Pushkin Children's Books

The Snow Queen

Our rather beautiful children’s book The Snow Queen is a sparkling new translation (by Misha Hoekstra) of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic children’s tale of ice and snow, good and evil; but did you know that it was the initial inspiration behind Disney’s Frozen?

We’ve been thinking about other books which have inspired classic Disney films, from fairy stories to jungle tales. What is your favourite children’s film based on a book? Tweet us your answer to win a copy of our gorgeous edition of The Snow Queen.

Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll’s classically kooky tale of Alice falling through a rabbit hole has inspired a wealth of references in popular culture and literature from The Matrix to Jefferson Airplane. Not least is the 1951 Disney adaptation which is widely loved and known as one of the biggest cult classics in animation.

Peter Pan
Neverland was of course initially dreamed up by playwright J. M. Barrie, with Peter Pan’s cast of Lost Boys, Native Americans, fairies and pirates initially the traffic of a stage play. The play was later published by Barrie as a novel Peter and Wendy and given the Walt Disney treatment in 1953.

The Little Mermaid
Another classic Hans Christian Andersen tale, The Little Mermaid was turned into a Disney film in 1989 and is often credited for breathing life back into the tradition of Disney animated feature films.

Rapunzel
Originally a folk tale from the Brothers Grimm stable, Rapunzel received its Disney adaptation in the form of the 2010 3D computer-animated film Tangled. Both the film and original story play on rebellion and growing up, but in this case (unlike most Grimm/ Disney adaptations), the Disney version is the darker of the two.

The Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling’s childhood experiences in India were the foundation for The Jungle Book, a collection of stores initially published in magazines in 1893. When Disney produced their 1967 animated film it took huge liberties with the plot of Kipling’s Mowgli stories, and also mangled the pronunciation of many of the character’s names.

Do you have a favourite children’s book that inspired a film? Tell us on Twitter to win a copy of The Snow Queen!

Ali Smith’s The Story of Antigone

The gorgeous paperback edition of The Story of Antigone is out today!

Ali Smith breathes life into Sophocles’s tragedy, reworking the two thousand year old myth for a new generation. Ali’s witty prose shines alongside stylish illustrations by artist Laura Paoletti.

To give you a flavour of this wonderful retelling, we’ve got a hilarious interview with Ali Smith and Crow, the book’s rather unusual narrator. Read it now.

Meet Lafcadio!

“You don’t have to shoot me,” says the young lion. “I will be your rug and I will lie in front of your fireplace and I won’t move a muscle and you can sit on me and toast all the marshmallows you want. I love marshmallows.”

Meet Lafcadio, the furry star of Shel Silverstein’s hilarious Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back, a modern fable which speaks not only to children, but to us all!

Can’t wait to get to know your new feline friend? Pre-order Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back now.

Catlantis is out now!

Meet Baguette, the heroic ginger cat on a mission…

As everyone knows, cats are descended from the prehistoric, beautiful, mighty Catlanteans. They had magical powers, and they lived their wonderful nine lives on the legendary island of Catlantis. Until, one day, cataclysm and catastrophe caused it to sink into the ocean and disappear without a trace.

And now, the heroic Baguette must find the magical Catlantean flower and save the lives of all the cats in the world. But will the beastly black cat Noir succeed in foiling Baguette’s carefully laid plans? Will Baguette return safely from his travels back in time to Catlantis? Will he ever get to marry Purriana, the love of his life?

This furry feline is on shelves now! Why not pick up your copy from our online shop?

The Secret of the Blue Glass nominated for the Carnegie Medal

We’re absolutely overjoyed to announce that The Secret of the Blue Glass by Tomiko Inui (translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori) has been shortlisted for the 2016 CLIP Carnegie Medal.

This nomination is particularly special as this is the first year the Carnegie Awards have been open to translations and The Secret of the Blue Glass is the only translated novel on the longlist.

(more…)

How do you translate a children’s book?

The Secrets of the Wild Wood, the long-awaited sequel to the bestselling The Letter for the King, is now out and to celebrate we asked blogger extraordinaire Sanne Vliegenthart to interview the books’ translator Laura Watkinson. Sit back and watch their wonderful conversation below, covering the difficulty of translating puns, adjusting character names and more!

