Balancing the books: how Waterstones came back from the dead

The chain of booksellers has announced its first profit in years – thanks in part to a bold decision to run each branch like a local bookshop Late on Thursday afternoon, would-be wizards across the UK dropped what they were doing to join the professors of Hogwarts for Harry Potter night. At 6pm in the basement of Waterstones’ six-storey London Piccadilly building, staff were scurrying around with bowls of jellybeans and bottles of raspberry lemonade, but the Harrys and Hermiones were nowhere to be seen.A couple of elderly customers looked faintly disgruntled to find their favourite section shut for a private party. Two young sisters, Alex, 11, and eight-year-old Polly, fidgeted by the closed door clutching a box of quidditch balls, while Yang, a 22-year-old physics student from Korea, appeared baffled. Related: A Twitter love story: the woman who wed @WstonesOxfordSt Related: Waterstones children’s book prize 2016 shortlists - in pictures Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Lynne Reid Banks, author of The Indian in the Cupboard, dies aged 94

Writer was also one of first female news reporters on British TV, interviewing stars such as Charlie ChaplinThe author Lynne Reid Banks, known for her novel The L-Shaped Room and her children’s book series The Indian in the Cupboard, has died at the age of 94.She died of cancer “peacefully with... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-04-05 14:04:44 UTC ]
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Hannah Gold’s The Last Bear wins Waterstones children’s book prize

‘Triumphant debut’ with environmental theme, illustrated by Levi Pinfold, is awarded £5,000 prize by the chain’s booksellersA timely adventure story that tackles environmental themes has been named winner of this year’s Waterstones children’s book prize.The Last Bear by Hannah Gold, illustrated... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-03-31 19:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones prize winner Elle McNicoll: ‘I never saw autistic girls in books’

The author was repeatedly told that no one wanted to read fun books with disabled heroes. Now she has won the £5,000 Waterstones children’s book prize for her debut, A Kind of SparkWhen Scottish author Elle McNicoll was first trying to enter the publishing world, she was repeatedly told that... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-07-01 05:01:05 UTC ]
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McNicoll wins Waterstones Children's Book Prize with debut A Kind of Spark

Elle McNicoll has been named overall winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2021 for her debut novel A Kind of Spark (Knights Of).  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-30 15:03:18 UTC ]
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Cowell and Duchess of Cornwall launch flagship school libraries project

Waterstones Children's Laureate Cresside Cowell and the Duchess of Cornwall have visited a school in Wandsworth, south London, to open a "life-changing" library. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-21 16:23:10 UTC ]
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Malorie Blackman | 'I can only hope that my books encourage further debate and discussion'

This August, former Waterstones children's laureate Malorie Blackman will release the conclusion to her Noughts & Crosses series, Endgame (Penguin Random House Children’s UK). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-29 00:40:24 UTC ]
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Lauren Ace and Jenny Løvlie | 'You can be kind and strong and good, but you don’t have to be exceptional'

"It's really special that, with a book about female friendship, we have genuinely become friends through doing it,” says Lauren Ace. She is talking about illustrator Jenny Løvlie, and the pair’s début picture book The Girls, which was published in 2018 and went on to win Illustrated Book of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-08 01:57:49 UTC ]
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Mian and Mitchell among 2021 Hachette Children's Novel Award judges

Children’s author Zanib Mian, Waterstones children’s category specialist Georgina Mitchell, literary agent Hellie Ogden and Hachette Children’s Group’s senior commissioning editor Tig Wallace are to judge the Hachette Children’s Novel Award in 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-18 18:51:25 UTC ]
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Cowell launches campaign to highlight children's authors and illustrators of colour

A campaign designed to help create visibility and generate book sales for emerging children's authors and illustrators of colour has been launched by BookTrust Represents and Waterstones children’s laureate Cressida Cowell. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-05 01:01:07 UTC ]
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Cowell sets up virtual Summer Camp

Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell is running a virtual “Summer Camp” for youngsters featuring guest authors and illustrators. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-01 10:46:08 UTC ]
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O'Farrell, Cowell and Rosoff headline IBW 2020

Hamnet author Maggie O'Farrell, How I Live Now writer Meg Rosoff and Waterstones children's laureate Cressida Cowell will feature during Independent Bookshop Week, online for the first time this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-09 22:22:45 UTC ]
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Lisa Williamson | 'Every idea I have is about teenagers. It’s such an interesting time'

Waterstones Children's Book Prize winner Lisa Williamson returns with her fourth novel for teens, centring on three friends- and a kidnapped baby Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-24 08:01:36 UTC ]
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Cressida Cowell to have third year as Waterstones Children's Laureate

BookTrust has extended Cressida Cowell's tenure at Waterstones Children's Laureate by a year, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-15 17:01:56 UTC ]
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Cowell launches BookTrust Home Time for children during school closures

Waterstones Children's Laureate Cressida Cowell has launched a digital hub with reading charity BookTrust to keep youngsters busy while schools are closed. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-22 17:38:05 UTC ]
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Cressida Cowell selected as new Children’s Laureate

Cressida Cowell, author and illustrator of the How to Train Your Dragon series and the Emily Brown picture books, has been crowned the Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2019-2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-09 08:31:07 UTC ]
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'Upbeat' refugee tale wins children's book prize

The Boy at the Back of the Class is "a future classic", Waterstones Children's Book Prize judges say. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2019-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How did YouTube personality ‘Furry Potato’s’ trip to an L.A. synagogue end in gunfire?

For more than 40 minutes, Zhoie Perez filmed the outside of a Los Angeles synagogue, as a security guard whose ire she had drawn trained his own camera on her. The passive-aggressive standoff that played out Thursday afternoon in the Fairfax district seemed in line with other videos posted to one... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Adeyemi and Anderson make Waterstones Children’s Prize shortlist

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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League of laureates join forces to mark two decades of role

A tour of former Children’s Laureates and a celebratory anthology are just some of the plans being put together to mark next year’s 20th anniversary of the Waterstones Children’s Laureate role. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Five questions for... Lauren Child

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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