Nosy Crow's Blog, page 96
September 7, 2017
Our September books are here!
Our September books have arrived! With brand new fiction, picture books, novelty and activity books, there’s something for everyone – here’s what you can find in shops today!
We’re thrilled to publish a brand new Bizzy Bear book, with Bizzy Bear: Ambulance Rescue. Push and pull the five chunky sliders and learn about the important job of a paramedic. Read along as Bizzy Bear drives the ambulance, helps an injured little tiger, and takes him safely to the Hospital to be looked after. Illustrated by Benji Davies, and rich in visual details and touches of humour, Bizzy Bear’s action-packed adventures inspire imaginative play and are perfect for very little readers!
Today we’re publishing Listen to the Dance Music, the latest book in our Listen To The… series of noisy books – sure to get littles ones dancing away. Stylishly illustrated by Marion Billet, the book features lots of music for different kinds of classic dances like the Tango, the Waltz, and Rock ‘n’ Roll – there are six in total – and each spread has a button with a different sound. Get ready to shake your stuff and bust out those awesome dance moves!
We’re thrilled to publish four new picture books today! First up, is This Zoo is Not for You – a hilarious tale about fitting in, kindness and comic misunderstandings from Ross Collins, the creator of the award-winning There’s a Bear on My Chair. When a Platypus visits the zoo, the animals assume he’s come about the vacancy and he is swiftly taken through a rigorous interview process. But the platypus is far too bland for the chameleons, not nearly graceful enough for the flamingos, and he doesn’t know any cool tricks that will impress the monkeys… Whatever will he do? This Zoo is Not for You is a rollicking rhyming picture book, and has a heartfelt story about acceptance and belonging at it’s core.
Take a look inside:
Next we have What’s Next Door?, the latest picture book from Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-winner Nicola O’Byrne. What’s Next Door? is a follow-up to the bestselling Open Very Carefully, and is a unique interactive book with cleverly designed die-cut pages. Carter the crocodile is back, but he’s not happy. All he wants to do is find his way home, but he can’t get there by himself… He needs a little reader to help him!
Take a look inside:
We’re publishing Stardust today – a wonderfully moving story by award-winning author Jeanne Willis, all about the importance of being true to yourself and following your dreams. Brimming with stunning illustrations from Briony May Smith, the story follows a little girl who dreams of being a star, but somehow her sister always seems to shine that little bit brighter. Artfully tackling the delicate sibling dynamic, Stardust shows readers that being yourself is beautiful and that everyone can shine in their own special way.
Take a look inside:
The last of our four September picture books, available from today, is I See the Moon, a dreamy collection of sixteen favourite lullabies, rhymes and poems for sharing at bedtime. Sparkly silver foil on every page adds a little extra moonlight magic to Rosalind Beardshaw‘s beautiful artwork, showing wonderful natural scenes and lots of sleepy animals and babies. I See the Moon is the perfect collection of soothing verse to share little ones at bedtime.
Take a look inside:
We’ve published not one, not two, but THREE new books from The British Museum, and they’re all out now! First up are two new books in the First Concepts series: Colours and Opposites. These captivating board books encourage children to engage with learning concepts, packed with gorgeous photographic images of amazing artefacts from the archives of The British Museum. You can also find out more about each object by scanning the QR code at the back of the book!
To round off the British Museum books, we’re excited to publish Mixed-Up Masterpieces: Funny Faces today. This is the first in a seriously silly series of Mixed-Up Masterpieces, featuring artefacts from The British Museum. Children can solve the puzzle by matching up the correct faces or animals on the split pages – and then mix them all up again to create 2000 hilarious combinations. To find out more about each of the objects, simply scan the QR code at the back of the book.
Today, we’ve also published a trio of beautiful non-fiction in partnership with The National Trust next month. First up, we have Getting Ready For Christmas: A Sticker Storybook – it’s Christmas in the countryside in this enchanting sticker book, beautifully illustrated by Tara Lilly. With over 100 stickers to add to the festive family scenes, this is the perfect sticker book to enjoy during the countdown to Christmas. From adding toys into the toyshop windows to decorating the Christmas tree with baubles and a star, this cute sticker storybook has fresh yet nostalgic charm.