Pillows and Paintbrushes!

In need of the perfect adventure for the little ones? We’ve got just the ticket…

Pack your bags and run away to Dulwich Picture Gallery! Follow in the footsteps of Claudia and Jamie Kincaid for a night-time adventure as we delve into the world of From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler. Visit Mrs E Frankweiler’s house and listen to her tales, explore the mysteries of the Gallery with our special Mixed-Up Files treasure hunt, make your own autographed book bag to take with you on your future escapades and get some shuteye in the company of Rembrandt and friends. In the morning you’ll awake to breakfast over a film!

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Enter the kingdom of Dagonaut once more…

In 2013, the most famous, bestselling classic children’s novel from Holland was published in the UK for the first time after more than 50 years of international success. It was selected multiple times as a Book of the Year, shortlisted for the Marsh Award and enthralled a new generation of children…

The book was called The Letter for the King and today Knight Tiuri and his trusty squire and friend Piak are back in another thrilling epic adventure.

(more…)

Meet at the Ark at Eight!

By Ulrich Hub

Illustrations by Jörg Mühle

A hilarious and sweetly philosophical twist on a classic tale: three penguin pals refuse to enter the ark two by two

(more…)

The Secret of the Blue Glass

By Tomiko Inui

A magical miniature family's adventures in wartime Japan

In a dusty library, in the quietest corner of a house in a Tokyo suburb, live the Little People: Fern and Balbo, Robin and Iris. Just a few inches high, sleeping in cigarette boxes and crafting shoes from old book jackets, they need only one thing from their Humans – a nightly glass of milk, served in a sparkling Blue Glass goblet, by a trusted young member of the Human family.

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In Their Shoes: The Story of Yexian

There is a story among southerners that before the Qin and the Han there was a cave master named Wu. The local people called the place Wu cave. Wu took two wives but one wife died, leaving a daughter named Yexian. When she was young, she was intelligent and skilled at metal working. Her father loved her, but before a year had passed, her father also died. She was treated badly by her stepmother, who often ordered her to collect firewood from dangerous places and to draw water from the deeps.

(more…)

In Their Shoes: Fairy Tales and Folktales

Illustrations by Lucie Arnoux

Fairy tales of footwear from around the world

Red shoes, golden slippers, seven-league boots… Just step into the shoes of princes and princesses, ogres and orphans, cats and rabbits, and discover a fascinating fairy-tale world of footwear.

(more…)

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

By E. L. Konigsburg

The million-selling, award-winning classic novel - finally available again in the UK!

New York City girl Claudia, a mere month shy of being a twelve-year-old, has resolved to run away from home with her younger brother, Jamie. She knows that she could never pull off the classic spur-of-the-moment departure without a destination (inevitably involving having to eat outside with the insects, and cupcakes melting in the sun); so she plans everything to perfection, including their destination: the grand, elegant, beautiful, all-encompassing Metropolitan Museum of Art.

(more…)

Yiyun Li Wins Sunday Times Short Story Award

We are delighted to report that the great Yiyun Li has won the 2015 Sunday Times Short Story Award, for ‘A Sheltered Woman’. Li – who, among a universe full of other things, is the author of the ineffably beautiful The Story of Gilgamesh – fought off fellow nominees Elizabeth McCracken, Scott O’Connor, Paula Morris, Madeleine Thien and Rebecca F. John to win the prestigious award, which was judged by Andrew Holgate, Elif Shafak, Richard Eyre, Alex Clark and Aminatta Forna.

Elif Shafak said: ‘Amidst a diverse and dazzling shortlist, which made our job as jury members very, very difficult… Yiyun Li’s “A Sheltered Woman” has enchanted us with its exquisite crafting, brilliant observations and modest but powerful voice.’

Read the story now, here.

