Nosy Crow's Blog, page 126
July 7, 2016
Our Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs apps are now available in Spanish and Chinese!
A little while ago we announced a major upcoming update for our first two apps, The Three Little Pigs and Cinderella: brand new trilingual editions of each app, featuring Spanish and Chinese language versions of each story.
And today, we are incredibly pleased to say that these new versions of The Three Little Pigs and Cinderella are now available! For the very first time, you can download the apps and experience these incredible stories in three different languages.
You can download The Three Little Pigs from the App Store here and Cinderella from the App Store here.
We’ve translated the text and recorded brand new audio, using native speakers – and we’re very proud to have kept one of the most popular features in our apps, and used children to record the Spanish and Chinese audio. We’ve also optimised the artwork in both apps for new iPhone devices (released since the initial launches of the The Three Apps and Cinderella). The apps look and sound incredible – we are incredibly proud of these updates.
As well as being great stories for Chinese and Spanish speakers, the trilingual element of these updates means the apps are also fantastic resources for children learning another language, for dual language-speaking homes, for school language lessons, and more.
And if you already own The Three Little Pigs and Cinderella, you can get these updates entirely for free!
If you’re new to the apps, here’s a quick look at each (in English):
If you’re a Spanish or Chinese speaker and you try these new versions of our apps, we’d LOVE to hear what you make of them – do please get in touch, either on Twitter, to @NosyCrowApps, or by sending an email, to apps [at] nosycrow [dot] com.
And if you’d like to stay up to date with all of our app news, you can sign up to our app newsletter with the form below, or at this page.
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We hope you enjoy The Three Little Pigs and Cinderella!
It’s our July publication day!
It’s our July publication day! We’ve got some fantastic new books out today – innovative new novelty and activity for the very young, beautiful pictures books, and hilarious and exciting fiction. Here’s what you can find in shops now!
Big Bug Log by Sebastien Braun is out today – a brilliantly interactive board book, packed with humour and detail, that will keep little ones entertained for hours.
Little Bugsy has come to visit his grandparents in the Big Bug Log, but he’s not quite sure how to find his way to their house. With the reader’s help – solving puzzles, following mazes and looking behind the flaps – Bugsy follows the right path all the way to the surprise ending!
It’s publication day for Violet Rose and the Little School by Jannie Ho – the latest addition to the wonderful Violet Rose series, and a gorgeous story-and-activity book in one!
Violet Rose has a new job as the teacher of Sunnyville’s nursery school! Once she’s helped the children find their pegs and taken the register, she has all sorts of things planned for them, from learning about the life cycle of a butterfly, to telling the time. Then, inspired by their trip to the local art gallery, the children even put on their own art exhibition!
With a busy story, puzzles, activities, press-out models, over 175 stickers, and extra printables on the Violet Rose website, this charming book is perfect for inspiring crafty kids – creativity without the mess!
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You can find Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: The Diamond Chase in shops now – the highly-anticipated third picture book in the fantastic Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam series, the rhyming picture book phenomenon written by Tracey Corderoy and illustrated by Steven Lenton.
Shifty and Sam have swapped their life of crime for a career in cupcakes. But when they’re asked to bake for a seriously swanky party, they find themselves caught up in the middle of a robbery. Somebody has taken Lady Kate’s tiara, and all the cues point to a penguin thief. But it doesn’t look as if it’s going to be a black and white case – there are DOZENS of penguins at the party! Can Shifty and Sam get to the bottom of the mystery, catch the culprit, AND recover the missing diamond tiara?
Here’s a look inside the book:
And here’s our animated trailer for the book:
It’s publication day for Little Mouse’s Big Breakfast – the first picture book to be written and illustrated by Christine Pym. Hungry Little Mouse is looking for some breakfast and he knows just where to find it. Scampering into the kitchen, he finds lots and lots of delicious things until he spots something that is just perfect. But Little Mouse quickly discovers he’s not the only one looking for breakfast… Smart, funny, and brilliant to read aloud, this is a truly fantastic picture book from an incredibly talented author-illustrator. Here’s a look inside the book:
And finally, it’s publication day for My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord by David Solomons, the highly-anticipated sequel to the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize winning My Brother is a Superhero. It’s another hilarious, exciting adventure – funny, full of heart, and with an absolutely racing plot. Zack and Lara have superpowers. Luke has new school shoes and a burning sense of resentment. He KNOWS that aliens disguised as gym teachers are about to attack Earth but will anyone listen? No. So one dodgy pact with a self-styled supervillain later, and Luke is ready to save the world. He just needs to find his trainers. Here’s a look inside the book:
Congratulations to all of today’s authors and illustrators!
