As a book publicist, I have helped authors to promote their books. Please see a list of authors I promoted during my time at Oxford University Press Children’s Books.
June 2006
Read at Home: Phonic Flashcards – Alphabet Games by Kate Ruttle and Annemarie
Young Fun sticker activity book based on scenes from the 6 Level 1 RAH stories 8 stand-alone scenes drawn from the 6 Read at Home Level 1 stories (Funny Fish, Silly Races, Dad’s birthday, Snowman, Mum’s New Hat, Picnic Time).
The fun stickering activities support character recognition, colour recognition, matching/pairing skills and early reading, reinforcing text in books, as well as reinforcing the fun of reading with additional stickers to embellish the pictures.
Scenes include: What are they wearing? (matching tops to characters), What are they taking? (all items with which to decorate the Snowman), What have they caught? (strange objects caught in Funny Fish) etc. 2dps of stickers as a centre-fold.
* The series was fully endorsed in research carried out in parental focus groups.
Apocalypse by Tim Bowler
A gripping and scintillating novel from best-selling author Tim Bowler, for the first time in paperback
After a dramatic accident Kit and his parents find themselves washed up on a small island. But there is no sanctuary here. The local community is hostile and menacing.
Soon Kit’s life is in danger and he is forced to face not just the inhabitants but a disturbing new arrival whose presence on the island terrifies the community. In his struggle to stay alive and make sense of what is happening Kit is forced to confront good and evil in unexpected forms, even within himself, and face trials and dangers beyond anything he could have imagined.
Reviews
“One of the truly individual voices of British teenage fiction” – The Independent
Frozen Fire by Tim Bowler
A gripping new novel from best-selling author Tim Bowler
It starts with the phone call, late at night. The mysterious boy says he is dying. Dusty doesn’t want to get involved – but the boy seems to have a link to the one person who’s most important to her. Soon she has been drawn in – and now she has to deal with the other people who are looking for the boy – the violent man and his two sons, and the police too . . .
Yet throughout all this, Dusty senses the presence of a boy who is not dying, a strange elusive boy who can show her what happened to her missing brother and solve the greatest mystery of her life. Where he is, who he is, why he wants to die, she cannot say. Only one thing is certain. Finding him will be dangerous.
Reviews
“One of the truly individual voices in British teenage fiction.” – The Independent
Clubbing Together
Sammie, Brody, Alex, and Jolene are the fabulous, feisty girls from the After School Club and each has their own story to tell.
Following on from the success of ‘Clubbing Together’ comes another fantastic bind-up featuring ‘Sammie’s Back’ and ‘Brody’s Back’
A bumper bind-up of two fantastic stories about the friends from the After School Club.
In ‘Sammie’s Back’, all Sammie wants is for her mum and dad to get back together – so she makes a wish and tries to make it come true. But the reality is not nearly as good as the dream, and when things go horribly wrong Sammie feels like a failure. Especially as all her friends seem to have such perfect families – why can’t hers be like that?
Brody’s also having problems in ‘Brody’s Back’ – she’s finding life a bit hard. Everyone always relies upon her – but there’s nobody there for her when she need some help. Even her best buddy’s let her down. She decides that enough’s enough – Mrs Fryston can find someone else to captain the Book Quiz, and all the others can just get off her case.
Reviews
“Pielichaty tackles real issues that worry kids with both sympathy and humour and finds the extraordinary in the very ordinary. ” – The Guardian’s Amazing Stories
Here Be Monsters
An astonishing journey into the unbelievably weird world of Ratbridge, paperback edition of the hugely successful book from one of the UK’s top illustrators
Welcome to Ratbridge. But beware – for there is skulduggery afoot. Arthur has fallen foul of the appalling Snatcher and is trapped alone in the town, with no way home. Meanwhile Snatcher and his men are working tirelessly in secret on a fiendish and dastardly plan to take over Ratbridge – and the world. With the help of Willbury Nibble QC, some friendly boxtrolls and cabbage-heads, Marjorie the frustrated inventor, and the rats and pirates from the Ratbridge Nautical Laundry, can Arthur thwart Snatcher’s evil plans – and find his way home?
Illustrated throughout with hundreds of the author’s incredible black and white drawings, this unmissable debut novel was published to huge acclaim in September 2005 and looks certain to become a new classic for readers of all ages.