Fuzz McFlops

By Eva Furnari

Celebrate Easter with this heart-warming story about a brilliant bunny author who finds a cure for the blues

My name is Fuzz. I am a poet and a writer. I am a loner and don’t like to leave my burrow. When I was young, I had a hard time because one of my ears was shorter than the other. My classmates made fun of me…

Fuzz McFlops is one of the most famous rabbit-writers in the land, but since he was bullied as a child for his different-sized ears, he’s led a lonely and reclusive life, writing sad books and poems such as The Withered Carrot, The Unlucky Rabbit’s Foot and Unhappy Easter.

One day, he receives a strange violet letter tied with a purple ribbon from one of his fans Charlotte Passe-Partout, urging him to write happier, more optimistic poems. Furious, Fuzz responds with outrage, but begins to wonder whether she may have a point.

As their varied and intriguing correspondence continues, will Fuzz be able to overcome his shyness and accept her invitation to tea?

~

Published for the first time in English, Fuzz McFlops is an award-winning bestseller from one of Brazil’s leading children’s writers and has sold over 200,000 copies abroad. It is displays a unique fusion of illustration and storytelling and features writing in all forms from letters, to poems; from fairytales to recipes, from songs to postcards.

Translated from the Portuguese by Alison Entrekin
55 pp
Published 23/04/2015
ISBN 9781782690757
Flapped Paperback
£6.99

Dot and Anton

By Erich Kästner

Illustrations by Walter Trier

Introducing two of the most splentastic characters in children’s literature

'Walter Trier's deceptively innocent drawings are as classic as Kästner's words; I never tire of them' Quentin Blake

IN A STORY ABOUT

two resourceful and spirited best friends, to whom the class divide means nothing; a dodgy fiancé with an unsavoury plan; several bemused and confused adults; a notable bridge in Berlin, on which odd things take place at night; and a happy ending.

From the author of The Flying Classroom and The Parent Trap

PRAISE FOR ERICH KÄSTNER

‘There are so many books where it’s the combination of author and illustrator that makes you love them. In the case of The Flying Classroom and The Parent Trap… it’s the combo of author, illustrator and translator. The bold line drawings by Walter Trier are the work of genius… As for the stories, if you’re a fan of Emil and the Detectives, then you’ll find these just as spirited’
Melanie McDonagh, Spectator Children’s Books of the Year

 ‘A perfect story for Christmas!… The Flying Classroom tells of the friendships and adventures of a group of lively boys… As Christmas gets ever closer, hopes and fears are raised and, in the final pages, beautifully resolved’
Julia Eccleshare, Lovereading4kids Children’s Books of the Year

 ‘They explore childhood with wit and invention, while spinning magical yarns interwoven with the erratic and bizarre actions of adults and the independent-mindedness of children’
Amanda Hopkinson, PEN Atlas Books of the Year

 ‘[The Flying Classroom] breathes new life into the school story’
The Times Children’s Books of the Year

‘Two of [Kästner’s] best, The Flying Classroom (a magical school-based Christmas story) and The Parent Trap… have been revived… and fresh life breathed into them with bright new translations’
Daniel Hahn, Independent Children’s Books of the Year

‘[The Parent Trap] is famous as a film… Erich Kästner’s original is incomparably more subtle and touching while still being very funny… A wonderful story brilliantly translated’
Julia Eccleshare, Lovereading4kids Children’s Books of the Year

Translated from the German by Anthea Bell
144 pp
Published 09/04/2015
ISBN 9781782690573
Flapped Paperback
£7.99

Shola and the Lions

By Bernardo Atxaga

Illustrations by Mikel Valverde

Winner of the 2015 Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation*

'Shola is one of the most impressive heroines of the modern world' Eileen Battersby, Irish Times

Shola is a lion.
No, really. She read it in a book.
But can she convince the rest of the world of this very impressive fact? The answer involves a bottle of hair-dye, an interfering old lady, an enormous stray cat and a small dog’s stomach that goes ‘grrup’.

The much adored little dog Shola is back, in a lovely new pocket-sized paperback edition of one of the four adventures originally collected in The Adventures of Shola, *which won the prestigious 2015 Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation. Shola and the Lions is an irresistible piece of canine fun by one of the great writers of our time, the award-winning Basque author Bernardo Atxaga, delightfully illustrated in colour throughout by Mikel Valverde.

