This week should have marked the launch of my debut picturebook ‘My Dad is a Grizzly Bear‘, illustrated by Dapo Adeola. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the book will now be published in May 2021 instead. Don’t worry, you can still preorder the book but in the meantime I am posting my interview with Dapo so you can get to …
The Book of Hopes
I’m so honoured to be part of Katherine Rundell’s new collection of poems, stories and art called ‘The Book of Hopes: Words and Pictures to Comfort, Inspire and Entertain Children in Lockdown‘. Completely free for all children and families, the extraordinary collection edited by Katherine Rundell, features stories, poems, essays and pictures and has contributions from more than 110 children’s …
Introducing the Ballet Bunnies
I’m so pleased to be introducing you all to my brand new young fiction series ‘Ballet Bunnies‘. Created in-house by the team at Oxford University Press Children’s Books and editor Debbie Sims, illustrated by the brilliant Binny Talib, designed by Sarah Darby and Holly Fulbrook and written by me, ‘Ballet Bunnies‘ follows Millie on her adventures at her ballet school …
Writing Young Fiction Workshop with Stay-At-Home Lit Fest
Thank you so much to everyone who joined the session. It was an absolute delight to spend an hour in the company of so many writers. Here are the notes for my ‘Writing Young Fiction’ workshop with Stay-At-Home Lit Fest on Friday 10th April. What is ‘Young Fiction’? ‘Young Fiction’, also known as ‘Junior Fiction’ or sometimes ‘Early Readers’ are …
Dave Pigeon in The Guardian
It’s lovely to see Dave Pigeon mentioned in Lucy Mangan’s round up of books to keep kids entertained during lockdown. If you are at home and looking for something to do, do feel free to download the worksheets in my ‘Fun Stuff‘ section. I’ll be posting more activities over the next few weeks. And if you can send me pictures …
Dave Pigeon (Royal Coo!) makes the Alligator’s Award longlist!
I’m thrilled to announce that Dave Pigeon (Royal Coo!) has made the Alligator’s Award 2020 longlist! This brilliant award celebrates illustrated young fiction, the often unsung heroes that get children hooked on books for life. I couldn’t be more proud of Team Dave Pigeon and to be amongst so many brilliant books. Hugest congratulations and jammy biscuits to everyone!
Torn Apart: The Partition of India, 1947
I’m so proud to reveal the cover for my new book Torn Apart: The Partition of India, 1947, designed by Jamie Gregory and Two Dots Design Studio. It’s October 1947 and two young boys find themselves thrown together during the dramatic changes of Partition. As the new India and Pakistan are born, can a friendship between these two children rise …
Happy World Book Day from New Zealand!
It’s World Book Day and I wasn’t going to miss out on all the fun back in the UK so I was chuffed to be invited to speak to the Writing Extension group at Kaikorai Primary School, where I met with sixteen brilliant young writers. We talked about planning stories and shared ideas on writing. And then we played a …
My Dad is a Grizzly Bear in The Bookseller
Thank you so much to Fiona Noble for including My Dad is a Grizzly Bear in her round up of May book releases. I’m so thrilled to see My Dad is a Grizzly Bear finally making it out into the wild.
Dave Pigeon (Royal Coo!) on Carpool Readeoke
Carpool Readeoke has gone international! The very brilliant Phil Page invited me to read a bit of Dave Pigeon (Royal Coo!) on Carpool Readeoke this week. Have a watch of the video and check out all the star-studded line up of authors, teachers and book lovers on the Discovery Schools Trust YouTube channel.