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 ]
Recently, at New York’s Antiquarian Book Fair, I discovered a very unusual children’s book. Kriebeltje de Boskabouter (in English: Tickle, the Forest-Gnome) is one of the current listings at the rare books dealership Type Punch Matrix; this Dutch children’s book from the 1940s tells the story of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-11 18:16:56 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster (S&S) Children’s UK has snapped up three more books from creative duo behind bestselling illustrated children’s book series Supertato. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-10 09:55:42 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House will not be sending its teams to the rescheduled Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-10 07:09:51 UTC ]
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My novel The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida is a story of how a young woman’s unexplained suicide shapes and transforms the lives of those she left behind. It’s a literary mystery with elements of magical realism set in Japan, not unlike my debut novel Rainbirds. Because of these, I am often... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2020-03-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Harvill Secker has "swiftly pre-empted" debut novel Highway Blue from Ailsa McFarlane, a 23-year-old writer who had never shown her work before sending it to agents. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-08 18:43:41 UTC ]
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If you thought the Choose Your Own Adventure books were magical, one Sri Lankan children’s book author might be up your alley. Sybil Wettasinghe, the 90-year-old author of The Umbrella Thief, a classic children’s book in Sri Lanka, set a new Guinness World Record yesterday with the publication... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-06 19:45:46 UTC ]
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Check out these collected ink pieces that speak to childhood and nostalgia with children’s book tattoos for ideas on your next piece. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-03-06 11:38:25 UTC ]
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Film rights to Richard Osman’s debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club (Viking), have been snapped up by Amblin Partners in a 14-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 16:08:49 UTC ]
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From Gutenberg’s printing press to Google’s AMP format, the publishing world has gone from zero to one million miles per hour, with revolutionary changes to the way we produce, distribute, and consume content. Here is a breakdown of some of the key changes in digital publishing, plus tips for... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2020-03-05 15:43:14 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has won Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl, a satirical debut novel about race and authenticity in the workplace, for a six-figure deal following a nine-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-01 20:26:38 UTC ]
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This week's book events are fully locavore: Lynell George's essays on the city's rich cultural tapestry; Erin Khar's memoir of teen addiction in the mid-1980s; Thomas Pynchon's Cali counterculture noir; a debut novel from Los Angeles Review of Books founder Tom Lutz; and a visit from Pod Save... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-02-28 19:52:47 UTC ]
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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie has been criticized, and lauded, as a parable of the welfare state. Both sides have it wrong. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2020-02-28 16:14:35 UTC ]
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The director of an Arabic book prize argues that the time has come for more Arabic works to be translated than just the 'Arabian Nights.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-28 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Early last year, the city of Baltimore faced an odd political scandal involving then-Mayor Catherine Pugh and her self-published children’s book series about a health-conscious young girl named Healthy Holly. The Baltimore Sun broke the news that while Pugh was a board member of the University... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-27 20:09:58 UTC ]
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I do not understand why you would turn to The Office for anything other than its grimly comic tableaux of late-capitalist malaise and self-deluded mediocrity. Apparently I have missed its potential to teach 4- to 8-year-olds the “importance of teamwork” and “that it’s always OK to ask for help.”... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-25 21:39:17 UTC ]
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Sally Rooney’s takeover of the world continues apace today with the announcement that the Irish literary phenom’s debut novel Conversations With Friends will be adapted into a twelve-part series for the BBC. Like the upcoming BBC/Hulu adaptation of Rooney’s 2019 juggernaut Normal People, which... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-25 18:39:10 UTC ]
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If you haven’t had a chance yet to read Kiley Reid’s smash-hit debut novel SUCH A FUN AGE, now is ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-02-25 18:15:40 UTC ]
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Hilary Leichter’s brisk, wildly imaginative book tracks a young woman’s experiences in 23 jobs, including one on a pirate ship. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-02-25 17:40:43 UTC ]
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Conversations with Friends will follow Rooney’s Normal People that will air in April The BBC has commissioned a 12-part series based on Sally Rooney’s hit debut novel Conversations with Friends in the hope that fans of the young Irish author will bring in younger audiences.The BBC is to show its... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-02-25 10:19:05 UTC ]
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Simon Cowell and his six-year-old son are teaming up with Hachette Children’s Group on a new picture-led children’s book series called Wishfits. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-24 09:57:41 UTC ]
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