Endearing and full of personality, Shola will amuse readers both young and old, as she sets out to prove that small dogs are not to be messed with.

Unless of course, it’s dinner time… then everything else can wait.

Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa
56 pp
Published 26/03/2015
ISBN 9781782690641
Flapped Paperback
£7.99

The Letter for the King: Winter Edition

Happy 1st (English) birthday!

To celebrate the first birthday of the English translation of The Letter for the King, we’ve made a very special winter edition.

We have also teamed up with First News to rekindle the lost art of letter writing: children across the country are invited to enter a letter-writing competition!

Letter writing is a great skill that comes in handy in loads of situations: whether it’s writing a thank-you letter, a fan letter or an application for work experience – a good letter can make you stand out from the crowd!

Up, down, and all around the world of Greek myths

“I'm going to count this fun-packed picaresque adventure novel as one of my own luckiest finds of 2014” – Professor Paul Cartledge

The mischievous, energetic and irrepressibly curious young god Hermes seems to be present at every important event in ancient Greek mythology – from Prometheus to Pegasus, via Medea and Medusa. In 100 snappy episodes, The Adventures of Hermes, God of Thieves: 100 Journeys through Greek Mythology follows his journey.

The book has been a huge success in France, and the writer Murielle Szac explains why:

“From the very beginning, the point of this book was to enable children to have access to Greek mythology… I decided to pick a single guiding character, someone who would be on the side of the children, who would lead them through the stories from beginning to end. Hermes seemed perfect in every way. He is the god of communication – between the gods, between gods and men – and he is also young, and knows as much as the reader does.”

Buy the book here.

New Kästner Books for Christmas

Erich Kästner is undoubtedly one of the most important and best loved children’s authors in the world. Already famous in the UK as the author of Emil and the Detectives, he has written numerous wonderful ‘novels for children’, and we are publishing new English translations of two of them this November: The Parent Trap, the story of twin girls separated at birth, which inspired two major Disney films starring Hayley Mills (in 1961) and Lindsay Lohan (in 1998); and The Flying Classroom, a very funny and touching Christmas tale set in a 1930s boys’ boarding school. These will be followed in Spring 2015 by Dot and Anton.

Our Kästner books have been newly translated from the German – with the generous support of the Goethe-Institut (which is funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs) – by Anthea Bell, the celebrated and award-winning translator who introduced millions of English-speaking readers to the joys of Asterix, and include the original illustrations by Walter Trier (the Quentin Blake to Kästner’s Roald Dahl).

Praise for Emil and the Detectives:

‘Groundbreaking… quite remarkable’ Michael Rosen
‘Marvellous’ Philip Pullman
‘A little masterpiece… Read it and you will be happy’ Maurice Sendak

Save the Story – the full collection

All ten stories in the series have now been saved

‘An amazing new series from Pushkin Press in which literary, adult authors retell classics (with terrific illustrations) for a younger generation’ - Daily Telegraph

The Story of Antigone by Ali Smith
The Story of Gulliver by Jonathan Coe
The Story of Don Juan by Alessandro Baricco
The Story of Captain Nemo by Dave Eggers
The Story of the Betrothed by Umberto Eco
The Story of Gilgamesh by Yiyun Li
The Story of Cyrano de Bergerac by Stefano Benni
The Story of the Nose by Andrea Camilleri
The Story of King Lear by Melania G. Mazzucco
The Story of Crime and Punishment by A. B. Yehoshua

The Story of the Blue Planet Wins UKLA Award

Andri Snær Magnason‘s The Story of the Blue Planet (translated by Júlían
Meldon D’Arcy and illustrated by Áslaug Jónsdóttir) has won the UKLA Book
Award in the 7–11 Year Old Category. The prize is judged exclusively by
teachers, who were wowed by this magical modern fairy tale and the
fantastic reaction it received from teachers and schoolchildren – click
here to see what they said. Magnason’s success also marks the first time
that a book in translation won the award and adds to his previous
achievement of winning the prestigious Icelandic Literary Prize.

Find out more about the book here.

Click here to see our study pack for the book.

