is definitely not what I want in a book! Because for me, books need to have warmth and wit, so children can identify with the characters.” – Camilla Reid

We met with Camilla and Ingela in celebration of these incredible milestones, and to discuss the creative process behind the series in more detail. Read on below for this inspirational origin story.

Can you tell us more about the inspiration for the title of the series – Where’s Mr/ Mrs?

Camilla: Everything I do as a writer is inspired by my experience of reading to my own children. As a parent of a baby, I wanted books to identify the animals so my daughter could start to learn and speak the words. But, as a writer, I felt it was a bit dull to just say, “Where’s the lion? Here it is!” Adding a Mr/Mrs prefix gave the animals both character and gender, which I felt was important as I found myself calling all animals “he”. I also wanted to avoid giving them cheesy names like ‘Larry Lion’, which always slightly grates for me.

How does it feel to have reached five years and over 5 million copies worldwide?

Ingela P Arrhenius: Unreal and fantastic! When we started I could never imagine this to happen and that we have done SO many titles.

Camilla: It feels great! I have to admit that as soon as we finished the first book, Where’s Mr Lion?, I knew it was good. I knew we had made something that really worked for its audience and that looked gorgeous, so I was pretty confident that the series would do well. You never quite know how it will perform, though, so it’s really pleasing that this has done as well as I’d hoped.

What did you enjoy the most when working on the series?

Ingela: First of all, to work together with Zoe and Camilla on these has been wonderful. So happy to have gotten to know them! I also enjoy working on them because it´s such a fun challenge to find the perfect balance between childish and edgy. You shall always have the child in mind so that they understand and enjoy the picture but it´s  interesting to see how graphic and clean you can go, if you understand what I mean.

Camilla: It’s always about the collabs! Though it was my concept and I planned the text and layouts, many people contributed to shaping the first books. Zoe Gregory (now Deputy Head of Design) proposed Ingela P Arrhenius as an illustrator, Catherine Stokes (Nosy Crow Head of Sales and Marketing) suggested the mirror ending, Imogen Blundell (then Head of Production) found a printer who could supply good quality felt at the right price, and Ingela, of course, drew the most wonderful pictures! I very much enjoy the experience of working with smart, passionate people, who all want the book to be the best it can be.

What has surprised you the most about the series?

Camilla: I’m surprised, and delighted, that it has sold into so many different markets. These books seem to work for a huge range of consumers, from those who shop at British supermarkets, to those in the US, France, even the Far East. That’s quite unusual.

Ingela: That it has sold like this and that every book is still fun to do after all these titles! 

What’s next for the Where’s Mr/Mrs series?

Ingela: I am just about to start with a new one: Where´s Mr Tractor? 

Camilla: Sadly, I am no longer asked to write the books, but I understand there are more in the offing.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to write for children for children?

Camilla: Read to them first – a lot! Observe how they engage with books, and try to understand what they find exciting about them.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to illustrate for children?

Camilla: The same applies – you can learn so much by seeing a book through a chid’s eyes. For example, as a young editor, I never liked big, goggly eyes on characters as I felt they were too cartoony. However, once I had babies myself, I realised that they really connect with goggly eyes, so I changed my taste completely! 

Ingela: Never forget the children´s perspective. And visit an antiquarian bookstore, children´s book section, SO much inspiration! 

 

Explore all 33 titles in the series so far here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post The Award-Winning Felt Flaps Series Turns 5! appeared first on Nosy Crow.

Fledgling, by Author Lucy Hope is nominated for the 2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing

We’re thrilled to announce that Fledgling by Lucy Hope has been nominated for the 2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing!

The Yoto Carnegies are the UK’s longest running and best-loved children’s book awards. The Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. It was established in 1936 in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, founder of more than 2800 libraries.

Fledgling is Lucy Hope‘s debut novel and was released last November. It’s the perfect read to cosy up with as the days get colder and longer – it’s a dark, gothic adventure set deep in a Bavarian forest, with angels and owls and magic, and a boy who isn’t all that he seems to be …

Watch our playlist below, which features Lucy reading extracts from Fledgling:

You can view the full list of nominations here. The longlist is due to be announced on 15th February, followed by the shortlist on 15th March.

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