And get ready for the fourth in our series of First Concept books, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw, out today. Up and Down: A Walk in the Countryside is a charming board book for the very young, following two little children on a day in the countryside, where they spot all kinds of animals and plants in their natural habitats, learning about opposites as they go – it’s perfect for sharing again and again.
Our final National Trust book publishing today is The Secret Diary of Jane Pinny: Victorian House Maid (and Accidental Detective), the second book in our Secret Diaries series. Jane Pinny has moved to the very grand Lytton House to be a Maid Of All Work. And being a Maid Of All Work means that she has to do… well, ALL the work, obviously! Cleaning, dusting, scrubbing, washing – there’s SO much to do in a Victorian country house. But when a priceless jade necklace belonging to the lady of the house disappears, Jane turns accidental detective (with the help of her best friend, a pigeon called Plump…) – can she solve the mystery of the missing jewels before it’s too late? Written by Roald Dahl Funny Prize-winning author Philip Ardagh and brilliantly illustrated throughout by Jamie Littler, the Secret Diaries series is packed with great characters, exciting plots, and full of interesting, accessible historical facts.
Take a look inside:
We’re so happy to publish The Invincibles: The Beast of Bramble Woods this month, written by Caryl Hart and illustrated by Sarah Warburton. Nell and Freddie Spoon are desperate to join Nell’s older brother and his friends as they camp in the garden, but their plans are scuppered by an eight-thirty bedtime! So they come up with a plan to sneak back out and play some tricks… This is the third book in the Invincibles series – hilarious two-colour fiction, with the perfect amount of detail and adventure to keep kids enthralled until the very last page.
Look inside:
Get ready for The Spectre Collectors: Too Ghoul For School, the first book in a comic, action-packed adventure series from award-winning author Barry Hutchison. Denzel is having no luck with his maths homework. First, it’s too difficult, then there’s a terrifying mess of smoky black tendrils that wants to kill him, then two teenagers explode through his window holding guns and throwing magic. They are the Spectre Collectors, and spooky is their speciality. Realising that Denzel has a special gift, they sweep him off to their headquarters for training. Tested with awesome weapons and ancient magic, Denzel realises just how little he knows. But there’s a serious problem on its way from the Spectral Realm, so Denzel has a lot to learn. FAST. Packed with awesome gadgets, this book is as thrilling as it is funny.
Take a look inside:
Congratulations to all of today’s authors and illustrators!
September 5, 2017
Win a copy of our new app, Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean!
It’s been a couple of weeks since the launch of our latest app, Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean, and we’ve been thrilled by the response so far. And we’re celebrating with an app giveaway!
If you’d like to win a copy of Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean, just sign up to our apps newsletter at this page or with the form below, and send an email to tom [at] nosycrow [dot] com with Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean in the subject heading. We have 5 copies of the app to give away, and the competition ends on Sunday!
NameEmail
Books
Apps
PhoneThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
If you haven’t come across the app yet, here’s a quick look at Flip Flap Ocean:
September 4, 2017
There’s one last-minute place available for this weekend’s Nosy Crow Masterclass
A little while ago we announced the return of our Nosy Crow Masterclasses, with another edition of our How to Write Picture Books event, taking place this Saturday (September 9).
The masterclass sold-out in record time – but one place has been made available at short notice, so if you’re interested in attending, and didn’t manage to get a place before, now’s your chance! There is strictly one place available, and it’s first-come, first-served.
If you’d like to attend the Masterclass, send an email to tom@nosycrow.com.
You can find the full-line up for the day, and more information about the masterclass, here.
We hope to see you there!
here’s one last-minute place available for this weekend’s Nosy Crow Masterclass
A little while ago we announced the return of our Nosy Crow Masterclasses, with another edition of our How to Write Picture Books event, taking place this Saturday (September 9).
