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 people didn’t want to read about an autistic heroine. “In job interviews, I was saying that I wanted to see more books with disabled characters in them that were not traumatic, boring or educational, but fun and full of life. A lot of the reactions were, ‘Waterstones don’t like books like that’,” she says.Now McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark has won the Waterstones children’s book prize. Published by tiny independent Knights Of, it follows Addie, an 11-year-old autistic girl, as she campaigns for a memorial to the witch trials that took place in her Scottish village. The novel has been praised by Waterstones’ booksellers as “eye opening, heart-wrenching, sad [and] inspiring”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-07-01 05:01:05 UTC ]
An excerpt from a debut novel that Booklist calls "enthralling" and Kirkus hailed as "an ambitious literary debut." The post ‘Cairo Circles’: Featured Fiction from Doma Mahmoud appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-10-25 10:00:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
Novelist Julia Elliott and poet and writer DaMaris B. Hill join hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to consider the writing and face of rural America—particularly as it might look 30 years from now. First, Elliott talks about growing up as an outsider in her own South Carolina... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-21 08:50:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Raven Books has landed Lady Macbethad, a historical novel exploring the "real Lady Macbeth" set in medieval Scotland, and a second title by debut author Isabelle Schuler. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-19 15:28:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Hamish Hamilton has scooped the debut novel by academic and critic Emilie Pine, author of international bestseller Notes to Self (Tramp Press and Hamish Hamilton). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-05 16:47:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
I used the term ‘sensitivity readers’ for the first time the other day, and I immediately felt angry at myself. It’s a concept (or service) that I’ve been involved in for a few years now, and yet only recently have I learned of the now well-established title of the ‘sensitivity reader’ in the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-01 05:57:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The six-strong shortlist for the £25,000 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize has been revealed, including two titles from PRH imprint The Bodley Head. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-28 22:52:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
The children’s book market has increased by more than 11% this year, boosted by picture books, non-fiction and a remarkable 61% growth in YA sales. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-20 01:05:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body reimagines nineties adolescence—mashing up girl group series, choose-your-own-adventures, and chronicles of anorexia—in a queer and trans coming-of-age tale like no other. An interrogation of girlhood and nostalgia, dysmorphia and dysphoria, this... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-09-15 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
"If you can give children hope and empowerment, it makes them much more inclined to do something,” says Hannah Gold. “Frightening children about climate change just makes them paralysed with fear.” Gold is speaking to me over video call from her home in Lincolnshire about her début children’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-09 19:32:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this
There is a job in which smart people are paid to think, create and dream but it's not taught in schools where children are told to follow rules and do what they're told to the extreme. The world of advertising is perhaps still a mystery to most of the planet as it rarely makes an... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2021-09-07 13:36:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Emily Itami’s debut novel asks an age-old question: Does marriage and kids mean monotony and obligation or is there room for one’s authentic self? Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-09-07 09:00:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“Happy Hour,” a debut novel by Marlowe Granados, follows a pair of thrifty, stylish and nimble young women navigating the big city. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-09-07 09:00:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this