In 2009, two bookshops a week were closing in the UK and the days of physical books seemed numbered. Now, indie stores are booming. What explains the turnaround – and can it be sustained?When Sarah Mullen was asked to set up a children’s book festival in a leafy suburb of Birmingham in 2012, she couldn’t find an independent bookseller to run the bookstall. “So we all rolled up our sleeves and did it ourselves,” she says. Pregnant with her third child, she had recently given up her job as a solicitor to work for the Bournville Village Trust. Mullen’s task was to set up the Bournville BookFest, which ran for 10 years before being brought to a halt by the Covid pandemic. But far from accepting defeat, she rolled up her sleeves once again and “pivoted the whole thing into a bookshop”. Two years on, the Bookshop on the Green is thriving – a living rebuttal to the once widely held idea that the digital era meant certain death for the neighbourhood bookstore.When I visit early on a Friday morning, a turquoise vintage Smith Corona typewriter holds centre stage in the Bookshop on the Green. Beside it stands Bradley Taylor, a poet whose job is to write poems on demand for anyone who asks. He has composed a lot of Batman and football poems for the children who pile in on Saturdays, he says, before sitting down to tap one out for me about the joy of bookshops. In the multitasking tradition of small retailers, Taylor also works in the shop. He made his cosplay debut last month as the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-27 09:00:32 UTC ]
Fay Evans alleges a ‘striking similarity’ between the 2019 Excitable Edgar TV campaign and her 2017 book Fred the Fire-Sneezing DragonThe author of a self-published children’s book about a dragon that causes havoc with its fiery sneezes is suing John Lewis over its 2019 Christmas ad about a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-11-16 14:46:45 UTC ]
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The illustrator Joana Avillez delves into the life story of one of her favorite children’s book authors, creator of Peter Rabbit. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-11-12 16:48:15 UTC ]
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Will Smith has partnered with Black-owned bookshops and artists of colour across the UK and America to celebrate his upcoming memoir Will (Century), with Sevenoaks Bookshop featuring an artist’s display. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-11 02:48:04 UTC ]
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Following the acclaimed author’s decision not to have Beautiful World, Where Are You translated by an Israeli publisher, two major retailers have removed her work from their shelvesBooks by Sally Rooney will no longer be sold in two Israeli bookshop chains, after the acclaimed writer’s decision... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-11-05 16:14:29 UTC ]
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'Our children’s book business now accounts for more than half our annual sales,' says Sourcebooks' Kay Birkner as the company buys BES Publishing. The post In the United States: Sourcebooks Acquires BES Publishing appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-11-04 18:59:42 UTC ]
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From new books by Jason Reynolds and Andrea Beaty to powerful books about Black history, November children's book releases have lots of gems! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-11-02 10:35:00 UTC ]
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Sylvia Plath was born 89 years ago today. A published writer from age at, she left behind a vast catalogue of poetry and prose, especially given her short life. One of her most charming works was a rhyming children’s book written in 1959 (before either of her children were born) and published in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-27 17:44:35 UTC ]
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With sustainability and green practices now top of the agenda for many companies, here at the Children’s Book Project (CBP) we are asking you as publishers to take a Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-27 13:38:51 UTC ]
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Mr. Pinkney brought new life to old fairy tales — and to children’s literature as a whole — with his radiant illustrations in more than 100 picture books. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-22 13:28:42 UTC ]
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Adept at reimagining classic tales, he often made sure that his books included Black characters and themes. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-10-21 22:46:10 UTC ]
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A new children’s bookshop in Hitchin is specialising in inclusive titles, including books that celebrate neurodiversity. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-11 14:30:39 UTC ]
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We interviewed booksellers about their experience of the pandemic and their customers. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2021-10-07 05:14:45 UTC ]
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October children’s book releases include picture books like Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast by David Ezra Stein, middle grade books like Living With Viola by Rosena Fung, and so much more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-10-04 10:37:00 UTC ]
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Shah Muhammad Rais, who was made famous in The Bookseller of Kabul, has vowed to keep his bookshop open, despite having had only two customers since the Taliban retook the country in the middle of August. Founded in 1974 Rais’s store has seen regimes (along with foreign powers) come and go, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-28 15:00:23 UTC ]
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And of course it includes a two-story library — modeled on the Bodleian at Oxford University — for his massive collection of books. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-09-28 09:00:26 UTC ]
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Schemes provide mentors and funding to help aspiring writers on low incomes enter market dominated by white celebritiesA programme that aims to tackle the lack of diversity in children’s books has been launched after its founder said the practice of richer authors paying for support to get... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-09-26 06:15:04 UTC ]
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This is a Shel Silverstein appreciation post. He has given us so much over the years! Most famously, we have The Giving Tree, a twisted children’s book about a benevolent tree that gives up its whole self for an unappreciative little boy. By extension, we can also thank Shel Silverstein for Ryan... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-24 14:00:42 UTC ]
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As faith-based children’s book publishers strive for greater inclusivity and diverse representations of all people within stories, decisions do not always come easily about which pronouns to use for God or what skin color to use in illustrations of Jesus. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Comedian Rosie Jones has added another string to her bow by authoring a children’s book series—the sort of titles she says she needed as a child Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-24 00:06:18 UTC ]
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Broadleaf signs former Miss Canada Tara Teng, W takes on ‘Godly Dating 101,’ a new children’s book from Beaming will celebrate Diwali, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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