If you’d like to stay up to date with all of our book news, you can sign up to our mailing list at this page, or with the form below.
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July 6, 2016
There’s just over a week left to apply for a designer role at Nosy Crow
Last week we announced that we’re looking for a designer to join our team, and there’s just over a week left to apply for the role – the period for application ends at the end of next week.
We want to find someone hard-working, creative, clever and good at communicating, who’s got great taste in illustration and design (or, at least, taste that matches and complements ours!) and a strong interest in and understanding of visual storytelling of all kinds. They also need to be willing to muck in with goodwill: the team is phenomenally busy.
This is a full-time role and the successful applicant will be based in our crowded but lively office in Borough (near London Bridge, Borough and Southwark tube stations, and 15 minutes’ walk from Waterloo).
Candidates will have a minimum of 3 years’ experience in graphic design, probably exclusively in children’s publishing. Proficiency in Indesign, Photoshop and Illustrator programmes, excellent proven book design and typographic skills, and a love of children’s book illustration are essential, along with good written and spoken communication skills, and the ability to work to a deadline.
The successful candidate will design and manage full-colour illustrated book projects (mainly the exciting new non-fiction and activity books that we are creating for our partnerships with the National Trust and The British Museum as well as those we will published under our own imprint) from initial layouts all the way through to production, supporting the illustrator or the author/illustrator throughout the creative process.
The designer will report to the Head of Design but will work closely with other members of the Nosy Crow team, particularly the editorial staff, to produce child-focused, parent-friendly, high-quality books.
If you think this sounds like you, and you would like to apply for the role, please send a CV and application letter, along with digital samples of your design work, to Kate Wilson via email (kate@nosycrow.com) by midnight on 15 July on 2016. If you have a bit more or a bit less experience than we are asking for (but a minimum of a year of hands-on illustrated children’s book design experience) then do still apply: it’s more important, in the end, for you to be the right fit than that you have exactly the right level of experience, and we can be flexible about the role level for the right person.
July 5, 2016
Watch the trailer for Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: The Diamond Chase
This week we are incredibly pleased to be publishing Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: The Diamond Chase, the highly-anticipated third picture book in the fantastic Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam series, the rhyming picture book phenomenon written by Tracey Corderoy and illustrated by Steven Lenton. And today you can watch our animated book trailer for The Diamond Chase for the first time!
Shifty and Sam have swapped their life of crime for a career in cupcakes. But when they’re asked to bake for a seriously swanky party, they find themselves caught up in the middle of a robbery. Somebody has taken Lady Kate’s tiara, and all the cues point to a penguin thief. But it doesn’t look as if it’s going to be a black and white case – there are DOZENS of penguins at the party! Can Shifty and Sam get to the bottom of the mystery, catch the culprit, AND recover the missing diamond tiara?
With perfect read-aloud rhyme, action-packed comic detail, and dozens of dogs, this is another picture book winner. You can watch the fantastic trailer for The Diamond Chase at the top of this post – and 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 the form below:
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July 4, 2016
Adapting Cowgirl for the stage – a guest post by G.R. Gemin
Today’s guest post is by G.R. Gemin, author of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-shortlisted Cowgirl, on how the book was adapted for the stage.
One day last year I received an email from the Oxford University Press Education department. They said they were interested in adapting my book Cowgirl for the stage.
I thought it was a joke. It wasn’t. They were serious.
“How are you going to get twelve cows on the stage?” I asked.
“That’s the adapter’s problem,” they replied.