The masterclass sold-out in record time – but one place has been made available at short notice, so if you’re interested in attending, and didn’t manage to get a place before, now’s your chance! There is strictly one place available, and it’s first-come, first-served.
If you’d like to attend the Masterclass, send an email to tom@nosycrow.com.
You can find the full-line up for the day, and more information about the masterclass, here.
We hope to see you there!
August 31, 2017
Take a look inside A Kitten Called Holly
This October we’re incredibly pleased to be publishing A Kitten Called Holly – the fourth book in the WONDERFUL Jasmine Green series, written by Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-shortlisted author Helen Peters, and with beautiful black-and-white illustrations by Ellie Snowdon. And today, for the first time, you can read an early preview of the book!
Jasmine’s dad is a farmer, and her mum is a large-animal vet, so Jasmine spends a lot of time caring for animals and trying to keep them out of trouble. Unfortunately, this often means getting herself out of difficulty, too!
When Jasmine and Tom rescue an abandoned kitten, Jasmine is desperate to keep her. But her parents decide to sell Holly – and Jasmine is NOT happy with her new owner! Can Jasmine and Tom give Holly the best ever Christmas present – a good home?
Here’s a look inside A Kitten Called Holly:
And if you’re new to the Jasmine Green series, you can take a look inside the first book in the series, A Piglet Called Truffle, below.
Brilliant story-telling that will make you laugh and cry, this is James Herriot for a new generation – “reminiscent of Dick King-Smith at his best”.
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.
NameEmail
Books
Apps
NameThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Pushing the boat out on The Velveteen Rabbit
Tom has already written about this a little, but last week, the British Book Design and Production Awards Shortlists were announced.
These are prizes for exceptionally beautiful books – beautifully designed and beautifully made. I have been to the British Book Design and Production Awards once before, when There’s A Bear on My Chair was shortlisted (but didn’t win: The Imaginary did), and was just delighted and astonished to see the craft of bookmaking and bookbinding so brilliantly showcased, and so brilliantly combined with visionary and highly innovative design.
We were, therefore, hugely proud that The Velveteen Rabbit, with the original text by Margery Williams and new illustrations by Sarah Massini, was one of the shortlisted books in the children’s category.
I have written about the way that we are ambitious about production values in my blog from last week, when Where’s Mr Lion, by Ingela P Arrhenius won the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award. Similarly, we were ambitious about production values for The Velveteen Rabbit. This was, I have to say, partly a complete self-indulgence: this is one of my very favourite books, and the only book I can remember my mother reading to me (it was in a Christmas edition of Good Housekeeping) when I was small. I could not read aloud the pages in which the Skin Horse explains to the Velveteen Rabbit how toys become real – so careful, so honest – without blubbing.
So I wanted to do my very best for it.
We published it in hardcover as the first Nosy Crow classic, and we set the bar high. We were meticulous in the editing of the book. Meanwhile, Sarah Massini expended the most incredible amount of labour and creativity on the illustrations, working particularly hard to create a different visual universe – different characterisation, different landscapes, a different palette – from the brilliant original illustrations by William Nicholson (which never show the boy who loves the Velveteen Rabbit – never show any people at all, in fact). And then we pulled the text and the illustrations into a book that was very expensive to produce. We printed the book in Italy using special, new HUV inks, which produce a cleaner, sharper more vibrant image. We printed it on creamy, heavy Munken paper. We bound it in cloth – not paper cloth, but real cloth – and stamped the cloth with an intricate design in silver foil of the rabbit in his real (jacket-less) state, and on top of that we put a paper cloth jacket which we again stamped with an intricate foil design. Like Where’s Mr Lion, these specifications made no kind of sense. But we ended up selling 50,000 copies in less than a year, including, so far, co-editions to countries where the story is much less well known: Germany and France.
Sometimes it’s worth pushing the boat out, and it’s fantastic to have the care we – and Sarah – lavished on this book recognised.
Look inside the first few pages of The Velveteen Rabbit – though, of course, it’s better in real life!