Take a flight with the author of The Little Prince…

 ‘Sís’s works are less picture books than little miracles of design… A compelling, multilayered visual treat’
Booklist, Starred Review

‘Sís’s handling of the aviator’s last flight and disappearance strikes just the right notes of mystery, majesty and quiet wonder. Brilliant bookmaking’

School Library Journal, Starred Review

‘Extraordinary and wonderful’
Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

‘A sumptuous allegory, magnificently drawn, by another poet who has wandered far from his home in order to find his own horizon’
Le Monde

 This 3rd July will see the publication of Peter Sís’s remarkable book, The Pilot and the Little Prince­—a journey for young and old through the fascinating life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of the beloved children’s classic, The Little Prince. This wonderful book, beautifully illustrated with gorgeous watercolours, is sure to enchant children and adults alike.

Already published in France and America to great acclaim, Pushkin Children’s Books are now making this unforgettable story of adventure, bravery and discovery available to readers in the UK. Find out more here.

‘The Pilot and the Little Prince is a thing of beauty for both eye and spirit’
Brain Pickings

‘Sís spared no detail in his stunning 48-page picture book biography, which, like its inspiration, can be read on many levels’
redbook

 ‘As always, Sís’s illustrations are all just so spot on and exquisitely expressive’
The Children’s War

The Letter for the King paperback – out now!

A young messenger. A secret mission. A kingdom in peril.

The Letter for the King paperback is out now!

‘Brilliant, extraordinary’ – The Times, Books of the Year

‘Gripping, delightful’ - Guardian

‘A fast-moving, wonderful old-style adventure’ – Eileen Battersby, Irish Times

The Letter for the King is the thrilling story of one boy’s battle against evil, set in an enchanted world of chivalry, courage and true friendship. Available for the first time in English, this classic children’s book by Tonke Dragt has sold over a million copies worldwide, and was named ‘Best Children’s Book of the Last 50 Years’.

Buy your copy here.

Save the Story on Stage at Crouch End ArtHouse

The Ossian theatre collective is coming to ArtHouse, Crouch End, to bring Pushkin Children’s Save the Story series to the stage. See Antigone, Gulliver, Captain Nemo and Don Juan come to life before your eyes as Ossian and Pushkin Children’s retell four of the world’s greatest stories.

This wonderful event is taking place at 10am and 2pm on both Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 May. For more information or to book tickets, click here.

Want to know more? Click here for information about our ten-book Save the Story series.

Save the Story takes to the stage

Summer events to mark the world's best stories

Jonathan Coe and Alessandro Baricco are coming to the London Review Bookshop to talk about their retellings of great stories. Come and see them talk about The Story of Gulliver and The Story of Don Juan on 2^nd June at 7pm. Tickets are available here.

And tickets are now on sale for the Hay Festival’s Save the Story event for children: come and see Ossian, a theatre collective, give their versions of the classic stories. ‘The Pushkin Storytellers’ is on 1^st June at 4pm. Tickets are available here.

Saving More Stories

The greatest stories from around the world, retold for children by the most talented writers, illustrated by some of the world's foremost artists...

The Story of Gilgamesh

The Story of the Betrothed

Out Now!

‘Beautifully designed… gorgeously stylish’ – Marcus Sedgwick, writing in the Guardian, is a fan of the Save the Story series.

So is everyone else:

‘Brilliantly told by top-flight novelists… fresh, idiosyncratic and winning’ - Observer

‘An amazing new series from Pushkin Press in which literary, adult authors retell classics (with terrific illustrations) for a younger generation’ - Daily Telegraph

‘Vivid, accessible first encounters with some literary heavyweights’ - Metro

‘Perfect for readers old, young or in-between’ - Huffington Post

The Pointless Leopard

By Colas Gutman

Illustrations by Delphine Perret

What good are kids anyway?

A walk in the woods turns into a funny, philosophical and irresistibly charming mini-adventure.

(more…)

Oksa Pollock: The Forest of Lost Souls

Oksa Pollock has made some pretty incredible discoveries in the last few months, not least that she’s the queen of the lost magical land of Edefia. As if that wasn’t enough for any thirteen-year-old to be dealing with, her mother is still desperately ill after being attacked by Edefia’s unscrupulous enemies, and now her best friend in the whole world, Gus, has become trapped in the Forest of Lost Souls.

