Go behind the scenes with the picture book team take over!

To give you an insight into the wonderful world of picture books, one of our very own picture book team is taking over to reveal some of the very special Picture Book Picnic titles coming out in 2012. Get ready to tuck in!

Hello, I'm Maria, assistant editor at Walker picture books, and most of my job is about making the best picture books for children!! I get to work for the best authors and illustrators, designers and editors, looking for the very best ideas, helping mix together the best picture book ingredients in the most exciting way. When the magic works − alakazam! − up rises an amazing new picture book. This year, lots of new titles are taking their first steps out of the Walker door. So what can I tell you about the books featured in the 2012 Walker Books Picture Book Picnic?

Well, they are all completely different, that's for certain. Big-dreaming ice-lolly sticks (Rosie’s Magic Horse), a dilapidated bus that revives a community (A Bus Called Heaven) … new friends (Oliver) and cat friends (Captain Cat), big brothers (Blue) and noisy families (Too Noisy) ... these books really buzz! Read any one of them and it will carry you away, transport you, take you somewhere you've never been before.

Here are a couple of titles I've picked out with the team to start with and we're always happy to chat about them on our Twitter: @BIGPictureBooks Please fire any questions our way!

 A book we are VERY excited about is Oh No, George! (published March 1st). Chris Haughton’s second picture book introduces a goofy, hapless dog named George who simply CANNOT resist a huge, chocolatey-chocolate cake (I hear you, George!). Chris’ previous picture book A Bit Lost shone out with its olive green cover and now Oh No, George! zings with psychedelic ORANGE. It’s very thrilling to work with someone like Chris because he is part of a new wave of picture book artists with exceptional vision who work digitally, like Kevin Waldron and Jon Klassen − all of whom we’re publishing this year and next. These guys are shaping the future of Walker Picture Books to come!

We also have a very sumptuous, dreamy new offering from Polly Dunbar, Arthur’s Dream Boat (published March 1st). Imagine Inception ... but, well, for children! As Arthur attempts to tell his disinterested family all about his amazing dream, we begin to realise that he is still dreaming. This is a book that demands re-reading; scanning back through the pages, there are lots of amazing watery clues to spot … clues that all take the reader to a stunningly beautiful silent finale that carries you away on your very own dreamboat.

Fibbing and hollering his way back to our bookshelves this May is Pigeon, up to his old Diva tactics in Duckling Gets A Cookie!? This book is hilarious and I hope you all love, like I do, Mo Willems’ unique and wild style! The very wonderful thing about a Mo Willems book is that it is for the very young and the mature − everybody in fact! Both children and parents can recognise themselves in the characters. You can take a look at other Mo Willems' books here.

I could go on and on …  but I’m actually meant to be economical with words in my job! So here's a talking point for the picnic: in a special kind of storytime way, these books talk straight from the heart and that's a quality all the best picture books share.  They really come alive. Wow! You will be emotionally engaged to an extraordinary extent, I guarantee you that.

And there’s much much more on its way − keep an eye out for further posts from Maria, coming soon!

Rave Reviews...

Check out these fantastic reviews of some of our upcoming Picture Book Picnic titles from the people at We Love This Book:

The Boat That Rocked

Polly Dunbar’s surreal seafaring voyage proves to be a boat not to be missed.

When little Arthur wakes one morning, he’s eager to explain the strange, seafaring dream he’s just had to his mum, dad and siblings. But they don’t seem to be listening, and elements of Arthur’s dream keep cropping up on each successive page. Not even Arthur seems to have noticed the boat steadily perched on top of his head. Unless, of course, this is the dream…

  Polly Dunbar (Penguin, Dog Blue) writes and illustrates this unusual little tale. She takes a fairly tricky notion- how do you explain how dreams work to a youngster?- and lets a very simple story do all the work. Towards the end words fall away entirely, leaving only sparse, striking images, replete with eye-popping colours and patterns. It’s gently surreal, in the grand tradition of bizarre children’s picture-book creators such as Maurice Sendak, Davis McKee and Anthony Browne. While fun from the first pass, it reveals more and more with each reading. Small readers will spend many happy hours unravelling the little details within.

Arthur’s Dream Boat by Polly Dunbar

Walker HB Out March

Oh No, George!

