Nosy Crow's Blog, page 201

Win copies of our September books!

It’s time for our monthly book giveaway – and this is no ordinary month! September is our biggest time of the year for the new books, and we have some TRULY extraordinary titles coming out. If you’re a resident of the UK or Ireland you can win any of next month’s releases simply by subscribing to our Books Newsletter and either tweeting to @NosyCrowBooks or leaving a comment underneath this blogpost, telling us the name you subscribed with and the book you’d like to win. Here’s what you could win…

We’re publishing the phenomenal Playbook Pirates, the follow-up to the equally ingenious Playbook Farm, with paper-engineering by Corina Fletcher and illustrations by Britta Teckentrup. Combining a pop-up storybook with a fold-out 3D playmat (complete with separate cut-out cardboard pieces), Playbook Pirates is perfect portable fun for journeys, playdates and bedtime too – and it makes an incredible gift! Here’s a video trailer for the book:

We’re publishing Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Farm, which we previewed here on the blog yesterday – an hilarious rhyming flip-flap book in a brilliant, innovative split-page spiral-bound format, with wonderful illustrations by Axel Scheffler and 121 possible combinations. Here’s a preview:

It’s publication month for Spells-a-Popping, Granny’s Shopping by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger – the third fantastic picture book in the series began by Hubble Bubble, Granny Trouble, featuring a little girl and her granny, who may just be – whisper it – a witch. Here’s a look inside the book:

The sixth Pip and Posy picture book by Axel Scheffler will be out next month – Pip and Posy: The Bedtime Frog. When Posy goes to stay at Pip’s house they have lots of fun together before bedtime. But just as they switch out the light, disaster strikes: Posy realises that she has forgotten her favourite frog toy. Can Pip save the day and comfort his friend in her hour of need? You’ll have to read the book to find out! Here’s how it begins:

If that’s not enough from Pip and Posy, we’re also publishing the paperback edition of Pip and Posy: The Scary Monster, which comes enabled with our innovative Stories Aloud audio feature. This time around, Pip comes to Posy’s house wearing a scary monster mask, and he gives Posy a bit of a fright – but when she works out it’s only Pip, she feels much better, and they share the biscuits she’s made. Hooray! Here’s a look inside:

And for slightly older readers, we’re also publishing two great fiction titles in September. It’s publication month for My Brilliant Life and other Disasters by Catherine Wilkins, the HILARIOUS sequel to last year’s (equally hysterical) debut, My Best Friend and other Enemies. Jessica is back, and everything in her life seems to be going swimmingly – she’s got her best friend, she’s about to launch her comic, and her nutty Aunt has come to stay. The only ink blot on the landscape is Scarlett, Amelia’s super-cool, super-annoying cousin… who just happens to draw cartoons too. Soon Jessica is fighting for her cartoonist life. It’s a good job she has an enormous badger on her side… Here’s the first chapter:

And finally, we’re publishing The Rescue Princesses: The Silver Locket – the latest volume in Paula Harrison’s excellent Rescue Princesses series, perfect for newly independent readers. Rosalind and the other princesses are in the Kingdom of Taldonia for the Autumn Ball. They love playing with a little puppy called Patch, but they can’t stop arguing, and Rosalind decides it’s easier to be friends with animals than with silly princesses. She goes off on her own, and that’s when disaster strikes! Here’s how the story starts:

You can subscribe to the books newsletter here (if you’ve already subscribed you’re still eligible for this competition) – and every month we’ll write to you with details of our upcoming titles, author events, exclusive interviews, and all of our news. So have a good think about which book you’d like to win (we can only accept one entry per person), and good luck – we’ll pick the winners at random next week.

Dirrels and Hurkeys

What do you get when you cross a goat with a turkey? Why, a gurkey, of course! What about a pig with a sheep? Well, that would be a peep, naturally!

If you haven’t a CLUE what I’m talking about, then do not fear – the answer is to be found in a brilliant, innovative split-page board book that we’re publishing next month: Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Farm, an hilarious rhyming flip-flap book with wonderful illustrations by Axel Scheffler.

With 121 possible combinations, silly names and animal noises to make you giggle, this sturdy, spiral-bound book is perfect for pre-schoolers. Little readers will adore flipping Axel Scheffler’s animals again and again to see what crazy creatures they can create – and to find out what strange noises they make too!