August 30, 2017
Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean has received an Editor’s Choice Award from Children’s Technology Review!
Our latest app, Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean, has been out for just under two weeks – and we’re delighted that the app is the recipient of a prestigious Editor’s Choice Award from Children’s Technology Review.
The sixth app in the brilliant, award-winning Flip Flap Animal series, Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean features incredible new artwork from Axel, new funny poems, 121 new silly animal hybrid names and creatures, and the same wonderfully intuitive interface – swipe any part of the screen to create new animals and hear the poem read aloud, with original sound effects, music, and text highlighting. It is INCREDIBLY satisfying (and addictive) – you’ll be swiping for hours – and all for just 99¢/ 99p!
You can read Children’s Technology Review’s review of the app here – and you can download Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean from the App Store here.
And if you like the app, you’ll love the book! We’ve published a print edition of Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean too, in a wonderful split-page, spiral-bound board-book format – you can find out more here.
If you enjoy Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean, or one of our other apps, we’d be incredibly grateful if you’d consider leaving a review on the App Store – it really makes a huge difference. And if you’d like to stay up to date with our upcoming apps, you can sign up for our apps newsletter here.
We hope you enjoy Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Ocean!
August 29, 2017
Take a look inside Mixed-Up Masterpieces – a brand new series from Nosy Crow and the British Museum
Next month we’re incredibly pleased to be launching a brand new series as part of our publishing partnership with The British Museum: Mixed-Up Masterpieces. The first book in the series, out in September, will be Mixed-Up Masterpieces: Funny Faces – and today you can take a look inside!
In this seriously silly book, featuring famous faces from the British Museum, children can solve the puzzle by matching up the correct faces on the split pages – and then mix them all up again to create two thousand hilarious combinations. From an ancient Egyptian mummy to a modern Mexican mask, this book is full of amazing art that provides hours of madcap mix-up fun!
Here’s a look at just three of the combinations that you can make:
The book also features a handy index and a QR code at the end, which parents can scan to learn more about the artefacts featured in the book.
Mixed-Up Masterpieces will be in shops from September – you can find out more about the book here.
Take a look Mixed-Up Masterpieces – a brand new series from Nosy Crow and the British Museum
Next month we’re incredibly pleased to be launching a brand new series as part of our publishing partnership with The British Museum: Mixed-Up Masterpieces. The first book in the series, out in September, will be Mixed-Up Masterpieces: Funny Faces – and today you can take a look inside!
In this seriously silly book, featuring famous faces from the British Museum, children can solve the puzzle by matching up the correct faces on the split pages – and then mix them all up again to create two thousand hilarious combinations. From an ancient Egyptian mummy to a modern Mexican mask, this book is full of amazing art that provides hours of madcap mix-up fun!
Here’s a look at just three of the combinations that you can make:
The book also features a handy index and a QR code at the end, which parents can scan to learn more about the artefacts featured in the book.
Mixed-Up Masterpieces will be in shops from September – you can find out more about the book here.
August 25, 2017
Take a look inside Oliver Elephant – the new picture book from Helen Stephens
This October we’re incredibly pleased to be publishing a wonderfully new picture book – Oliver Elephant, written by Lou Peacock and illustrated by award-winning artist Helen Stephens, author-illustrator of How to Hide a Lion. And today you can take an early look inside the book!
A heart-warming story with a funny surprise ending and beautifully detailed festive illustrations, Oliver Elephant is destined to become a holiday favourite – it’s a perfect picture book for sharing. When Noah goes Christmas shopping with his mum and baby sister, he has a brilliant time with his toy elephant, Oliver, playing peekaboo, hiding in a doll’s house and dancing Oliver on tables. But suddenly disaster strikes – Oliver goes missing! And – oh dear – the department store is VERY big. Will Noah ever find his favourite toy again?
Here’s a very first look inside the book:
You can pre-order the book online 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.
Newsletter
Fill in your details to never miss a thing!
NameEmail
Books
Apps
PhoneThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Nosy Crow's Blog
- Nosy Crow's profile
- 35 followers
