HGCP acquires “Sagittarius Rising”

Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) has acquired world rights to children’s chapter book Sagittarius Rising by author Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrator Jade Goodwin.

Senior publisher Chren Byng said, “For a publisher who grew up loving the Beverly Cleary classic Henry and Ribsy, as well as the read-aloud rhyming goodness of Dr Seuss, it’s been such a joy to watch Maxine and Jade create Sagittarius Rising, a book that feels like the ultimate love-child of the two.”

Maxine Beneba Clarke is the author of multiple books for adults and children, including short fiction collection Foreign Soil (Hachette), memoir The Hate Race (Hachette), and picture books We Know a Place (Lothian) and When We Say Black Lives Matter (Lothian). Her poetry collections include Carrying the World (Hachette), which won the 2017 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry, How Decent Folk Behave (Hachette), and It’s the Sound of the Thing: 100 New Poems for Young People (HGCP), which won the Book of the Year for Younger Children at the 2024 Australian Book Industry Awards.

Jade Goodwin is a First Nations illustrator based in Australia. She has illustrated many children’s books, including the Little Ash series (HarperCollins).

Discussing this new publication, Clarke said, “Sagittarius Rising was a joyous book to work on, and Jade’s delightful illustrations bring Tip, Sagittarius, and their family and neighbourhood to life […] On the surface, Sagittarius Rising is a wild rhyming romp through family, friendship, and the glorious chaos of childhood and pet ownership. But it also gently explores the largeness of those big childhood feelings that can sometimes be missed or dismissed by us grown-ups”.

HGCP plans to publish Sagittarius Rising in late July 2026.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions