She published her first book in her 40s and became the biggest selling author of the past decade in any genre – The Gruffalo alone has sold 13m copies. How did this former busker make it so big?The room where the children’s author Julia Donaldson writes – the heart of her vast picture book empire – is down a winding staircase, in the cellar of her grand white house in Steyning, West Sussex. Her desk looks out on the street at knee height. “I’m thinking of writing a book about legs,” Donaldson said, as she showed me around the house this summer. Children from the nearby school often wave in at her as they pass. Donaldson is well known in Steyning, due to her frequent signings at the local bookshop. She and her husband, Malcolm, a retired paediatrician, recently bought the local post office to save it from closure. But elsewhere she can walk the pavement without being recognised. “I got a letter the other day for Jacqueline Wilson,” Donaldson told me. “It said: ‘You’re my favourite author!’”If you are not someone who spends much time with young children, you may only be dimly aware of Donaldson’s work – although you will probably be familiar with her most famous creation, the Gruffalo. If you have children, however, you will know her as a cultural juggernaut whose influence among children is perhaps only surpassed by the works of Disney and CBeebies. Donaldson, who is 72, has written more than 210 books: chiefly picture books, but also poetry, plays, a 60-part phonics... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2020-12-17 06:00:31 UTC ]
Madeleine Albright has the #1 book in the country with ‘Fascism.’ Plus Junot Díaz writes his first picture book, and Madeline Miller shines a spotlight on the sorceress ‘Circe.’ Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Judith Kerr’s next picture book, Mummy Time, will be published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in the UK in September. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Margaret Atwood, David Walliams and Jacqueline Wilson are amongst those headlining the Hay Festival, which is set to respond to the world's “urgent need of empathy”, according to organisers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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OUP has bought a new picture book by Mike Brownlow, author of Orchard Books’ Ten Little... series, while selling Harriet Muncaster’s Isadora Moon series into three languages Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder Children’s Books has bought the world English rights (excluding the ANZ region and North America) to a new picture book by Shaun Tan. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jacqueline Wilson has written a new Tracy Beaker novel, this time showing Beaker as a mother with a child of her own. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oneworld will make its first foray into picture books with the début children’s title from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Díaz. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British, American, Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian writers are featured in this year's timely lineup at London Book Fair, Joanna Trollope seeing her newest book released on Thursday (February 22) and Nora Ikstena with a UK release on March 1. The post Industry Notes: London Book Fair Adds... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jacqueline Wilson has helped launch a campaign for Book Aid International celebrating the power of books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Joanna Trollope and Jacqueline Wilson will attend London Book Fair as Authors of the Day, along with thriller writer David Baldacci, who will join as a “special guest”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The author and illustrator begins a bumper year of publishing with a new picture book that promises colour, collusion and chaos. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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TV presenter and pop star Rochelle Humes will publish a picture book with Kings Road Publishing's Studio Press later this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ehsan Abdollahi, the illustrator who hit the headlines after being refused a visa to visit the Edinburgh International Book Festival, is teaming up with Jackie Morris on a picture book. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publisher Pikku is hoping to remind children about the importance of libraries with a new picture book about Andrew Carnegie, who funded more than 600 libraries in the UK and Ireland. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thames & Hudson is publishing a children’s book by bestselling author Allan Ahlberg and illustrator Bruce Ingman about a picture book "going wrong". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orchard Books, part of Hachette Children’s Group, will this July publish I Really Want That Unicorn, a new picture book by Fabi Santiago. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Created in a hybrid format that shifts between being a picture book and a longform graphic novel, Sean Rubin's 'Bolivar' is the story of an urbane dinosaur who lives in a city so busy no one seems to notice him. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chris Riddell points out similarities between Moz the monster and a character from his 1986 picturebookA renowned writer and illustrator of children’s books has suggested John Lewis may have plagiarised one of his stories for its latest Christmas advert, which was launched to great fanfare last... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bonnier Publishing imprint Templar Books and author Duncan Beedie have entered into a partnership with food bank organisation The Trussell Trust to publish Beedie’s third picture book. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Twin Peaks' co-creator Mark Frost lands at #4 in hardcover fiction with damn fine sales for ‘Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier. Plus a B&N promotion boost sales of Katy Hudson’s new picture book, and ‘Dilbert’ cartoonist Scott Adams puts the ‘politics’ in ‘office politics.’ Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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