By Chris Haughton

Walker HB Out March

When Harris goes out for a bit, George the dog promises to be good- but chocolate cake is very hard to resist, and he does love to chase cats and dig soil so much… Oh No, George!, the second picture book from Chris Haughton, the award-winning writer and illustrator of A Bit Lost, is fun to read and will appeal to children and adults alike. The story is full of humour, but there’s also a great message about saying sorry and trying to be good- even when it’s very difficult because your urges are pulling you in the other direction! With his strong, vibrant colours, lively characters and distinctive writing style, Haughton is quickly becoming one of our best new picture-book authors.

Happy New Year everyone!

As scary as it is that 2012 has landed, it’s also exciting because it will bring a new hamper of books for the Picture Book Picnic. We can’t wait for you to tuck in!

To kick off the year, we’ve got some pretty exciting news – a selection of our picture books are now available on the iBookstore. So, any of you who were lucky enough to get iphones and ipads for Christmas can now buy some of the best picture books around for them.



Click on the links below...

Silly Suzy Goose- Petr Horacek

Suzy Goose and the Christmas Star- Petr Horacek

Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present- John Burningham

Maisy Goes to the City- Lucy Cousins

Maisy Goes on Holiday- Lucy Cousins

A Bit Lost- Chris Haughton

Can't You Sleep Little Bear- Martin Waddell

Handa's Surprise- Eileen Browne

The Pencil- Allan Ahlberg

Little Rabbit Foo Foo- Michael Rosen

This is just the beginning, too. More and more of our books will be on sale through iBooks during the year.

 

Next week, the brilliant Picture Book team here at Walker will be posting about the books featuring in our Picture Book Picnic for 2012 that they’re looking forward to publishing over the year, so don’t miss it…

It's Christmaaaaass!! (well almost)

With the festive period nearly upon us we have lots of fabulous picture books for you to enjoy. Whether you want a Christmas classic or a winter wonder we’ve got something for everyone. So why not snuggle up and have your very own toasty indoor picture book picnic!

Kicking things off we have Christmas at the Toy Museum by David Lucas and when the lights go out the magic begins! Bunting and the rest of the toys in the museum are gathered around the tree - but what's this? There are no presents! What can they do? The normally reserved Bunting has a wonderful idea. Why don't the toys give themselves to each other as gifts? The toys learn about the true gift of giving in this gentle and affectionate picture book from one of Britain's brightest new talents.





The next festive treat we have for you is a wonderful picture book by first time author and illustrator Fiona Ross entitled Chilly Milly Moo. Milly Moo, only wants one thing - to churn out the finest, loveliest, tastiest, creamiest milk. But there's a problem - she's far too hot. She's too hot to make any milk at all! The other cows all make fun of her and the farmer is losing patience. Milly Moo dreams of a freezing cold land and as the temperature drops something very exciting happens...





Rounding things up is A House in the Woods. Warm, rich and funny this is a beautifully illustrated picture book from acclaimed picture book maker Inga Moore. When two Little Pigs leave their home-made huts one morning, two very large friends move in - Moose and Bear. It's very nice to have your friends stay, but not when they cause your home to collapse! The solution: build a house in the woods where all four of them can live together, little and big. With some help from the beaver builders and a LOT of peanut-butter sandwiches, that's exactly what they do. Set in an idyllic woodland world, this stunning new title from Inga Moore is sure to entrance readers - both young and old.



And if that wasn’t enough you can find even more wonderful picture book delights on our website here.

Has Anyone Seen My Chihuahua?

This month saw the publication of the fabulous Picture Book Picnic title Has Anyone Seen my Chihuahua? by Clare Wigfall & Ollie Lett. Playful, vibrant and highly entertaining, this is an original picture book about a child's missing Chihuahua.



Oh, where has he gone? A little girl has lost her Chihuahua! And he's her bestest best friend! He's soft, cuddly, bouncy and has the most ENORMOUS ears. But none of the animals she meets resemble her lost Chihuahua, Fernando. Each of them is too big, too small, too green or too

feathery. Will she ever find him?

