Nosy Crow's Blog, page 88
January 25, 2018
Come to the next Nosy Crow Reading Group – we’re discussing Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and Herstory
Would you like to come along to the next Nosy Crow Reading Group?
In February, we’ll be discussing Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, and Herstory, by Katherine Halligan and Sarah Walsh.
We’ll be meeting on Tuesday, February 27th 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 Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls online here.
You can buy Herstory directly from the Nosy Crow website here – use the discount code BOOKGROUP for 50% off the RRP and free shipping.
We hope you can join us!
January 23, 2018
Come and meet us: we’re holding an illustrator surgery at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
Are you coming to this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair? Are you an illustrator? Would you like to meet us?
We’re holding illustrator surgeries on Monday, March 27 and Tuesday, March 28 from 3.30pm – 4.30pm at the Nosy Crow stand (25 B 106) where you’ll be able to meet our editorial and design team, show us your portfolio, and receive some feedback on your work.
It’s first-come, first-served for the surgeries (and there is always a queue…) – but we have back-to-back rights-selling appointments for the rest of the fair, so if you’d like to meet us, those are the times you’ll be able to do so.
You might find this blogpost from a few years ago interesting – advice for illustrators visiting the Bologna Children’s Book Fair from our Editorial Director, Head of Design, and Head of Picture Books.
And if you’d like to find out about other Nosy Crow books, events, and news, you can sign up to our newsletter below, and we’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing.
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We hope to see you at the fair – let us know on Twitter to @NosyCrowBooks if you’ll be there!
January 22, 2018
The verdict on the latest Nosy Crow Masterclass, How to Write Picture Books
Our latest Nosy Crow Masterclass of the year took place on Saturday – How to Write Picture Books – and it was another fantastically creative, inspiring, and informative day, filled with advice, lessons and guidance on writing picture books. The day included brilliant sessions from Nosy Crow’s Managing Director, Kate Wilson, literary agent Penny Holroyde, and Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam and Hubble Bubble, Granny Trouble author Tracey Corderoy. And as well as these individual talks, we also offered one-to-one manuscript critiques to all of our attendees, along with lunch, wine, and lots more. And here’s what some of our attendees said on Twitter afterwards:
Brilliant day @NosyCrowBooks picture book masterclass. Thanks for amazing insights, inspiration & entertainment from @NosyCrowBooks @TraceyCorderoy @PennyHolroyde @tombonnick @fionascoble
— Steve Howson (@Howsonbooks) January 20, 2018
Feeling determined after an inspirational talk today from the very friendly and talented
January 19, 2018
My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord wins a Laugh Out Loud Award!
The winners of the 2018 Laugh Out Loud Awards (the Lollies) were announced last night – and My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord, the hilarious follow-up to My Brother is a Superhero by David Solomons, won the readers choice Popjam Award – given to the book which receives the most votes by children via the PopJam app.
The Lollies were created especially to celebrate the very funniest and most engaging books in children’s fiction – and we are so thrilled to see My Gym Teacher… recognised by readers!
If you’ve not yet discovered My Gym Teacer is an Alien Overlord, you can take a look inside the book below:
Congratulations, David!
January 18, 2018
Take a look inside Unicorn Academy!
Next month we’re delighted to launch Unicorn Academy by Julie Sykes and Lucy Truman – a new series of magical, action-packed adventures, perfect for beginner-readers, with sparkly holographic foil covers!
The series will launch with two titles: Sophia and Rainbow and Scarlett and Blaze. And today you can take a look inside BOTH books for the first time!
Imagine a school where you meet your own unicorn and go on adventures with them – that’s what happens for the girls at Unicorn Academy on the enchanted Unicorn Island. With a different student and their unicorn in each story, this is the beginning of a unique, hugely collectible magical school series.
Here’s a look inside Sophia and Rainbow:
And here’s a look inside Scarlett and Blaze:
Both books will be in shops in February – you can find out more about the series 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, and you’ll never miss a thing:
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January 17, 2018
Watch M.G. Leonard read from The Bug Hunters – her short story from Make More Noise
Next month we’re incredibly proud to be publishing Make More Noise: an incredible collection of brand new short stories, from ten of the UK’s very best storytellers, celebrating inspirational girls and women, being published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the UK.
One of the book’s contributors, M.G. Leonard, dropped by the Crow’s Nest recently – and today we’re very pleased to be share a reading of M.G.’s story, The Bug Hunters!
Here’s M.G. introducing The Bug Hunters:
Here’s M.G. writing about bugs:
And here’s a reading from The Bug Hunters:
Make More Noise will be published on February 1st – you can find out more about the book here. And here’s a look at another of the stories inside – Sally Nicholl’s Out for the Count:
January 16, 2018
Watch our new January Books video!
We’ve got some wonderful new books out this month – and a beautiful new video to showcase them all! You can watch our January Books video at the top of this post – and you can find out more about all of the new Nosy Crow books out this month here.
If you like the video, subscribe to our YouTube channel and you’ll be the first to find out about new content – including author Q&As, readings, live-drawings, and more.
January 15, 2018
In praise of “back office”
On Thursday, Stela, our assistant accountant, passed the last of the set of exams for which she’s been studying for four years. We gave her flowers (rather lovely orange and purple ones, though I say so myself: I spent ages in Borough Market choosing them and watching the bunch being assembled). Stela studied for these exams in her third language (she’s originally from Bulgaria, but lived in Greece for several years), and she did so while bringing up her twin boys, who started nursery this school year. So after she’d bathed the boys and put them to bed, she’d study debt factoring, which would be my own idea of hell. She’s now an Accounting Technician and member of the Association of Accounting Technicians.
It’s great when any of the Crows achieves something, but I thought that it was particularly worth celebrating Stela today.
Because from the outside, I think that it looks as if publishing is just deciding what books will be published and then what the cover should look like. And that, of course, IS what publishing is (it’s a biggish part of my job, for example), but publishing is also paying printers and authors and illustrators and the people who supply our printer cartridges and envelopes; it’s managing our relationship with our bank; it’s making sure that we get paid by our distributor and by publishers in Albania and Ukraine (we have yet to sell rights in languages beginning with alphabetical letters beyond U); and it’s doing a whole bunch of absolutely necessary but to many of us in the business (but not, luckily, Stela) quite, um, dull things.
Adrian does these sorts of things as well as Stela (he does contracts too, and I was once a contracts manager for Faber and Faber and hated it beyond all imagining so I have huge respect for him there), and he and Stela are essential to the day-to-day functioning of Nosy Crow as a business, and know stuff that, honestly, no-one else in the business knows or knows how to do.
It’s one of the interesting things about running a growing business: the bigger we get the less I know about the detail of what everyone else does, and the more there are people in the business who do stuff I couldn’t begin to do. Stela is one of those people. So yay for Stela!
January 12, 2018
Take a look inside The Phantom Lollipop Man – the brand new book from Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham
Next February we’re delighted to be publishing The Phantom Lollipop Man, the latest book in the HILARIOUS, award-winning Baby Aliens… series written by Pamela Butchart and illustrated by Thomas Flintham – and today you can take a first look inside the new book: we’re sharing an exclusive extract!
Izzy and her friends are shocked when they find their lollipop man has disappeared! Maisie thinks he’s gone to Rome but if that’s true, why do they keep seeing a weird white wispy cloud around the school? And why do Izzy’s legs feel cold even though she’s got tights on? Could it be that the lollipop man is a phantom and he’s come to spook them all?!
This is another HILARIOUS Izzy story, brilliantly illustrated and perfect for newly confident readers. Here’s a look inside The Phantom Lollipop Man:
The Phantom Lollipop Man will be in shops in February – 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, and you’ll never miss a thing:
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January 11, 2018
Our new January books are out now!
Our first batch of 2018 books are publishing today! From novelty and picture books, to chapter books and middle grade fiction, there’s something for everyone. They’re available now from all good bookshops – which ones have you got your eye on?
