PR Week reports that Puffin has appointed comms agency Premier to support all communications activity marking the 80th anniversary of the Penguin Books imprint.

The brief includes what PR Week describes as “delivering media relations throughout the year” to raise awareness of the anniversary and drive sales of The Puffin Book of Big Dreams, which will be published in May (already available for pre-order). This celebratory collection of more than 40 new stories will include authors and illustrators, as well as classic content that embodies the publisher’s past, present and future.

Alongside the celebratory collection, Premier will support additional partnerships – among them a Puffin podcast hosted by author, comedian and YouTuber Humza Arshad; a nationwide events programme; and creative brand partnerships with MCM Comic Con and educational charity Into Film.

Gill and John McLay – a husband-and-wife team based in Bath – have launched a new not-for-profit venture. Wonder  is billed as a year-round series of children’s book events to be held in “Bath, Bristol and beyond”.

Gill McLay is a children’s literary agent and owner of The Bath Literary Agency. She has over two decades of industry experience, working with a variety of publishers, big and small. Gill’s agency works with writers of poetry, picture books, young fiction, middle grade fiction, YA fiction and non-fiction. It also looks after author/illustrators who write their own work as well as illustrating the work of other authors.

John McLay is a literary scout specialising in helping international publishers acquire books for translation into their own markets.  Together Gill & John curated the Here Be Dragons exhibition of children’s illustrators book art for the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath in 2017.

Gill & John co-founded the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature in 2007 and left that organisation just last year. The first Wonder Festival will run from 10 to  18 October 2020 and will be staged in Bath across a variety of the cities’ modern and classic venues. 

Capturing imaginations and inspiring future storytellers, Wonder’s year-round aim is not only tp bring some of the best known and biggest-selling children’s authors and illustrators to our cities, but also to celebrate emerging talent, offer workshops and clubs that centre around hobbies, favourite characters and games, and to bring the magic of stories into creative spaces that spark children’s imagination.

The first confirmed events of Wonder for 2020 have already been announced:
Levi Pinfold will be “in conversation” on Tuesday, 4 February at Waterstones Bath to help celebrate Harry Potter Book Night (6 February).  Levi is the Australian-based illustrator of the anniversary House Editions of the Harry Potter series.

Michelle Harrison, author of the bestselling A Pinch of Magic will be signing copies of her new novel A Sprinkle of Sorcery in Waterstones Bath on Saturday, 8 February.

On March 8, illustrator and suffragette descendant Kate Pankhurst will be celebrating International Women’s Day with a special event at Bath’s Royal High School.

On Saturday, 28 March – in a collaboration with Bath’s Historic Venues – historian and TV presenter Lucy Worsley will be giving a talk about her new book, The Austen Girls, at The Assembly Rooms in Bath.

John says, “Wonder is our chance to do something different for the young book-lovers of Bath. We’ll be staging amazing events, throughout the year, and not only each Autumn during our big Wonder festival. There’ll be talks, signings, workshops, clubs, screenings – all with exciting big names from the world of children’s books and loads of new names too. We want to champion new talent, local authors and interesting venues.”

A heartfelt piece, in which Almond sets out a mini manifesto:

“The vote should be given to 16 year olds. Secure housing should be guaranteed for all. State schools should be celebrated and properly funded. Private schools should be closed down.

Children of all backgrounds should be given the same expectations, support, hopes and dreams. Why should the children of those on universal credit subsidise the children of the rich?”

And in an endpiece reveals his admiration for Deadwood, which he is currently rewatching.

Recommended: https://inews.co.uk/opinion/i-grew-up-in-a-council-estate-full-of-optimism-children-nowadays-need-that-too-1368543

The 500 Words competition (now in its 10th year) launched today, Thursday 16 January, on BBC Radio 2. It is one of the most successful children’s story-writing competitions in the world, and helps to get them excited about reading and writing.

Created by Chris Evans, the competition is now hosted by Zoe Ball on her breakfast show.

This year, the live final event will be held on 12 June at Buckingham Palace. Every child who takes part, and every teacher and librarian who helps with the judging, will be entered into a draw to attend the event.

All entries must be received by Thursday 27th February at 8pm. 
Enter via the website (linked above).

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the New York Public Library’s opening in 1895, a team of library experts decided it was only fitting to highlight the perennially popular books that have contributed to its success.

They pulled the circulation stats on all print and digital formats of books, analyzed factors like length of time in print and presence in the library catalog, and came up with a list of the library’s 10 most checked-out books of all time.

1. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats // 485,583

2. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss // 469,650

3. 1984 by George Orwell // 441,770

4. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak // 436,016

5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee // 422,912

6. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White // 337,948

7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury // 316,404

8. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie // 284,524

10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling // 231,022

from https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/612218/new-york-public-library-most-borrowed-books

https://www.achuka.co.uk/blog/17632-2/

The Autumn/Winter 2019 edition of Carousel was its last.
The closure of the magazine, after 24 years of publication, was confirmed yesterday.

Ever since Books for Keeps became an online-only publication, Carousel had been the sole print-based magazine in the UK entirely focused on the full range of children’s books. It leaves Scotland’s TEEN TITLES as the one regularly produced print publication focused on children’s publishing lists, although this magazine, as its title suggests, only encompasses the older end of the market.

I had been a contributing editor during the early years of Carousel.

It’s a considerable loss for the children’s books sector.