And here’s a first look inside the book:

Flip Flap Farm is available to order online from Waterstones here. And if you’d like the chance to win a copy, you can sign up to our monthly books newsletter here – every month our subscribers have the chance to win all of our new titles.

Bizzy Bear is back!

Some very exciting proofs arrived in the office last week: proofs of the next two Bizzy Bear books by the incredibly talented Benji Davies – Zoo Ranger and Knight’s Castle. Bizzy Bear is off on two new adventures, and there’s lots to find and explore in every spread, with tabs and sliders for little fingers.

Here’s my favourite spread from Knight’s Castle (click to enlarge):

Ola and I particularly enjoy the knowing glances between Bizzy Bear and the damsel in distress… a burgeoning romance, perhaps?

And here’s a wonderful scene from Zoo Ranger:

I love the rather worried-looking expression of the rabbit whose glasses appear to have fallen into the penguin pool on the right hand page – thankfully, he gets them back by the final spread…

These books are absolutely PERFECT for toddlers – there’s so much wonderful detail, lots of visual humour, and a very gentle rhyme… and all on a pleasingly sturdy board.

Both books will be published in March next year – if you’re new to Bizzy Bear, you can find out about all of the existing books in the series here – or sign up for our monthly books newsletter and stay up-to-date with all of our new titles, here. There are also two fantastic Bizzy Bear apps for iPad and iPhone: Bizzy Bear on the Farm and Bizzy Bear Builds a House.

Where I work: Elys Dolan

This is the latest instalment in an occasional series of blogposts, in which some of our authors and illustrators share their favourite writing spots. Today Elys Dolan, author and illustrator of Weasels, takes us inside her writing shed…

When I’m writing or illustrating I’m wisely banished to the shed in the garden so that the other occupants of my house are not bothered by the occasional shouts of ‘mwaha! I am a picturebook genius!’ when I think things are going well, or the sound of gentle weeping when things are not.

If I’m honest it is a fairly palatial shed and the weeping is only very occasional. I have tidied my desk (yes this is tidy) for the sake of this blog because if my mother sees it in its usual paper and cake crumb covered state I’ll be in trouble. As you can see I have various essentials surrounding me such as the ubiquitous flashy laptop and graphics tablet, many hundreds of coloured pencils and mini henry hoover. It is also important to note that in an arrangement that I believe conforms strongly to the rules of feng shui the tea point is directly behind me so I don’t need to get out of my swivelly chair to concoct a hot beverage.

Essential to the creative process as all this is, it pales in comparison to having certain friends and supporters around to aid me. Before I continue I think it’s important to point out that authors and illustrators inevitably spend a lot of time alone and essentially make stuff up for a living. Therefore, firstly, you can go many hours without seeing a real person, and secondly, I dare anyone to live this lifestyle without becoming a little odd.

So without further ado I’d like to introduce you to my posse.

On the left meet Sargent Dave: Military Monkey seen wearing his medal of honour. He is my enforcer and main source of motivation. Never have I missed a deadline under the watchful eye of Dave. Next you can see Jumper Monster on the right, whose more louche attitude reminds me of freedom of creativity and provides both comfort and solace. He’s also really, really furry. Lastly in the foreground there’s the Rainbow Dinosaur Parade who, frankly, are there just for fun.

You can take a look inside Weasels below or order the book online for half price from Foyles here.

The Boy and the Bear and the Bedtime Story - a guest post by Elli Woollard

A guest post by Elli Woollard, who came to our book group event for A Boy and a Bear in a Boat earlier this month, on sharing the book with her children.

‘Hello’, said the boy, as he climbed into the bed.

‘Where to?’ said the bear.

The boy jumped to nearer the pillows.

‘Just a few chapters, please. Just as long as I get to stay up LATE’.

It wasn’t meant to happen. I’d enjoyed A Boy and a Bear in a Boat when I’d read it for the Nosy Crow book group, despite reservations about the pacing. I’d smiled at its dry, gentle humour. I’d even thought that it might possibly appeal to a certain very bookish type of child totally unused to the fast pace and action of TV and computer games. But wasn’t it really an adult’s book? I’d as soon as plonk my children in front of a script of Waiting for Godot as expect them to enjoy a book in which nothing much happened for 160 pages. It was not a book for them.

