Nosy Crow's Blog, page 83
April 6, 2018
David Solomons is one of the The Guardian’s ’50 writers you should read now’
The Guardian have published a list of “Fresh voices: 50 writers you should read now” – and we’re delighted to see that it includes David Solomons, author of the best-selling and award-winning My Brother is a Superhero series, as one of only five authors of children’s and young adult fiction!
Of David’s work, The Guardian write: “The Scottish screenwriter represents the best in contemporary comic writing for children – splendidly zany, full of irresistible trivia,but never scrimping on the emotional undertow that ensures longevity and heart. His first book for children, My Brother Is a Superhero, is subtitled “I could have been one too, except I needed a wee”; the story of comic geek Luke and his older brother Zack, unfairly given superpowers by a visiting alien, it won the Waterstones prize for children’s fiction in 2016, and its two sequels have since been flying off the shelves.”
You can read the full list of fifty writers here.
And here’s a look inside the latest book in the My Brother is a Superhero series, My Evil Twin is a Supervillain:
Signed copies of My Evil Twin is a Supervillain are available to buy exclusively from the Nosy Crow website – you can buy your copy here.
April 5, 2018
Our April books have arrived!
There are some fantastic new books from Nosy Crow OUT NOW! From interactive novelty, activity, and non-fiction, to picture books, chapter books and middle grade fiction, there’s something for everyone. Here’s a look at what you can find in shops in April:
Today, we’re excited to publish two new books in our brand new Hello… series, illustrated by the wonderful Nicola Slater. Both Hello Farm and Hello Zoo are bursting with interactive elements for little hands to explore – from die-cut holes, to big lift-the-flaps, to a surprise touch-and-feel ending! All toddlers will love saying hello to the different animal friends! These are narrative-driven novelty adventures, packed with detail and humour, and perfect for new talkers who just love to say ‘Hello’!
Out now, we have two new noisy books from the Listen to the… series, illustrated by Marion Billet. Get ready to go global and introduce your little ones to Listen to the Birds From Around the World. What noise does a toucan make? How about a flamingo? Press the button and find out! In Listen to the Music From Around the World, there’s plenty of fun music to boogie along with from all across the world, from Hawaiian guitar, to a Chinese violin, and even some Scottish bagpipes! Get ready to get your Highland Fling on!
A brand new Bizzy Bear book, illustrated by the marvellous and award-winning Benji Davies, is finally here and available from today in all good bookstores and online! In Bizzy Bear: Racing Driver, Bizzy Bear is taking part in a very big race – ready, steady, go! Rich in visual detail and with five chunky sliders to push and pull, little ones can get involved in the storytelling and help Bizzy Bear race towards the finish line!
Publishing today is a new ABC board book from the wonderful Jannie Ho. Animal ABC is a bold, stylish and sturdy ABC book featuring smiling animals faces, with lots of bright colours and shapes to hold babies’ attention. You can practice saying the first letters out loud, or spot and talk about all the bright and familiar animals. It’s hours of first-word fun!
From today, you can get your hands on the paperback edition of What’s Next Door? by the award-winning Nicola O’Byrne. In this interactive picture book, with brilliant die cut pages, children are encouraged to take part in the story, to trace and create doors in the pages, and use their imagination to guide Carter the Crocodile into new environments – from stormy seas to hot deserts and icy tundras! But will that cranky croc and his little friends find their way home? You’ll have to read along to find out!
Look inside:
Out now is The Knight Who Said ‘No!’, a brand new picture book from Kate Greenaway-nominated illustrator Kate Hindley and wonderfully written by Lucy Rowland. This is a brilliantly observed rhyming picture book, packed with charming illustrations, humour, and lots of heart. Ned the knight ALWAYS does exactly what he’s told until one morning, instead of saying ‘yes’, Ned says ‘NO!’. When the dragon swoops down (as she does every night) he refuses to go inside, and in confronting the beast… he makes a very unlikely new best friend!
Today, we publish the first book in a brand new series, in collaboration with The British Museum – get ready for So You Think You’ve Got it Bad? A Kid’s Life in Ancient Egypt. Developed in collaboration with one of the world’s leading Egyptologists, written by the award-winning author Chae Strathie, and brought to life with rich, humorous illustrations by Maris Morea, this fascinating and hilarious book explores just how difficult life really was for children in Ancient Egypt, from dodging Deathstalker scorpions to cleaning up cow dung!