(more…)

Oksa Pollock: The Last Hope

A new paperback edition of the first book in the phenomenal Oksa Pollock series!

Oksa Pollock is a normal thirteen-year-old girl, starting a new life in London. New lives, new friends, a new school and new adventures. But bizarre things start happening around Oksa she finds she can produce fire from her hands, move objects with her mind, and even fly.

(more…)

The Letter for the King: Book of the Year

"The Letter for the King" is a Book of the Year in the Sunday Times, Times and Metro

“The Letter for the King will get pulses racing… Pushkin Press deserves every praise for publishing this beautifully translated, well presented and captivating book”
Amanda Craig, The Times

“This 1962 pulse-pounding epic follows Tiuri, a young knight-candidate who breaks hits sacred vigil to heed a desperate cry for help. Translated from the Dutch for the first time, this old-school quest story will keep all high-fantasy addicts riveted from the first page”
Metro

“A fantasy about a 16-year-old medieval squire who finds danger, true friendship and first love on a mission to deliver a letter that can save a kingdom. The award-winning translator Laura Watkinson conveys its rich symbolism, vividness and economy of style”
Sunday Times

Click here to buy the book now!

Launching The Letter for the King

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands cordially invite you to celebrate the first English translation of The Letter for the King by 
Tonke Dragt – “the best Dutch children’s book of the 20th century”

All children are welcome to join us on Tuiri’s secret mission to deliver the letter to the King at

the Inner Temple Church 
on Saturday 23 November from 11.00 till 13.00

Feel free to come dressed up as a princess, king or knight to join in with the festivities. Have a drink and a bite to eat, win great prizes in the quiz, get your face painted and listen to Tuiri’s adventures in on one of our reading sessions. There will also be free copies of the book, courtesy of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Please send your RSVPs to [email protected].

Click here for directions to the venue

Out Now: The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt

A young messenger. A secret mission. A kingdom in peril...

“Gripping from its opening moment onwards, this award-winning book doesn't miss a beat from its thrilling beginning to its satisfying ending” Julia Eccleshare, LoveReading4Kids

The Letter for the King is the thrilling story of one boy’s battle against evil, set in an enchanted world of chivalry, courage and true friendship. Available for the first time in English, this classic children’s book by Tonke Dragt has been highly acclaimed, and a perennial bestseller, in the Netherlands and Germany.

It is the dead of night. Sixteen-year-old Tiuri must spend hours locked in a chapel in silent contemplation if he is to be knighted the next day. But, as he waits by the light of a flickering candle, he hears a knock at the door and a voice desperately asking for help. A secret letter must be delivered to King Unauwen across the Great Mountains – a letter upon which the fate of the entire kingdom depends.

Tiuri’s journey will take him through dark, menacing forests, across treacherous rivers, to sinister castles and strange cities. He will encounter enemies who would kill to get the letter, but also the best of friends in the most unexpected places. He must trust no one. He must keep his true identity secret. Above all, he must never reveal what is in the letter…

“A fast-moving, wonderful old-style adventure… cinematic in its visual detail… a European classic… far loftier than Harry Potter and beautifully presented in this most attractive edition” Eileen Battersby, Irish Times

Click here to read the first pages.

Save the Story with Pushkin Press

Save the Story is a library of favourite stories from around the world, retold for today ’s children by some of the best contemporary writers.  The stories they retell span cultures (from Ancient Greece to nineteenth-century Russia), time and genres (from comedy and romance to mythology and the realist novel), and they have inspired all manner of artists for many generations.

Save the Story is a mission in book form: saving great stories from oblivion by retelling them for a new, younger generation.

The Scuola Holden (Holden School) was born in Turin in 1994. At the School one studies “storytelling”, namely the secret of telling stories in all possible languages: books, cinema, television, theatre, comic strips—with extravagant results.

