‘All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors’ sold to US, Canada
Thursday, 17 October 2019
Hardie Grant Egmont has sold US and Canadian rights to picture book All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors (Davina Bell, illus by Jenny Løvlie) to HarperCollins imprint...
Noni moves to PRH after eight-way auction
Thursday, 17 October 2019
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired ANZ rights to a new series from YA author Lynette Noni titled 'The Prison Healer'. Rights were acquired in an eight-way auction via...
Walker acquires middle-grade novels from Pamela Rushby, Allison Rushby
Wednesday, 16 October 2019
Walker Books Australia has acquired world rights to new middle-grade titles by authors Pamela Rushby and Allison Rushby, who are mother and daughter. Pamela Rushby's book, called The Mummy Smugglers...
Oz, NZ authors and illustrators on 2019 White Ravens list
Wednesday, 16 October 2019
Several books by Australian and New Zealand authors and illustrators have been included in the 2019 White Ravens list for international children’s and youth literature. The Australian titles on the...
SLNSW Children’s Library to open next week
Wednesday, 9 October 2019
The Children’s Library at the State Library of NSW (SLNSW) will open to the public for the first time on 12 October, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The Children’s Library...
Amazon launches Kindle for kids
Tuesday, 8 October 2019
Amazon has launched a Kindle for children, marking the first time the company has designed a device specifically for kids. The Kindle Kids Edition, priced at A$182.50, includes the standard...
Masson joins MidnightSun with spec-fic YA novel
Monday, 7 October 2019
MidnightSun Publishing has acquired world rights to Sophie Masson’s YA speculative fiction novel The Ghost Squad. Set in ‘an alternative yet jarringly familiar reality’, The Ghost Squad follows 16-year-old Polly...
‘Zobi and the Zoox: A story of coral bleaching’ awarded Whitley Medal 2019
Friday, 4 October 2019
Royal Zoological Society of NSW has announced the winner of the 2019 Whitley Awards, presented for outstanding publications that profile the unique wildlife of the Australasian region. The Whitley Medal,...
The information age: Children’s reference books
Wednesday, 2 October 2019
In a time of internet fatigue, young readers are turning back to books as authoritative sources of information. Danielle Binks investigates. George Orwell is said to have stated, ‘In a...
‘Dinner Detectives’ books to be developed for TV
Thursday, 26 September 2019
Melbourne-based production studio BES Animation has acquired world broadcast and digital content rights to self-published picture book series ‘Dinner Detectives’, with plans to develop the books into a multi-platform TV...
Windy Hollow makes first North American sale with ‘Ivy Bird’
Thursday, 26 September 2019
Independent children’s publisher Windy Hollow has sold North American rights to Ivy Bird (Tania McCartney, illus by Jess Racklyeft) to Blue Dot Books. The deal, negotiated by Natasha Solomun at...
Audiobooks for children double in popularity in UK
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
In the UK, the popularity of children's audiobooks has increased by 138% since January 2018, reports the Bookseller. In a report shared at the Bookseller Children's Conference in London, market...
Hoffmann’s ‘inclusive, uplifting’ picture books sold to US
Monday, 23 September 2019
Hardie Grant Egmont has sold US rights to Susann Hoffmann’s Girls are Pretty ... (smart, clever, fast) and Boys Will Be ... (kind, calm, creative) to Penguin Philomel. Girls are...
May Gibbs trust announces 2020 fellows
Friday, 20 September 2019
The May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust has announced six fellows for 2020. The recipients of the fellowship are: Mark Carthew Deb Fitzpatrick Sadami Konchi Meg McKinlay Chrissie Perry Michelle Vasiliu....
Drawn to writing: Rove McManus on ‘Disgusting McGrossface’
Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Aussie television personality Rove McManus makes his foray into children’s books with picture book Disgusting McGrossface (Scholastic, September) and younger readers novel Rocky Lobstar (Scholastic, October). Kelsey Oldham spoke to...