Enter Mike Kenny, a very experienced writer for the stage. You may have seen his celebrated adaptation of The Railway Children, performed at Waterloo and King’s Cross train station with a real stream train. Great, I thought. Twelve cows will be easy…
For the introduction to OUP’s adaption of Cowgirl this is what Mike wrote:
“At the heart of Cowgirl is a herd of cows. Now you might think that that presents an impossible challenge for a playwright. I wouldn’t be surprised if you did. But, honestly? That sort of thing is mother’s milk to those of us who write for the stage. I’ll let you down slowly. There will not be real cows wandering around in any production of this play. It’s impossible. To tell the truth, I’m not even sure that is legal. However, you will see cows. I guarantee it.
Even the most realistic of productions is never actually real. It’s the job of the theatre to make you see things that aren’t actually there. It requires you to awaken your imagination. This goes back to Shakespeare and beyond. If we can do the battle of Agincourt and Hamlet’s father’s ghost, a herd of cows should be a piece of cake.
To be honest, in adapting Cowgirl for performance, the cows were never the problem. I loved the book. I cared about the people in it. I was moved, and occasionally I laughed out loud, but it wasn’t easy to contain the raucous energy of it on a stage. It has a huge canvas. It is about a community and I had to combine a few members of it in order to make it work. Read the book as well. There is a wealth of lovely detail and characters I had to lose in putting it on the stage. Hopefully they complement each other.
This is a piece with strong themes of relationships in families and a community, but its beating heart is a growing friendship between two girls. That doesn’t normally get much of an airing on our stages, so it makes it something special and rare, and in this case that friendship is drawn so well. They’re both strong characters, at some points vulnerable, but most importantly, Gemma and Kate feel real.”
It’s a lovely message and demonstrates how evocative and imaginative the world of theatre can be. This is what I wrote in the introduction:
“Writing for the theatre, in my opinion, is the most difficult of the writing disciplines. So it was especially flattering and satisfying when OUP wanted to adapt Cowgirl for the stage.
When I set out to write Cowgirl I knew it would not just be about Gemma, but a community of people of all ages. A community affected collectively and individually, but ultimately a community that could change collectively and individually. From the beginning of the adaptation process with Mike Kenny it was clear to me that ‘the community’ was at the core of the adaptation. Beyond that it needed the vision of a writer who understood the confines and creative possibilities of the stage. The play and the book are separate entities. They have to be. What Mike has written is fundamentally for the theatre (notwithstanding the challenging inclusion of a herd of dairy cows).
When I wrote Cowgirl, I hoped that Gemma would speak to the reader and connect with them; I hoped her indifference to cows, which develops into a positive obsession, would surprise and touch people, and I wish the same for Mike Kenny’s adaptation – a whole community is depending on it!”
I hope it won’t be long before Cowgirl can be seen on stage – just don’t expect real cows, but rest assured you will see cows.
Thank you, Giancarlo! If you’ve not yet discovered Cowgirl, you can take a look inside the book below. You can buy the book online here, and the OUP Cowgirl play script here.
And if you enjoy Cowgirl, Giancarlo’s second book, Sweet Pizza, is out now too! This is another wonderful book for 9+ readers with a great story, fantastic dramatic writing, strong characters, and big-hearted social realism. You can find out more about the book here – and here’s a look inside:
Thank you, Giancarlo! If you’d like to stay up to date with all of our book news, you can sign up to our books newsletter below.
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July 1, 2016
My Gym Teacher is An Alien Overlord is out in just under a week!
There’s just under a week to go until we publish My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord by David Solomons, the highly-anticipated sequel to the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize winning My Brother is a Superhero – the book will be out on Thursday!
Big on laughs and full of character and plot, this rocket fuelled follow up is perfect for readers who like their comedy with a supercharged side helping of action and adventure…
Zack and Lara have superpowers. Luke has new school shoes and a burning sense of resentment. He KNOWS that aliens disguised as gym teachers are about to attack Earth but will anyone listen? No. So one dodgy pact with a self-styled supervillain later, and Luke is ready to save the world. He just needs to find his trainers.
Here’s a look inside the book:
And here’s what the critics said about David’s phenomenal debut:
“A non-stop action-packed, laugh-out-loud winner of a story” – School Library Journal (starred review)
“As genuinely open-hearted as the genre that inspired it” – Kirkus
“You know a book is going to be good when you’re giggling after five minutes” – The Guardian
And there’s a fantastic free game app for My Brother is a Superhero, too! It’s an incredibly addictive arcade-style asteroids game: the aim is to prevent incoming asteroids from reaching the earth with the help of different superpower icons – and the longer you last, the higher your score! With a deceptively simple gameplay mechanism that will keep you entertained for HOURS, a fantastic retro, graphic design, and amazing original music and sound effects, the app is out-of-this-world fun. Here’s a quick preview of the free My Brother is a Superhero game app:
You can find out more about My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord here – and if you’d like to stay up to date with all of our book news, you can sign up to our mailing list at this page, or with the form below.
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June 30, 2016
Work for Nosy Crow – we’re looking for a designer to join our team
We are recruiting another designer as our list expands:
We want to find someone hard-working, creative, clever and good at communicating, who’s got great taste in illustration and design (or, at least, taste that matches and complements ours!) and a strong interest in and understanding of visual storytelling of all kinds. They also need to be willing to muck in with goodwill: the team is phenomenally busy.
This is a full-time role and the successful applicant will be based in our crowded but lively office in Borough (near London Bridge, Borough and Southwark tube stations, and 15 minutes’ walk from Waterloo).
Candidates will have a minimum of 3 years’ experience in graphic design, probably exclusively in children’s publishing. Proficiency in Indesign, Photoshop and Illustrator programmes, excellent proven book design and typographic skills, and a love of children’s book illustration are essential, along with good written and spoken communication skills, and the ability to work to a deadline.
The successful candidate will design and manage full-colour illustrated book projects (mainly the exciting new non-fiction and activity books that we are creating for our partnerships with the National Trust and The British Museum as well as those we will published under our own imprint) from initial layouts all the way through to production, supporting the illustrator or the author/illustrator throughout the creative process.
The designer will report to the Head of Design but will work closely with other members of the Nosy Crow team, particularly the editorial staff, to produce child-focused, parent-friendly, high-quality books.
If you think this sounds like you, and you would like to apply for the role, please send a CV and application letter, along with digital samples of your design work, to Kate Wilson via email (kate@nosycrow.com) by midnight on 15 July on 2016. If you have a bit more or a bit less experience than we are asking for (but a minimum of a year of hands-on illustrated children’s book design experience) then do still apply: it’s more important, in the end, for you to be the right fit than that you have exactly the right level of experience, and we can be flexible about the role level for the right person.
June 29, 2016
Come to the next Nosy Crow Reading Group – we’re discussing The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpence by Jennifer Bell
Would you like to come along to the next Nosy Crow Reading Group?
In July we’ll be discussing The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpence, the debut novel by Jennifer Bell.
We’ll be meeting on Wednesday, July 20th 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.
You can order The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpence online from Waterstones here.
We’ll post some discussion points for the book a little closer to the date – we hope you can join us!
June 28, 2016
Have a sneak peek at our July titles!
As gorgeous copies of our finished July titles appear in the office, we thought it was only fair to let you all have a little look. So, without further ado, on to some super summer reading – here’s what’s out next month!
First to catch our eye is My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord by David Solomons. Zack and Lara have superpowers. Luke has new school shoes and a burning sense of resentment. He KNOWS that aliens disguised as gym teachers are about to attack Earth but will anyone listen? No. So one dodgy pact with a supervillian later, and Luke is ready to save the world. He just needs to find his trainers. My Gym Teacher Is an Alien Overlord is the action-packed sequel to the bestselling My Brother Is a Superhero, winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the British Book Industry Awards Children’s Book of the Year. Have a look inside the book:
Next up is another action-packed, laugh-a-minute hit: from Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton comes the next instalment in their Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam picture book series, Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: The Diamond Chase. Shifty and Sam have swapped their life of crime for a career in cupcakes. But when they’re asked to bake for a seriously swanky party, they find themselves caught up in the middle of a robbery. Somebody has taken Lady Kate’s tiara. Can they catch the culprit? This delightful picture book can be previewed here:
Then we come to a new classic for our youngest readers, Sebastien Braun‘s interactive board book The Big Bug Log. Little Bugsy has come to visit his grandparents in the Big Bug Log, but he’s not quite sure how to find his way to their house. With the reader’s help – solving puzzles, following mazes and looking behind the flaps – Bugsy follows the right path all the way to the surprise ending! Packed with humour and detail, this brilliant new addition will keep little ones entertained for hours.