Look inside:
As of today, you can get your hands on a copy of Mixed-Up Masterpieces: Amusing Animals, part of the Mixed-Up Masterpieces series in partnership with The British Museum and featuring fascinating artefacts from the museum. This is a hilarious mix-up book that is sure to provide hours of fun! Children can solve the puzzle by matching up the correct animals on the split pages – and then mix them all up again to create 2,000 different and hilarious combinations. And if you want to learn even more about the featured objects, simply scan the QR inside the book.
Make and Play: Farm is out NOW! Illustrated by Joey Chou, and featuring 20 unique and colourful designs, the press-out pieces can be simply slotted together to create fun farmyard characters. The book also includes farmyard songs to sing and creative craft ideas like making animals masks and growing radishes.
If you loved the first two books in the Unicorn Academy series and are ready and waiting for more, you’re in luck! The third instalment of the magical, action-packed adventure series, written by Julie Sykes and illustrated by Lucy Truman, is out now! These exciting stories, all about friendship, bravery, adventure, and finding your place, are perfect for young readers. Picking up from where the first two books left off, meet Ava and Star – they love the beautiful gardens at Unicorn Academy, where they can grow their very own magical plants. But when the Unicorns’ special sky berries disappear, Ava and Star have to work together to find out what happened. Will they find more of the special berries before every unicorn’s magic starts to fade? And who could possibly be behind it?
Read the first few chapters, here:
The second hilarious book from Em Lynas‘ spell-binding Witch School series, Get Me Out of Witch School! is hot off the press and available to buy online and in all good bookstores! Wonderfully illustrated by Jamie Littler, get ready for MASSIVE MAGICAL MAYHEM as Twinkle accidentally unleashes a magical feline DISASTER on Toadspit Towers. Even with all this chaos and mayhem, the show MUST go on!
Here’s a sneak peek!
Today, we’re also publishing a new Rescue Princesses adventure, The Enchanted Ruby, as well as re-issuing the first four stories from the series with wonderful new covers: The Secret Promise, The Wishing Pearl, The Moonlit Mystery, and The Stolen Crystals. Written by Paula Harrison, this sparkling series for young readers is a winning combination of plucky princesses, animals in danger, and magic jewels!
Read the first few chapters of The Enchanted Ruby now:
Last and by no means least, we’re so excited to publish The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day, a mind-bending mystery for confident readers combining cutting-edge science, gripping adventure, and real heart, written by the award-winning Christopher Edge and out NOW! It’s Maisie’s birthday and she can’t wait to open her presents. She’s hoping for the things she need to build her own nuclear reactor. But she wakes to an empty house and outside the front door is nothing but a dense terrifying blackness. Trapped in an ever-shifting reality, Maisie will have to rely on the laws of the universe, and the love of her family to save her. And even that might not be enough…
Congratulations to our wonderful authors and illustrators!
April 4, 2018
The Infinite Soundtracks to The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day
Today’s guest post is by Christopher Edge, the multi-award-winning author of The Many Worlds of Albie Bright and The Jamie Drake Equation, on creating a soundtrack for his new book, The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day.
As you might know, I’ve got a bit of a thing about making soundtracks for the novels I write. There are soundtracks for The Many Worlds of Albie Bright and The Jamie Drake Equation and I’ve written about how to create the perfect book soundtrack for The Guardian, too.
So when it came to creating a soundtrack for The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day, one soundtrack was never going to be enough! When The Jamie Drake Equation was published on World Book Day last year, I had the chance to chat to BBC Radio DJ Chris Hawkins about the soundtrack I’d created for the novel on his 6Music show. So when bound proofs of The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day rolled off the presses, I got in touch with Chris to see if he fancied reading this and creating his own soundtrack for the story. Luckily, he said yes and this is the message he sent along with his specially-curated soundtrack for the book.