Environment Award for Children’s Literature 2019 winners announced
Monday, 16 September 2019
The Wilderness Society has announced the winners of the 2019 Environment Award for Children’s Literature. The winners are: Picture fiction The All New Must Have Orange 430 (Michael Speechley, Viking)...
Walker acquires Neridah McMullin picture book
Monday, 16 September 2019
Walker Books Australia has acquired world rights to a new picture book by Neridah McMullin called The Drover. Based a true story, the book follows a young female drover as...
Love wins 2019 Klaus Flugge Prize
Thursday, 12 September 2019
In the UK, Jessica Love has won the £5000 (A$8990) Klaus Flugge Prize for most promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration for Julian is a Mermaid (Walker Books), reports...
The Children’s Bookshop to close in November
Wednesday, 11 September 2019
The Children’s Bookshop in the Sydney suburb of Beecroft will close at the end of November. The shop opened in 1971 and has been owned by Paul Macdonald for the...
Walker to distribute new UK children’s publisher in ANZ
Wednesday, 11 September 2019
A new UK-based independent children’s publisher will launch in 2020, with Walker Books Australia to handle local distribution. Australian ex-pat Rachel Williams and colleague Jenny Broom will launch Magic Cat...
Hardie Grant Egmont to release new Billie B Brown books to celebrate 10 years
Tuesday, 10 September 2019
Hardie Grant Egmont (HGE) will publish three new Billie B Brown books (Sally Rippin, illus by Aki Fukuoka) in April 2020, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the bestselling series....
Scaling new heights: H M Waugh on ‘The Lost Stone of SkyCity’
Thursday, 5 September 2019
H M Waugh’s middle-grade fantasy The Lost Stone of SkyCity (Fremantle Press, October) is set in the mountainous worlds of the Dirt and the Ice. Reviewer Catherine Moller spoke to...
Noni, Black win 2019 Inky Awards
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Lynette Noni and Holly Black have won the 2019 Inky Awards, presented by State Library Victoria (SLV). Noni’s dystopian YA novel Whisper (Pantera) won the Gold Inky Award for an...
Place of exchange: Jane Stratton on Lost in Books
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Lost in Books is a multilingual children’s bookshop in Fairfield, Sydney. A project of the Think+Do Tank Foundation, the shop’s mission is to celebrate and support multilingual literacy and creativity....
‘My Pet Star’ named Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year 2019
Friday, 30 August 2019
UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has announced the winners of its 2019 Children’s Book Awards. The overall prize for children’s book of the year was awarded to My Pet Star (Rosalind...
Fremantle sells ‘Antarctica’ picture book to US
Wednesday, 28 August 2019
Fremantle Press has sold US rights to Moira Court’s forthcoming picture book Antarctica to Massachusetts-based children’s publisher Charlesbridge. ‘Charlesbridge’s roots are in nature nonfiction, which is what attracted them to...
Puffin grants in New Zealand
Wednesday, 28 August 2019
As part of Puffin’s upcoming 80th anniversary, the publisher offered grants valuing up to NZ$5000 each to bookstores to fund initiatives to get kids reading. Brad Jefferies chatted to three...
‘The Secret Runners of New York’ tops July YA bestsellers chart
Friday, 23 August 2019
Matthew Reilly’s dystopian time-travel thriller The Secret Runners of New York leads the Australian YA bestsellers chart for July, unseating the film tie-in edition of Storm Boy, which has dropped to...
Scribble sells Bell and Colpoys picture books in first German deal
Thursday, 22 August 2019
Scribe’s children’s imprint, Scribble, has sold German-language rights to Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys’ picture books All the Ways to be Smart and The Underwater Fancy-Dress Parade to Suhrkamp. The...
Hardie Grant Egmont sells ‘Welcome to Your Period’ to four territories
Wednesday, 21 August 2019
Hardie Grant Egmont has sold rights in four territories to Welcome to Your Period (Yumi Stynes and Melissa Kang). North American rights were sold to Walker Books/Candlewick Press in a...
