Nosy Crow's Blog, page 130

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam are back!

This July we are incredibly excited 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 take a first look inside the new picture book!

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. Here’s a first look inside the book:

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: The Diamond Chase will be available in shops in July – you can find out more about the book here.

And 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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“Utterly charming and absolutely adorable”: our new books of colouring cards and envelopes, reviewed

It’s been a couple of months since the launch of our incredible new colouring book series – an amazingly innovative new format, featuring 24 beautifully-designed cards and envelopes to tear out and colour in each book, envelopes to customise, and cute stickers to seal your card.

And we’ve been absolutely thrilled by the response to the books so far! It’s been particularly gratifying to see colouring experts reviewing the books on specialist colouring book blogs – our colouring books have received the stamp of approval. Here’s what Colour with Claire had to say about the books:

“These books are just something else! I am really blown away by their quality and beauty, and I can honestly say these books are perfect in every single way …. These books have been made with such care and attention to detail, not to mention designed beautifully.  Rebeccas’s illustrations are quaint and whimsical, my absolute favourite kind.”

You can read the full review here.

And here’s what Colouring in the Midst of Madness had to say about the books:

“The designs themselves are utterly charming and absolutely adorable … The cards feel luxurious and are extremely well made, I couldn’t ask for more from a set of colouring cards … In terms of mental health, I personally found these cards absolutely fantastic … The image content is really natural and has a childlike quality which adds so much charm and character to the illustrations and is sure to brighten the darkest of days and spread a little cheer, no matter how low you’re feeling.”

You can read the full review here.

If you haven’t discovered these books yet, you can watch our beautiful, stop-motion animation trailer for The Colouring Book of Cards and Envelopes: Nature below:

You can buy The Colouring Book of Cards and Envelopes: Nature here and The Colouring Book of Cards and Envelopes: Flowers and Butterflies here.

Take a first look inside Sweet Pizza, the new book by Cowgirl author G.R. Gemin

Next month we are incredibly pleased to be publishing Sweet Pizza – the new book by G.R. Gemin, author of the highly-acclaimed award-winning debut Cowgirl.

This is another wonderful book for 9+ readers with a great story, fantastic dramatic writing, strong characters, and big-hearted social realism. And today you can read an early preview from Sweet Pizza – and win an exclusive proof copy of the book!

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 first look inside Sweet Pizza:

Sweet Pizza will be in shops next month – but you can win a rare proof of the book today! To enter our proof giveaway competition, sign up to our books newsletter at this page or with the form below, and send an email to tom [at] nosycrow [dot] com with Sweet Pizza competition in the subject heading. This competition is open to UK and Ireland residents only – we’ll notify winners at the end of the week.

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If you haven’t yet discovered Cowgirl, G.R. Gemin’s incredible debut, you can take a look inside the book and buy it online here.

Creating a cover for Little Bits of Sky – a guest post by illustrator Katie Harnett

Today’s blog post is by illustrator Katie Harnett, on how she created the incredible cover artwork (an amazing artistic feat which includes two separate covers and a die-cut) for Little Bits of Sky, the debut novel by S.E. Durrant.

I was recently asked by Nosy Crow to illustrate the cover and chapter heads of Little Bits of Sky by S.E Durrant. The book is wonderful, and the project was a joy to work on.

The team knew that they wanted to have cut-out elements in the cover, but it went through a few iterations before it was finalised. I’ve included some of the different cover sketches here, in roughly chronological order top to bottom, ending with the final outer and inner cover illustrations.

The last image is a few of the chapter illustrations, which I really enjoyed doing, the compositional restraints along with the black and white was a really great challenge.

Huge thanks to Kirsty Stansfield, and the whole Nosy Crow team who were hugely helpful and supportive, and to Nicola Theobald who did a wonderful job with the design.

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Many thanks to Katie for kindly allowing us to re-post this piece from her own blog. You can find more of Katie’s work here, and find her on Twitter here. And if you haven’t yet discovered Little Bits of Sky, you can take a look inside the book below. 

Buy the book online.

The next Nosy Crow Reading Group is almost here – we’re discussing Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

The Nosy Crow Reading Group is back in ten days – we’ll be discussing Raymie Nightingale, the new book by two-time Newbery Medal-winner Kate DiCamillo.

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

We’ll be meeting on Tuesday, May 24 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).

As usual, we have a few questions prepared for discussion – here’s some of what we might talk about on the evening:

Who do you think this book is “for”?
How important do you think “plot” is in Raymie Nightingale?
Do you think that this is an autobiographical book? What are the effects of the book’s time and location?
 How successfully do you think DiCamillo uses voice and humour?

 

If you’d like to come along, just register for a place with the form below, or at this page.You can order Raymie Nightingale online from Waterstones here. You can read a preview of the book here – and here’s an interesting interview with DiCamillo about the book for NPR (you can listen to it below, or at this page):We hope to see you there!