Reviews
“Hilarious” – Disney Bigtime Book of the Month
“With superb illustrations and a lavishly imaginative plot, Here Be Monsters! suggests that Roald Dahl might well have a 21st century successor – and that JK Rowling could have some competition on her hands” – The Big Issue
“as much fun to look at as it is to read” – Sunday Times
Ivy by Julie Hearn
Better than Girl with a Pearl Earring . . .
The only beautiful thing in Ivy’s drab life is her glorious red hair. At a young age, her locks made her the target of Carroty Kate, a ‘skinner’. She recruited Ivy to help her coax wealthy children away from their nannies so that she could strip them of their clothes – clothes worth a fortune in the markets of Petticoat Lane. It is years before Ivy escapes and finds her way back to her in-laws. Once there, she finds respite in laudanum. But before she can settle into a stupor and forget the terrible things she has done, Ivy is spotted by a wealthy pre-Raphaelite painter.
Oscar Fosdick needs a muse (until now he has had to use his domineering mother as a model, something not conducive to producing his best work, he finds). To him, Ivy is perfect, a stunner. Realising quickly that this painter has more money than sense, Ivy’s in-laws order her to sit for him, and to do anything else he demands. But not everyone is happy. Oscar’s mother is determined to get rid of Ivy. Oscar’s famous neighbour is determined to paint her. Carroty Kate is determined to find her, and Ivy herself is determined to escape . . .
Reviews
“[Reviews for The Merrybegot]: ‘A lively and brilliant work. This book leapt out at me. It startled me and then held my attention.” – Gaye Hicyilmaz, TES
“combines magic realism and historical fact in a formula that Julia Hearn has made her own, proving that her brilliant novel Follow Me Down was not just beginner’s luck” – Sunday Telegraph
“a fantastic read” – School Librarian
“Hearn writes with great Brio and style. Her characters . . . spring from the page. We can hear their voices, and the details of their lives are economically but vividly depicted.” – Guardian
“Ingeniously structured, with compelling plot twists, it is engrossing and immediate; Hearn has the skill of a conjuror and her novel casts a spell” – Sunday Times
“A gripping, atmospheric novel, which demands reading at one sitting. Five Stars.” – Books for Keeps
“Told in clear, vivid prose and peopled with sympathetic characters, it is a huge leap forward for a talented new storyteller” – The Times
Measle by Ian Ogilvy
Measle Stubbs is not all he seems. At first glance he looks just like an ordinary kid – a bit skinny and with sticking-up hair – but nevertheless, ordinary. But Measle isn’t like other kids, he’s special … the most unlikely hero you could ever come across, but a hero all the same.
The first book in the highly successful Measle series – now with stunning green paperback cover
A magical adventure story about an orphan called Measle who lives with his horrible guardian, Basil Tramplebone. Basil is a Wrathmonk – the worst kind of wizard – and when he finds Measle playing with his beloved train set he zaps him with an evil spell. Now Measle’s only a few centimetres tall and trapped in the world of the train set. There’s a hungry bat in the rafters waiting for nightfall to swoop down on Measle and there’s an enormous cockroach after him, but Measle finds some friends in the train set and together they come up with a plan.
Reviews
“An extremely enjoyable book.” – School Librarian
“A terrific adventure in which the writing and the invention burst into life” – The Times Educational Supplement
“Come to think of it, stink is what Ogilvy does best. This is a book that smells superbly foul.” – Michael Rosen, The Guardian
“A terrific tale in every sense” – Amanda Craig, The Times
Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean
Neverland is calling again…
Something is wrong in Neverland. Dreams are leaking out-strangely real dreams, of pirates and mermaids, of warpaint and crocodiles. For Wendy and the Lost Boys it is a clear signal-Peter Pan needs their help, and so it is time to do the unthinkable and fly to Neverland again. But back in Neverland, everything has changed-and the dangers they find there are far beyond their dreams. . .
Specially commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children as the winner of their competition to write the official sequel to J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, Peter Pan in Scarlet is a thrilling adventure that you will never forget. Proceeds from every copy sold will go to benefit Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
Reviews
“It’s about adventure and bravery and cowardice and aching poignancy – and in this book McCaughrean has captured the lot.” – THE DAILY EXPRESS
“The official sequel to Peter Pan needs to be an exceptional book, and that’s exactly what we have in Peter Pan in Scarlet… What McCaughrean has done is nothing short of miraculous. It’s enough to make you believe in fairies.” – PHILIP ARDAGH, THE GUARDIAN
“a spectacularly impressive work” – THE RADIO TIMES
“it’s hard to see how she could have done it better.” – THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
“By some mysterious process of osmosis, she has brilliantly mixed Barrie’s preoccupations with her own, aping his engaging style but also adding to it; the result is a little masterpiece.” – CRAIG BROWN, THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
The new novel from a major award-winning author, now in paperback-the story of a teenage girl with an obsession with the Antarctic
Captain Titus Oates, hero of the Antarctic, has been dead for nearly a century. But not in Sym’s head. In there, he is her constant companion, her soulmate, her adviser. It is as if he walked out of the Polar blizzard and into her mind. In fact, if it were not for Titus, life might be as bleak a place as the Antarctic wilderness.