Save the Story: The Series

Out now:

The Story of Antigone by Ali Smith
The Story of Gulliver by Jonathan Coe
The Story of Don Juan by Alessandro Baricco (trans. Ann Goldstein)
The Story of Captain Nemo by Dave Eggers
The Story of the Betrothed by Umberto Eco
The Story of Gilgamesh by Yiyun Li
The Story of Cyrano de Bergerac by Stefano Benni
The Story of the Nose by Andrea Camilleri

Out later in 2014:

The Story of King Lear by Melania G. Mazzucco
The Story of Crime and Punishment by A. B. Yehoshua

The Adventures of Shola

By Bernardo Atxaga

Illustrations by Mikel Valverde

Small dog. Big Dreams.

Stuffed with charisma and fierce ideas Bookbag

“The most clever and ridiculous dog you’ve ever heard of … fantastic” Guardian Children’s Books (reader review)

“[Shola] made us laugh, think, nod knowingly and then giggle with surprise … a glorious read-aloud book” StorySeekers

“Charmingly different and full of charisma, Shola will amuse readers young and old” Lancashire Evening Post

Shola may look like an ordinary white pet dog but, as her long-suffering owner Señor Grogó knows only too well, she is in fact a highly cultivated creature and the world is her playground – or rather, her jungle. (more…)

The Good Little Devil and Other Tales

By Pierre Gripari

Illustrations by Puig Rosado

Absurd fairy tales, very sensibly told

'A wonderful book. Funny, tender and daft.' David Almond

(more…)

A House Without Mirrors

By Mårten Sandén

A moving ghost story that explores the overcoming of loss, and how to move on

'A classic story that has it all' Dagens Nyheter

Thomasine has spent months living in her great-great-aunt’s dusty, dark house with her father, and her aunt, uncle and cousins. While her father’s siblings bicker about how much the house must be worth, her distant, elderly aunt is upstairs, dying, and her father has disappeared inside himself, still mourning the death of Thomasine’s little brother.

(more…)

Vitello Becomes a Businessman

By Kim Fupz Aakeson

Illustrations by Niels Bo Bojesen

A charming, funny adventure with the irrepressible mischief-maker Vitello.

'Full of quirky humour and an anarchic sense of fun that children will love.' Booktrust

Vitello sets out to make a million pounds with the help of his friends Max and Harry, and the little squirt William. But what are the four businessmen going to sell? And does Vitello have a nose for business or just for trouble?

(more…)

Vitello Wants a Dad

By Kim Fupz Aakeson

Illustrations by Niels Bo Bojesen

A charming, funny adventure with the irrepressible mischief-make Vitello.

'Full of quirky humour and an anarchic sense of fun that children will love.' Booktrust

Vitello’s dad is a good-for- nothing and he never gets to see him. So what he needs is to find a decent dad, just to show off to his friends. But where will he find a dad to borrow?

(more…)

Vitello Gets a Yucky Girlfriend

By Kim Fupz Aakeson

A charming, funny adventure with the irrepressible mischief-maker Vitello

'Full of quirky humour and an anarchic sense of fun that children will love.' Booktrust

A new family moves in near Vitello, only they don’t have a cool boy for him to play with, just a yucky girl. And it won’t be fun to play with a yucky girl and her crazy hamster. Definitely not.
(more…)

Vitello Scratches a Car

By Kim Fupz Aakeson

Illustrations by Niels Bo Bojesen

A charming, funny adventure with the irrepressible mischief-maker Vitello.

"Full of quirky humour and an anarchic sense of fun that children will love." Booktrust

Vitello and his mum have a new car. Well, nearly new, anyway. And mostly Mum’s. But the important thing is that it mustn’t get scratched, not if Vitello doesn’t want to be grounded, or sent to the children’s home, or worse… (more…)

The Story of the Blue Planet

By Andri Snær Magnason

Illustrations by Áslaug Jónsdóttir

An eco-fable with heart—and humour

“A Seussian mix of wonder, wit and gravitas” The New York Times

Brimir and Hulda are best friends, living on a beautiful blue planet where there are no grown-ups, life is wild and free, and each day is more exciting than the last. Until, one day, a rocket ship piloted by a strange-looking adult named Gleesome Goodday crashes on the beach. (more…)