Happy publication day to our trio of January picture books. First up is Firefly Home, written by Jane Clarke and illustrated by the internationally best-selling and award-winning artist Britta Teckentrup. With vibrant neon yellow artwork on every page, this book will certainly brighten up those dark January evenings! There’s no place like home, and poor little Florence Firefly is lost. There are so many lights in the night sky she doesn’t know which way to go. She needs some help to find her way home… and the fun interactive text invites the little reader to help guide Florence Firefly safely home!
Here’s a look inside:
And a Happy Book Birthday to the first paperback edition of Neon Leon, also by Jane and Britta! Everyone knows that chameleons are the best at fitting in. But not Leon. Leon is neon! In fact, he’s SO bright that he keeps all the other chameleons awake at night. But poor Leon is lonely, so he goes off in search of somewhere he can blend in. In this delightful interactive book, filled with vibrant neon artwork, children can help Leon on his journey by counting his steps, sending him to sleep and giving him lots of reassurance when he’s feeling down. But will he ever find a place he can fit in…?
Here’s a look inside:
In our final picture book, publishing today, meet a very greedy little lion (called Lionel) who does not like to share. Lionel and the Lion’s Share is a wonderfully fun and simple story, written by Lou Peacock, with stylish artwork by new talent Lisa Sheehan. Celebrating important themes of friendship and the importance of sharing – after all, lions always get the lion’s share, don’t they? A wonderful story packed fill of gorgeously drawn animal characters children will love, follow Lionel on a journey of discovery as he realises that maybe sharing with others isn’t so bad after all…
Here’s a look inside:
Today, we’re so pleased to published a trio of brilliant board books, too! I Love You, Little One is a delightful new picture board book from Holly Surplice, creator of Hush-A-Bye-Bunny and Guinea Pig Party. One guinea pig mummy loves her little one so much more than she can say. As they spend a fun-filled day together – painting, reading, baking and sharing a very special picnic – she finds lots of different ways to show the very special love between a mother and child. Gorgeous artwork, full of warmth and humour, is set alongside a soothing lullaby text, and cleverly introduces the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. A wonderful snuggly story that is guaranteed to end with a cosy cuddle!
Here’s a look inside:
To complete our roster of board books, two new titles in the Look, There’s A… series are available from today! Follow the different vehicles on their journey across five striking spreads, beautifully illustrated by Esther Aarts. In Look, There’s A Helicopter! you can start the ignition and see what you can spot in this journey through the stars and across the sky, and in Look, There’s A Tractor! you can hop on board and help the farmer search far and wide for horses, cows, and pesky runaway hens! With peekaboo cut-out holes and a question-led text that sparks discussion, these interactive board books are perfect for busy little fingers.
Here’s a look at each book:
Finally, get your hands on our two January new fiction books, hot off the press and on bookshop shelves today! The first is The Giggly Giraffe – the latest adventure in the Zoe’s Rescue Zoo series, and ideal for young animal lovers everywhere. Written by Amelia Cobb, and illustrated inside and out by Sophy Williams, this is just the right level for confident new readers. You’ll be sure to be swept along on Zoe’s fantastic animal adventures – not only does Zoe have a tremendous talent for settling homeless animals into her rescue zoo, she can also understand what they say and even talk to them (but that’s a secret)!
Here’s a look inside:
Last but certainly not least, is A Pony Called Secret: A Friend in Need. This is the second book in the brilliant new series from Olivia Tuffin, author of the Palomino Pony series. Full of action, adventure, and a genuine love for horses, these books are sure to send you pony mad – if you aren’t already! Alice is so excited to finally join the pony club with her gorgeous pony, Secret. Things get off to a great start when Alice is invited to super-popular Hannah’s birthday party. But on the night of the party the snow starts to fall and a pony escapes into the night. Alice and Finn must go to the rescue … but will their friendship survive the storm? A perfect pony story for confident readers.
Here’s a look inside:
Congratulations and great big ‘Happy Publication Day!’ to all out marvellous authors and illustrators!
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