From debut author-illustrator Chrstine Pym, we are delighted to welcome Little Mouse’s Big Breakfast. Hungry Little Mouse is looking for some breakfast and he knows just where he can find it. Scampering into the kitchen, he finds lots of delicious treats. But as he finally finds something that’s just perfect, Little Mouse quickly discovers he’s not the only one looking for breakfast! Smart and funny, and perfect for reading aloud, this is a fantastic start from a super-talented author to watch. Take a look inside here:
And finally, a third exciting title has been added to the Violet Rose activity series, created by Jannie Ho: this time, Violet Rose and the Little School. Violet Rose has a brand new job as the teacher of the Sunnyville nursery school. They’ve got a very busy week ahead – join in as Violet teaches the children about the life cycle of a butterfly, the seven continents of the world, telling the time… and there’s even a school trip! With over 175 stickers and tons of press-out models, this charming book represents real value for money.
All of these titles will be in your local bookshops from July – so keep an eye out for your favourites!
June 27, 2016
Nosy Crow at the 2016 Bath Children’s Literature Festival
The line-up for the 2016 Bath Children’s Literature Festival has just been announced, and we are delighted that it is brimful of Nosy Crow events! From Shakespeare to superheroes, there’s something for every taste and for all ages. Tickets don’t go on sale just yet, but keep an eye on the festival page in order to avoid disappointment – and start planning this year’s visit here…
On Saturday 1 October at 1:30pm, our National Trust collaboration, the Complete Bird Spotter’s Guide, will be on show at the festival’s Birdwatching event – click here for more details. There will be hands-on fun with bird expert Mike Langhman, involving quizzes, drawing, and lots of audience participation. Buy the kit ahead of time here.
On Saturday 1 October at 3:15pm, Nosy Crow’s Greenaway-shortlisted author-illustrator Ross Collins will be bringing There’s a Bear on My Chair to life with lots of drawing fun. Come and meet the characters by clicking here for event information, and why not take a look inside the book beforehand:
On Sunday 2 October at 10:00am, giggle yourself silly with Nosy Crow’s Pamela Butchart, the bestselling author of the Baby Aliens series, the Wigglesbottom Primary series, and Pugly’s misadventures, to name but a few. She will be bringing all her Blue Peter Award-winning brilliance to Bath’s Guildhall – click here for more event details. In the meantime, take a look inside To Wee or Not to Wee, Pamela’s recent title:
On Sunday 2 October at 11:30am, the 2016 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize winner David Solomons will be bringing some thrills to Bath – where he’ll introduce us to comic-mad Luke and his nerdy older brother Zack… who accidentally gets to become a superhero! Event details are available here. My Brother is a Superhero also has an upcoming sequel, My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord, which David will be bringing to life at this year’s festival. Get to grips with David’s first book before the next one lands!
On Wednesday 5 October at 10:00am, Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam will be sneaking into the festival programme – so watch your valuables… and your packed lunches! More details can be found here. Creators Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton will be bringing lots of laughs, and a new Shifty and Sam book too – take a look inside The Diamond Chase here:
And finally, on Sunday 9 October at 12:00pm, the much-loved Axel Scheffler will be coming along with Pip and Posy to the festival. Come and see the Gruffalo illustrator take his furry friends on their next adventure – to the beach! There will be readings and drawing fun for little ones, as well as a surprise guest or two! Event details are here, and why not take a look at Pip and Posy: The New Friend:
Priority tickets go on sale for our events on Wednesday 29 June, with general bookings opening on Monday 4 July – click here for more information.
We hope to see lots of you there for what will be a fabulous festival!
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