“The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day is out of this world…a kid’s epic adventure to infinity and back. These are the songs that matched the story for me.” Chris Hawkins, BBC Radio
I really love the soundtrack choices that Chris has made – I knew from his 6Music show that he has brilliant and eclectic musical taste, but it’s been fascinating to see this reflected through the prism of The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day and be introduced to tracks by bands like dEUS and Dutch Uncles that I hadn’t heard before. I especially love the song he has chosen to close the soundtrack – One Day Like This by Elbow – as this really evokes for me the emotions that I hope readers take away from the story.
In terms of my own choices I could’ve created an infinite playlist for the book, but stuck to eighteen songs that for me soundtrack key moments in the story. You’ll find tracks by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Massive Attack, David Bowie and The Charlatans, to name but a few. But the one song that makes it onto both soundtracks is the mesmerizing Birthday by The Sugarcubes, whose eerie beauty captures for me the mood of the opening chapter.
You can listen to the Spotify playlist of my soundtrack here and Chris Hawkins’ soundtrack here, and find the chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the songs on my soundtrack below if you want to listen along as you read The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day.
And if you fancy making your own soundtrack for the story, let me know what songs you’d choose by tagging me on Twitter with the hashtags #MaisieDay #infinitesongs
The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day – the author’s chapter-by-chapter tracklisting:
1 Birthday by The Sugarcubes (Chapter 1)
2 There She Goes, My Beautiful World by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (Chapter 1/Chapter 3)
3 If You Don’t Want Me To Destroy You by Super Furry Animals (Chapter 3)
4 Way To Blue by Nick Drake (Chapter 5)
5 Pictures of You by The Cure (Chapter 5)
6 Space and Time by The Verve (Chapter 6)
7 Lazarus by The Boo Radleys (Chapter 7)
8 Black Milk by Massive Attack (Chapter 7)
9 3 a.m. Eternal (Blue Danube Orbital Mix) by the KLF (remix by The Orb) (Chapter 9)
10 The Private Psychedelic Reel by The Chemical Brothers (Chapter 9)
11 Midnight in a Perfect World by DJ Shadow (Chapter 11)
12 Where Are We Know? by David Bowie (Chapter 11)
13 Infinity by The xx (Chapter 11)
14 Two Months Off by Underworld (Chapter 12)
15 Inbetween Days by The Cure (Chapter 13)
16 Hymn (David McAlmont version) by Ultramarine (Chapter 14)
17 Where The Light Gets In by Primal Scream featuring Sky Ferreira (Chapter 15)
18 Hey Sunrise by The Charlatans (Chapter 16)
The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day – the Chris Hawkins soundtrack
1 In the Beginning by Mike Oldfield
2 Time by Pink Floyd
3 She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby
4 Birthday by The Sugarcubes
5 Close To Me by The Cure
6 Dreaming by Blondie
7 I Hear Voices by Kasabian
8 We Are All Made of Stars by Moby
9 Ball of Confusion by The Temptations
10 Little Arithmetics by dEUS
11 Hello Spaceboy (Pet Shop Boys remix) by David Bowie
12 Television The Drug of the Nation by The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
13 Supermassive Black Hole by Muse
14 Time Is My Everything by Ian Brown
15 Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles
16 Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space by Spiritualized
17 Particle Man by They Might Be Giants
18 Go To The Mirror! by The Who
19 Big Balloon by Dutch Uncles
20 Help The Aged by Pulp
21 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths
22 Never Tear Us Apart by INXS
23 The Universal by Blur
24 One Day Like This by Elbow
Thank you, Chris!
A mind-bending mystery for 9+ readers, combining cutting-edge science, gripping adventure and real heart, The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day is in shops now – you can buy the book online here.
You can watch our trailer for The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day at the top of this post – and here’s a preview of the book’s opening chapters:
April 3, 2018
Running on Empty on Down the Rabbit Hole
The latest episode of Down the Rabbit Hole aired last week, and one of this month’s featured books was Running on Empty, the new novel by S.E. Durrant, author of the highly-acclaimed Little Bits of Sky. And if you didn’t manage to catch it live, you can listen to the episode on catch-up now!
A beautifully told story of unorthodox families, grief, adolescence and running, Running on Empty tells the story of AJ. AJ’s grandfather has always been the one to keep his unusual family together, so when he dies things start to unravel at the edges. AJ is worried about his parents but they don’t really seem to notice. In order to deal with his grief and to keep his anxiety at bay, AJ does what he and his grandfather did best: running. Round and round the Olympic Park, aiming for the cross country trials, running to escape, AJ only seems be heading ever closer to disaster.
