Across the Ditch: Maxine Beneba Clark – When We Say Black Lives Matter
I’m so chuffed to have been asked to interview Maxine Beneba Clark about her new book for The Sapling.
You can have a read of the full article here and find out all about Maxine Beneba Clark’s stunning picture book ‘When We Say Black Lives Matter’.
The Book of Hopes is shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year
I’m so thrilled to announce that The Book of Hopes has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year 2020.
This book has gone further than any of us could ever have imagined and I never tire of seeing children’s wonderful work inspired by my poem ‘Me’ in the book. Thank you so much for your love and support and hugest congratulation to the many authors, illustrators, members of Team Bloomsbury, Team National Literacy Trust and Katherine Rundell on such an incredible feat.
Check out the incredible shortlist for the Book of the Year here.
Thank you, Waterstones!
Ballet Bunnies in The Guardian
The reviews are coming in for Ballet Bunnies and I’m so pleased to hear how much love there is for Millie and her bunny pals. I’m thrilled to say that Ballet Bunnies: The New Class made it in to The Guardian’s Children’s Books Roundup. You can have a read of this review here.
The Book of Hopes out now!
I’m so thrilled that The Book of Hopes is now available to purchase in bookshops and online, with proceeds from sales going to NHS Charities.
It was a real honour to be asked to contribute to this beautiful collection and I’m so proud that Bloomsbury in partnership with Twinkl have produced an activity pack to help children find their voice and build confidence through poetry based on my poem ‘Me’. You can find all downloadable resources based on The Book of Hopes here.
Dave Pigeon at East Taieri School
Today I visited East Taieri School with ReadNZ’s Writers in Schools programme. It was my first school visit since lockdown and I was worried I might be a bit rusty but the staff and pupils at East Taieri were so kind and welcoming that I soon got back in the swing of things.
We created brand new stories for Mean Cat inspired by Dave Pigeon and I loved hearing how Mean Cat demolished a city, landed in a pool of baked beans and tripped over the world’s smallest worm amongst many, many other brilliant ideas.
Thank you so much to the staff and pupils at East Taieri for being so pigeontastic.
Happy Ballet Bunnies Day!
Today is the official publication day of Ballet Bunnies. Beautifully illustrated by Binny Talib and written by me, as Swapna Reddy, this new series from Oxford University Press follows Millie and her four bunny friends on their ballet adventures.
I hope you enjoy this series and if you do there are more to come next year! If you spot a Ballet Bunnies book in your local bookshop or library do let me know because I would love to know where they have hopped off to around the world.
Love, Swapna 🙂
Return to Wonderland celebrates Alice Day
It’s almost time for Alice Day this year! To celebrate Team Return to Wonderland is asking you to vote for your favourite character from Wonderland and the winner will be announced on Alice Day on the 4th of July.
Look out for ways to vote on Macmillan’s social media channels in the run up to Alice Day. All the characters from Return to Wonderland are playing including the Mock Turtle so get voting for him from Tuesday 30th June!
Publication date changes
Dear readers,
2020 promised to be the launch of many lovely new books, including my debut picture book with Dapo Adeola and a brand new ballet series with Binny Talib, under my pseudonym Swapna Reddy.
As you can imagine, the COVID-19 pandemic has effected the publishing industry and many publication dates have been delayed. Sadly, this includes a few of my upcoming books too.
Information is changing daily but I will try to keep this post updated with revised release dates as soon as I hear more.
Publication updates:
Ballet Bunnies: The New Class, Ballet Bunnies: Let’s Dance and Ballet Bunnies: Millie’s Birthday will now be published in September 2020.
My Dad is a Grizzly Bear will now be published in May 2021.
Torn Apart: The Partition of India will now be published in August 2021.
Thank you so much for your patience and don’t worry, this pandemic definitely hasn’t stopped me working hard on my next book!
Keep safe and happy reading.
Love Swapna