When she is taken on a mystery expedition by her eccentric uncle Victor, Sym can’t believe her luck. Destination Antarctica-the very place she’s always wanted to visit. But Victor has other plans, more sinister than Sym could possibly imagine. Stranded in the most isolated part of the world with her trust in someone she comes to realize is a madman, she must find a way to avoid a gruesome fate. But what should a teenage girl do? Could it be that Titus, the one who perished in that very place, will be the means of her survival?
Reviews
“Geraldine McCaughrean has long been a fine novelist; The White Darkness makes her a great one as well. Wickedly funny and diabolically clever . . . this has to be one of the most remarkable novels for children published in the last fifty years.” – Nicholas Tucker
“A breathtakingly fine novel.” – Lindsey Fraser, The Bookseller
“The White Darkness is simply brilliant, totally original, always surprising… McCaughrean, as always, writes like a dream.” – Wendy Cooling
“A dazzling, pitiless story about Antarctica. McCaughrean’s imagination is fierce, tireless, unpredictable.” – The Observer
“The White Darkness is as good as it gets.” – Independent on Sunday
Shapeshifter by Ally Sparkes
Adventure, conspiracy and shapeshifting – X-Men meets Alex Rider
Dax Jones is an ordinary schoolboy . . . until something extraordinary happens one day. Whilst frightened for his life, he inexplicably changes into a fox! Before long, both a government agent and an ambitious young journalist are on his tail. The agent tells him that he is one of several children with special powers and he’s been offered a place at a secret government school where he can develop, and learn to control, these powers. If Dax accepts, on no account can he tell anybody, especially not the journalist.
Dax jumps at the chance of attending the boarding school. His home life is unhappy and he would do anything to escape it. And when he gets to the school, he is amazed to find himself amongst kids with all sorts of talents, from the ability to levitate to the ability to move things using only the mind. Dax immediately feels at home. But first the journalist tracks him down. And then he begins to wonder who exactly is behind the school, and what they want from the pupils there. Suddenly Dax’s fox senses are on high alert . . .
The Wrong Hands by Nigel Richardson
An astonishingly readable, yet powerful and original story
Hey, pay attention! His name is Graham Sinclair. This is his wisdom.
Graham was born with disaster areas for hands. He was also born with a secret. The only time he’s ever told someone his secret, it got him into big trouble. So he won’t be telling anyone ever again.
Then, suddenly, his life is changed for ever. The plane, the baby, the e-mail out of the blue – is he going to have to reveal his secret once again? It could be an amazing opportunity – or the biggest mistake of his life . . .
Reviews
“An intriguing debut novel from a compelling new voice – don’t let this one slip through your fingers.” – The Bookseller
“an intriguing read for young teens.” – The Sunday Telegraph
“Sassy teenagers (and their parents) will love it.” – Sunday Times
Tom Trueheart by Ian Beck
Warm and funny stories which give the reader a new take on the traditional fairy tale
Tom Trueheart wants to be an adventurer like his six older brothers. They’re all employed by the Story Bureau to take the lead in any number of thrilling tales – tales which mean they have to rescue red-hooded young ladies or climb outlandishly large beanstalks. Each story is started off by the Story Bureau and it’s up to the adventurer to make of the story what he will.
But this time something’s gone wrong – none of the stories are being finished and none of the Trueheart brothers have returned home. Now Tom will get his chance to be a hero – he must set off to the Land of Stories and find out what has happened to his brothers and bring them back.
Reviews
“a delightful book, and one with a wide potential audience . . . a story with a timeless quality and great charm for bedtime reading upwards.” – Marcus Sedgwick, the Literary Review
“This handsome little book with striking silhouette illustrations, contains a wonderful story.” – Julia Eccleshare, lovereadingforkids.com
“Tom’s quest to discover his own story and his courage, unrolls through an elegantly described magical landscape, in this skilful, highly inventive story about the way stories work.” – Booktrust
“looks likely to become one of the hits of 2006” – Amanda Craig, The Times
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