Illustrator Ollie Lett is a fine artist and his style and colour palette create something very unique on the page whilst author Clare Wigfall, an established writer of adult fiction, presents us with her first picture book text. Clare's voice is contemporary, accessible and very funny. Together Ollie and Clare have produced a great read-aloud for young children and whilst this is the first time Clare and Ollie have worked together they are also life-long friends which you can see coming across in the warmth and humour of Has Anyone Seen my Chihuahua?



Excitingly Clare is also the current Booktrust writer in residence giving you lots of behind the scenes glimpses to the way she writes, what influences her work, music she listens to and a very fascinating blog post about the creative process behind Has Anyone Seen my Chihuahua – do go and take a look, it’s a great read.



Clare has very kindly agreed to do a special Picture Book Picnic blog post, for your eyes only, so look out for that coming very soon.

South Ken Kids Festival 24th - 27th November

 

Four of our wonderful Picture Book Picnic authors and illustrators will be attending South Ken Kids Festival, 24th -27th November. Polly Dunbar, Viviane Schwarz, Chris Haughton and Sara Fanelli will all be doing events, from drawing duels to create your own story workshops – there’s guaranteed to be something to entertain your little ones!

Things kick off with Sara Fanelli, illustrator of Pinocchio, on Saturday 26th November at the French Institute. Sara will be in discussion with Lauren Child talking about their French passions in the world of illustration.Whilst author and illustrator Viviane Schwarz will be leading a workshop showing you how to create some of her playful cats from her hilarious picture book There Are No Cats in This Book!

Super Sunday follows with Polly Dunbar’s create a story workshop kicking things off at 10am; you will discover a world of wonder and characters with Polly and meet Penguin, Tilly and Friends. Polly will create a shared story with the participants using everybody’s input!



The drawing duels then kick off at 11am on Sunday with Chris Haughton taking on Joëlle Jolivet. Joëlle’s 365 penguins will duel against Chris’s lost owl from A Bit Lost; a winged duel for an intense and unusual session of bird-watching.

12 o’clock see’s Viviane Schwarz take on Stephanie Blake in another drawing duel. Viv’s many crafty cats will take on Simon the rabbit – who will lose more fur? Hopefully the cats will win out as Viv will then take on Marc Boutavant and his cuddly bear in a second drawing duel at 1.15pm on Sunday.







The final duelling duo will be Polly Dunbar and Olivier Tallec at 2pm. Tallec’s dynamic duo Rita and Whatsit will duel against Polly’s Tilly and friends. Prepare to rock and roll!



All the authors and illustrators will also be taking part in public book signings throughout the day giving everyone a chance to get their favourite books signed.



For more information and to book tickets for these events visit the South Ken Chidren's Festival website here.

Mole & Friends Join the RNIB's Really Good Read.....

We have joined forces with the RNIB and Waterstone’s in a partnership to launch the RNIB’s Really Good Read campaign, inviting the nation to celebrate the joy of reading and to help RNIB continue to provide reading services for adults and children with sight problems across the UK. 



The signature event will be an attempt to smash the Guinness World Record for the worlds’ longest reading relay at Waterstone’s Piccadilly on Thursday 13th October, 350 people, including children who are partially sighted or who are blind, will gather to each read aloud from Anthony Horowitz’s exclusive Diamond Brothers’ short story The Double Eagle has Landed, not yet published in the UK. The story will be accessible to everyone at the record attempt, as it will be available in giant print, audio and Braille, as well as in standard print.  The current Austrian world record is 290 people.  Anthony says:



"I'm delighted that one of my stories has been chosen for this world record-breaking attempt. I'm afraid 13th October will be a sad day for Austria as we smash the record and fly the flag for the UK. All credit to RNIB and Waterstone's for encouraging literacy in such a fun and inclusive way."



Walker Books, Waterstone’s and the RNIB will also mark the first ever Read for RNIB Day on 14th October, by giving children all over the country a free picture book.  A special edition of Mole’s Sunrise by Jeanne Willis and Sarah Fox-Davies – a beautifully written story which reminds us how important sight is – will be given away through the Daily Mail where readers will be invited to take a voucher to Waterstone’s stores nationwide to collect their free copy. For every voucher redeemed, Waterstone’s will also donate 20p to the RNIB to help blind and partially sighted people find their lives again



Every day 100 people in the UK start to lose their sight. To find out more information or to join people reading for fun, and help the blind and partially sighted, do visit www.rnib.org.uk/readforrnibday