Hugely compelling fiction for 9+ readers, The Sunday Times recently named Running on Empty their Children’s Book of the Week, calling it “lyrical, moving and realistic”.
You can listen to the latest episode of Down the Rabbit Hole below, or at this page.
And here’s a look inside Running on Empty:
You can find an archive of previous Down the Rabbit Hole episodes here, and you can find out more about the show at the Down the Rabbit Hole website and Twitter account.
March 30, 2018
There are just a few days left to apply for a Sales Assistant position at Nosy Crow
A little ago we announced that we were recruiting a Sales Assistant at Nosy Crow – and there are only a few days left to apply for the position: the deadline for applications is Monday, April 2nd.
This is an exciting opportunity for a talented, publishing sales person towards the start of their career to join Nosy Crow working on our fast-growing, award-winning children’s list. The successful candidate will join our team as Sales Assistant on a full-time basis, working in our London office near London Bridge.
We are a small, close team here at the Crow’s Nest working in a friendly, highly creative and professional environment. We need a team player who is willing to muck in, particularly during busy times.
Purpose of the Job:
The role of the Sales Assistant will be to join the Nosy Crow sales team working on Key Accounts, particularly online. The role will report to the Senior Sales Manager and will be joining the Sales and Marketing Department. This role would suit someone interested in/with some previous experience of working in digital sales in particular.
We are a busy and dynamic team and we value the experience and creative input that we can each provide. You’ll need to be flexible, determined, personable, with a keen eye for detail, and good at working as part of a team.
Key responsibilities and tasks:
Assisting on a number of online accounts, including Amazon, The Book Depository, Wordery; with key responsibility for improving and maintaining our metadata and online presence within those accounts.
Working closely with Production, Operations and Editorial to ensure data feeds are supplying the most relevant information to online distributors
Supporting trade key account presentations – creating and updating PowerPoint presentations and AI sheets, managing the sales materials (proofs etc.) updating grids and spreadsheets and generally ensuring all material is prepared for sales meetings.
Attending key account meetings with other members of the sales team
Liaising with Nosy Crow’s distributors, GBS
Analysing and reporting on sales data
To provide general administrative support and assisting in the smooth running of the office.
Key skills, characteristics and capabilities:
Previous experience working in publishing sales is desirable, but not essential, previous experience of working with metadata and Amazon would be advantageous
A very close eye for detail and accuracy
Excellent verbal and written communication skills plus the ability to write persuasive copy
Experience in working with sales data and Excel for sales analysis
Confidence in building and maintaining relationships with customers and sales contacts
A keen interest in children’s books
To apply, please email your CV, accompanied by not more than 500 words on what you think you could contribute to Nosy Crow, both personally and as a sales professional. Please send to Frances Sleigh (frances@nosycrow.com), with details of your current salary. Please also tell us where you heard about this position. We look forward to reading your application.
Nosy Crow is an equal opportunities employer. We believe that employing a diverse workforce is an important factor in success and make recruiting decisions based on applicants’ experience and skills. We welcome applications from all members of society irrespective of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief.
March 29, 2018
Nosy Crow at the 2018 Hay Festival
Tickets for the 2018 Hay Festival have gone on sale, and there are some great events taking place featuring Nosy Crow authors and illustrators!
Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton, creators of the Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam series, will be performing on Monday 28 May 2018 at 4pm for a fun-packed event full of storytelling, participation and laugh-out-loud games. Tickets cost £6 – you can find out more and book here. And if you’re new to the series, here’s a look inside the first Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam picture book:
And Christopher Edge, author of The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day, will also be on stage on Monday 28 May 2018 at 4pm with Robin Ince, stand-up comedian and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage, discussing science in stories. Tickets cost £7 – you can find out more and book here. Here’s a look inside The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day:
And here’s our animated trailer for the book:
You can find the full programme for the Hay Festival online here – we hope to see you there!