The Nosy Crow How To Write Picture Books Masterclass is back

Last year, we launched a brand new programme of Nosy Crow Masterclasses – day-long events on Writing Picture Books and Writing Children’s Fiction.

We were absolutely overwhelmed by the response: tickets for each event sold out in a matter of hours, and the feedback from each masterclass was fantastic. And ever since the last masterclass, we’ve received messages asking when the next one will be.

And today we’re very pleased to announce the return of our How to Write Picture Books Nosy Crow Masterclass!

Just like last year, this will be another intensive, all-day writing masterclass, with sessions from authors, editors, agents, staff at Nosy Crow, and more – all focussed on writing picture books. There’ll be practical suggestions, advice on every aspect of writing, from rhyme and scansion, to editing a text, working alongside illustrators, understanding the format, and more – and guidance about what comes after – finding an agent, understanding a contract, and international selling.

As part of the day, there’ll also be one-on-one manuscript critiques available for anyone who has chosen this ticket option and sent along writing samples in advance.

We’ve also taken on board some of the feedback from our previous masterclass events and made a couple of tweaks to the day. This year, we’re adding a new saver ticket option for those of you would like to attend the masterclass, but don’t have a manuscript ready for critique yet.

And we’ve also moved the main masterclass sessions out of our meeting room, to allow more people to attend. The lunch, manuscript critiques, and drinks at the end of the day will still be taking place at the Nosy Crow offices (10a Lant Street, London, SE1 1QR), but we’ve moved the main part of the day next door – to Charles Dickens Primary School (also on Lant Street, and next door to our office).

The masterclass will take place on Saturday June 11th, from 9.30am to 6pm.

Ticket price includes tea and coffee breaks throughout the day, lunch, and a glass of wine – and cake! – at the end of the day.

Early Bird tickets and Saver tickets are available now – you can buy them here, or with the form below.

We’ll be announcing our first speakers on the day very shortly – we hope to see you there!

My Brother is a Superhero wins Children’s Book of the Year prize at the British Book Industry Awards

Yesterday a crowd of crows headed off to the British Book Industry Awards – the biggest awards night of the year for the publishing industry. We were shortlisted in four categories: Independent Publisher of the Year, Children’s Publisher of the Year, Rights Professional of the Year (for Ola Gotkowska, Nosy Crow’s amazing Rights Manager) and Children’s Book of the Year, for My Brother is a Superhero by David Solomons.

And honestly, we were fully prepared to come away entirely empty-handed: we were competing against much larger, more established publishing houses in both of the publishing categories, and heavyweights including J.K. Rowling, Judith Kerr, David Walliams, and Terry Pratchett in the Children’s Book of the Year category.

And so we were absolutely thrilled when David’s brilliant, funny, charming debut won the inaugural Children’s Book of the Year award! It is a fantastic recognition for a truly wonderful book, and an incredible success story for a debut children’s author: as well as this British Book Industry Award, My Brother is a Superhero is also the recipient of the overall Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, and is currently shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award.

Here’s David with Kirsty Stansfield, the book’s editor:

 

You can read the full list of winners on the night here – and if you haven’t yet discovered My Brother is a Superhero, you can take a look inside the book below:

Buy the book online.

If you’d like to stay up to date with all of our book news, you can sign up to our books newsletter here, or with the form below.

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Many thanks to The Bookseller for an amazing night, and congratulations, David!

Three Nosy Crow books selected for this year’s Bookbuzz list!

The 2016 Bookbuzz booklist has just been announced, and we are absolutely thrilled that it includes three titles from Nosy Crow!

Bookbuzz is a reading programme from Book Trust, which supports schools to encourage reading for pleasure, independent choice and develop a whole school reading culture. Participating schools give their students the opportunity to choose their own book to keep from a list of 17 titles suitable for 11 – 13-year-olds and selected by a panel of experts. The programme is aimed primarily at Year 7 and Year 8 students but can be extended to children of other ages.

It’s a great accolade to be chosen for this programme – and a wonderful opportunity to reach new readers. And there are three fantastic Nosy Crow books on this year’s booklist: the Waterstones Children’s Book-winning My Brother is a Superhero, by David Solomons, the Lollies-shorlisted Petunia Perry and the Curse of the Ugly Pigeon, by Pamela Butchart, and The Many Worlds of Albie Bright, by Christopher Edge.

Here’s a look inside My Brother is a Superhero:

You can buy the book online from Nosy Crow here, and find out more on the Bookbuzz website here.

Here’s a look inside Petunia Perry and the Curse of the Ugly Pigeon:

You can buy the book online from Nosy Crow here, and find out more on the Bookbuzz website here.

And here’s a look inside The Many Worlds of Albie Bright:

You can buy the book online from Nosy Crow here, and find out more on the Bookbuzz website here.