Fortunately, my children have a knack of proving me wrong. I’d already given it to my 11 year-old daughter as a bit of light relief after A Monster Calls. ‘Too young’, she’d declared after reading it, although she’d admitted it was funny in places. I’d asked her what it was about. ‘A boy and a bear in a boat, OF COURSE’, she’d said firmly. Grown-ups can be incredibly stupid sometimes.

What I knew I wouldn’t do was give it to my six year-old son. T doesn’t ‘do’ fiction. He’ll spend hours reading books about the periodic table of elements and absorb any number of scientific facts, but when it comes to fiction he switches off. Reading fiction to him is an exhausting process; he’s talker, not a listener, and his constant interjections mean that he tends to miss half the plot. He’d be perfectly capable of reading A Boy and a Bear in a Boat to himself, of course, but I couldn’t see that happening either. If there was anyone for whom A Boy and a Bear in a Boat was all wrong, T was that person.

Or so I thought. I started reading it to him just as a bit of an experiment, to see how long he would last. He sat up. He stopped fidgeting (just about). He listened, without being constantly asked. He knew pretty much exactly what ‘anomalies’ meant, without having to have the word explained. By the end of the first couple of chapters he was begging for more. ‘When’s the sea monster going to appear’, he kept asking (having been primed by his big sister). But it wasn’t a bored ‘are we nearly there yet?’ sort of question. Just curiosity. He was genuinely interested in the narrative.

Admittedly he rarely laughed, even at the bits I thought funny (although even my four year-old son thought the ‘I Spy’ game was hilarious). His reaction to the sea monster itself was fairly muted. But what I was amazed about was that the book, despite its slow pacing, drew his attention. My 11 year-old too, was enjoying the book for the second time, having it read to her rather than reading it herself. Even my four year-old son was listening, sort of (he came up with a theory that sea ghosts, whatever they are, are blue and have tentacles).

By the time we reached the faster-paced final third of the book, T was speculating about what was going to happen, and was quite excited when the boy and the bear found the Harriet again. I was a little worried about the ending though. T struggles with the unwritten rules of social interaction and empathy isn’t really his thing, but even so he seemed to have a certain amount of emotional investment in the boy and the bear. Would the ending upset him?

I needn’t have worried. ‘Maybe they only intended to stay far out at sea all along’, he said breezily. ‘And anyway, it’s only a story. They’re not real, you know’. I stifled laughter, as half our discussion in the book group was summarily dismissed. ‘But I know where they’re going’, said my four year-old, jumping excitedly up and down. ‘They’re going to Chesil Beach. That’s the other side of the sea! I know it is because I’ve seen it with my own eyes!’ Someone should perhaps tell Ian McEwan. It could make for interesting reading.

Even before we reached the end the children were begging me to read it all over again as soon as I’d finished. I doubt if I will, or not just yet. But that’s only because my husband wants to read it. ‘What is this book you’re all talking about?’ he’d asked one night. Well, I’d explained, it’s sort of a children’s book that’s not a children’s book (my husband isn’t interested in children’s books) and it’s a bit like Waiting for Godot. ‘Waiting for Godot?’ His eyes lit up. ‘Then I’m reading it too’.

Silly me, for thinking the book might not be popular.

(As a postscript it’s worth pointing out that my 14 year-old son won’t even deign to look at it. ‘I’m not reading some silly old book about a bear’, he said, rolling his eyes in long-practiced teenage fashion. ‘And exploding sea monsters? That sounds so childish’. I suppose you can’t please everyone.)

Elli blogs at www.wordstroll.wordpress.com and you can find her on Twitter here. Our next reading group event is now fully booked, but if you’d like to join in, you can do so online, on Twitter with #NCGKids and at The Guardian’s books website.

Our first two fairytale apps are on sale for one more week!

There’s just over a week left of our summer app sale for our first two fairytale apps, The Three Little Pigs and Cinderella.

The apps are available for 33% off their regular price until the end of the month – just $3.99 (£2.49) each.

Watch the trailer for The Three Little Pigs:



Here’s The Three Little Pigs on the App Store.

Watch the trailer for Cinderella:



Here’s Cinderella on the App Store.

If you’d like to be kept up to date with news of all our new apps, and price promotions like this one, you can sign up to our Apps Announcement mailing list here.