March 28, 2018
“Lyrical, moving and realistic”: The Sunday Times on Running on Empty
This month we published Running on Empty, the beautiful new novel by S.E. Durrant, author of the Carnegie-nominated Little Bits of Sky. And we’re delighted to see that the book has received a fantastic review from Nicolette Jones in The Sunday Times latest children’s book review round-up.
Jones writes: “Lyrical, moving and realistic, SE Durrant’s Running on Empty is about the struggle of an 11-year-old carer who is starting secondary school and wants to run like Usain Bolt. With a rich and diverse cast, it sings.”
You can read the full review round-up here.
Compelling fiction for 9+ readers, Running on Empty is a beautifully told story of unorthodox families, grief, adolescence and running.
AJ’s grandfather has always been the one to keep his unusual family together, so when he dies things start to unravel at the edges. AJ is worried about his parents but they don’t really seem to notice. In order to deal with his grief and to keep his anxiety at bay, AJ does what he and his grandfather did best: running. Round and round the Olympic Park, aiming for the cross country trials, running to escape, AJ only seems be heading ever closer to disaster.
Here’s a look inside the book:
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March 27, 2018
Nosy Crow snaps up fiction debut from body positive campaigner Charli Howard
Nosy Crow is delighted to announce the acquisition of Splash by Charli Howard.
World Rights in all languages were bought by Tom Bonnick from Adam Gauntlett at PFD.
Splash is an exciting middle grade fiction debut with a natural, authentic voice which tackles complex themes of body dysmorphia, absent parents and childhood trauma with sensitivity and a light touch – a heartwarming story of family, friendship, and celebrating who you are.
The book will be published in July 2018.
Tom Bonnick, Senior Commissioning Editor, Nosy Crow comments: “I’m so delighted to be working with Charli on Splash – Molly is such a wonderfully real, relatable protagonist and Charli has told her story with effortless warmth and authenticity.”
Charli Howard comments: “I’m beyond thrilled to be working with Tom Bonnick, Kate Wilson and the rest of the Nosy Crow team, and I can’t wait for Splash to be out there in the world!”
Splash is the story of Molly, who lives with her grandparents, is in her final year of primary school, and dreams of becoming an Olympic swimmer. Having always lived in the shadow of her manipulative friend, Chloe, Molly finally has the chance to compete in a regional swimming gala and define herself on her own terms. But the pressure of fitting in, and the sudden arrival of her mum, threaten to overwhelm her and her chances of success.
Charli Howard is a model and body positivity ambassador. When she was fired for her size by her modelling agency, she wrote a powerful letter to her agents which went viral and has used that platform to create The All Woman Project, a charity which goes into schools to educate about body image and mental health issues.
March 26, 2018
The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day is The Times’ Children’s Book of the Week!
The Times have named The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day, the new book by multi-award-winning Christopher Edge, author of The Many Worlds of Albie Bright and The Jamie Drake Equation, as their Children’s Book of the Week!
Alex O’Connell writes: “Wow, I wish Christopher Edge had been my science teacher. The writer, who in timely fashion nods to Stephen Hawking early in this gripping story, has a magical way of distilling difficult concepts for the very young: relativity, gravity, time and space, infinity. It helps, of course, that he weaves these ideas into a high-energy thriller about virtual reality, black holes and strained sibling relationships.”
You can read the full review here.
A mind-bending mystery for 9+ readers, combining cutting-edge science, gripping adventure and real heart, The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day will be in shops from the beginning of April – you can pre-order the book here.
You can watch our trailer for The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day at the top of this post – and here’s a preview of the book’s opening chapters:
And keep an eye out for more Maisie Day-related material on this blog in the next couple of weeks, including a playlist for the book from the author, and a brand new series of animated explainer videos describing some of the science behind the story!
March 23, 2018
Come to the next Nosy Crow Reading Group – we’re discussing Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
Would you like to come along to the next Nosy Crow Reading Group?
In April, we’ll be discussing Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, winner of the Younger Fiction category of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, and which The Guardian described as a “supremely entertaining adventure” with “clever plotting, irresistibly quirky humour, a truly treacherous villain, and real heart”.
We’ll be meeting on Monday, April 23rd at 6.30pm, at the Nosy Crow offices – 14 Baden Place, Crosby Row, SE1 1YW – 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 buy Nevermoor online here.
We hope you can join us!
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