Congratulations, David, Pamela, and Christopher!

There are just a couple of days left to apply for a Designer job at Nosy Crow

There are just a couple of days left to apply for a Designer job at Nosy Crow – the closing date for the position is this coming Monday, May 9th.

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 picture books and the exciting new non-fiction that we are working on for our partnerships with the  National Trust and The British Museum) 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 Stephanie Amster via email (stephanie@nosycrow.com) by midnight on 9 May 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.

It’s Nosy Crow’s May publication day!

It’s our May publication day! We’ve got some fantastic new books out this month – from established series to incredible debuts; from board books for babies and toddlers to exciting middle grade fantasy… there’s something for everyone! Here’s what you can find in shops from today.

Bizzy Bear: DIY Day, the latest board book in the fantastic series by Benji Davies, is out today. These books are PERFECT for toddlers: Benji’s illustrations are bright, colourful and friendly, there’s lots for toddlers to get involved with in every book, and the sturdy mechanisms and chunky sliders will withstand the roughest treatment!

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Buy the book online.

It’s publication day for a wonderful new board book edition of Littleland Around the World by Marion Billet. From New York to Australia, and lots of lands in between, this second Littleland picture book features a stunning scene on every spread and is perfect for developing vocabulary and exploring different cultures. Here’s a look inside:

Buy the book online.

We are incredibly pleased to be publishing Pip and Posy: The New Friend today – a brand new Pip and Posy story by Axel Scheffler. In the seventh book in the series, Pip and Posy are having a lovely day at the seaside, but when Posy has a nap, Pip makes friends with a boy called Zac. Zac is very cool, and to her dismay, when Posy wakes up, she finds that Pip is more interested in playing with Zac than with her…

The New Friend has all of the wonderful qualities that have made the Pip and Posy series so beloved: a funny and dramatic story, it is perfectly pitched and brilliantly-observed on the highs and lows of pre-school life – and, of course, beautifully illustrated by Axel.

Here’s a look inside The New Friend:

Buy the book online.

Together, the latest addition to Emma Dodd’s stunning animal book series, is out now – with flurries of foil throughout and featuring a tenderly-told rhyming text and heartwarming illustrations, this beautifully-designed, padded picture book will soon become a bedtime favourite. Here’s a look inside the book:

Buy the book online.

It’s publication day for Don’t Wake Up Tiger!, the absolutely beautiful new picture book from  illustrator Britta Teckentrup. Tiger is fast asleep, but – oh dear! – she’s completely in the way. Just how will the animals get past without waking her up? Luckily, Frog has an excellent idea – he holds his balloon and floats right over sleeping Tiger! Fox is next, followed by Tortoise, Mouse and Stork – but it will be tricky for them all to get past without Tiger stirring…

This is an absolutely stunning, wonderfully interactive picture book – with a charming text, stylish art, and bright, shiny spot UV balloons throughout, it’s perfect for the very young. Here’s a look inside Don’t Wake Up Tiger:

Buy the book online.

And it’s also publication day for the paperback edition of Britta’s wonderful Get out of my Bath – another BEAUTIFULLY-designed, interactive picture book (with spot UV on every spread) for 2+ year olds, in which readers are encouraged to get involved in the story by tilting and shaking the book.

Ellie the elephant loves to have fun in the bath, but she’s not the only one… Her fun is interrupted when a crocodile decides to join in, followed by a flamingo, then a mouse and even a tiger! Poor Ellie’s bath is ruined. What can she do? Suck all the water into her trunk, of course! Ellie then waits until the uninvited animals have left before squirting all the water back. Finally Ellie can enjoy her bath in peace!

The spot UV on every spread creates a wonderful, glistening-water effect that you won’t be able to stop yourself touching. Here’s a look inside Get out of my Bath:

Buy the book online.

Pale Peak Burning by Paula Harrison is in shops today – the third and final chapter of the enchanting and mysterious Red Moon Rising faerie adventure series.With the Shadow Faerie still at large and the tribal elders unable to work together to defeat him Laney and her friends must find the third myrical before it’s too late. But with her new powers and old secrets Laney still has a lot to learn if she’s finally going to live up to the red moon’s prophesy… Here’s a look inside Pale Peak Burning:

Buy the book online.

And finally, we are enormously proud to be publishing Little Bits of Sky today – a breathtaking debut for 9-12 year old readers by S.E. Durrant. Moving, wise, and beautifully written, this is an incredibly special book. The Bookseller’s Fiona Noble wrote: “This blew me away, what a very special debut. Tender, heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting.” Author Natasha Farrant said: “This is so beautiful! A perfect little book.” And author-illustrator Emma Chichester Clarke called the book “So good and fresh and believable.” Here’s a look inside:

Buy the book online.

Congratulations to all of today’s authors and illustrators!