The Bookseller reports that Egmont will be leaving the Yellow Building in Shepherd Bush and moving to a space in WeWork’s Minster Court

“Under the relocation plans, the children’s publisher will introduce hot desking and staff will enjoy a free coffee and beer bar,” The Bookseller says, and quotes Cally Poplak, toe company’s m.d. as follows: 

Egmont has always embraced flexibility and family-friendly ways of working, which is why we were an early adopter of flexible hours almost 20 years ago. Agile working is something we have been wanting to adopt for some years to push our flexibility even further and broaden our appeal as an employer. The challenge has always been finding the right office space and sufficiently reliable technology, and now the stars have aligned to make the ambition a reality in a new WeWork office in central London at 2 Minster Court, which even has a connection to one of our titles, The Hundred and One Dalmatians. 

Staff are hugely excited and heavily involved in the planning and transition, which will see everyone move from having their own desk to one central shared Egmont space overlooking Tower Bridge, a number of common areas, multiple bookable meeting rooms, phone booths and a free coffee and beer bar. Through the planning process, we have already seen a reduction in paper and waste and even better collaboration.

Today is  the 7th Bookshop Day. 

Search for your local participating bookshop here: https://booksaremybag.com/bookshops

BOOKS ARE MY BAG is a nationwide campaign run by the Booksellers Association to celebrate bookshops. It launched in 2013 and today comprises Bookshop Day and the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards. At the centre of the campaign is the iconic BAMB tote bag. Since the campaign launched, over a million people have worn a Books Are My Bag to show their love for their local bookshop.
 
Every year over a thousand bookshops around the country take part in Bookshop Day by holding special events, creating bespoke window displays and more. The BAMB Readers Awards are the only awards curated by bookshops and voted for by booklovers.

Literature Wales has announced that popular Pembrokeshire-based children’s author Eloise Williams is the first Children’s Laureate Wales. The announcement was made in front of 150 pupils at Jubilee Park Primary School in Newport, where Eloise is currently the Patron of Reading.

Eloise Williams will be in post until summer 2021.

The brief for the new Welsh laureate:

She will

• engage and inspire the children of Wales (primarily ages 5-13) through literature;
• encourage self-expression and develop literacy and communication skills amongst children;
• be an ambassador and positive role model for children, championing their rights and interests;
• raise the visibility of children’s literature in Wales, nationally and internationally;
• be a strong advocate for creative reading, writing and speaking for pleasure;
• support the development of the next generation of young writers;
• particularly engage Literature Wales’ Target Client Characteristics, as specified in our Strategic Plan 2019-22 – children from BAME backgrounds, children from low income backgrounds, children with disabilities or illnesses (physical or mental);
• scout, develop, support and advocate for a cohort of talented young writers at the start of their literary careers.

https://www.literaturewales.org/our-projects/childrens-laureate-wales-2/

Egmont will publish Fashion Conscious by academic and journalist Sarah Klymkiw and illustrator Kim Hankisnon in August next year ahead of London Fashion Week 2020.

The book is being described as “an empowering call-to-arms for the Greta Thunberg generation, offering an in-depth look at the fashion industry and a range of ways that young people can become campaigners for change,” and will be printed using vegetable ink with a plastic-free cover.

Klymkiw told The Bookseller: “Never has it been so important to consider the impact that our clothing choices have on our planet. After reading this book, I want young people to shake up the fashion world – to demand answers and to take action both as conscious consumers and active citizens. We have the power to collectively change the world with a change of clothes.”

The Youtube video is from at talk given by Klymkiw last year.

Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue

Kitty and the Tiger Treasure

A little young for our main Fiction listings, but worthy of mention nevertheless… First two titles in a 6 book series for 5 and over from Oxford Children’s Books, all written by Paula Harrison and illustrated by Waterstones Children’s Book Prize winner Jenny Lovlie.

The illustrations are predominantly in orange and gold, with some pleasing metallic shininess on the front covers. Further titles planned for next year. 

In a significant move for the young children’s audio startup, Yoto, Jessica Tarrant, previously editorial director at Hachette (where she was responsible for the Orchard fiction list, and more recently the children’s audio list) has been appointed as content director.

Yoto launched its first hardware product on Kickstarter in November 2017, reaching its funding target after only 5 days. The product shipped in time for Christmas 2018 and since then Yoto has partnered with the Roald Dahl company to create new content based on his classic stories. 

Yoto was created by Ben Drury (founder of 7Digital) and Filip (the tech wizard) in 2015 with the aim of making exciting technology and music products that children can control without screens.

“Most streaming services are created by adults for adults, and it shows,” argues Ben. “They are essentially databases which you access via text queries, a song title or artist, for instance. This doesn’t work for children. With Yoto we have drawn on Montessori principles to give children a satisfying, tactile experience. You put the card in the slot and it plays. And with no screen, no microphone and no camera, we think we have answered the real concerns parents have about technology for kids.”

Yoto features its own carefully connected smart speaker that children control with a physical card.

ACHUKA would be very interested to hear from any families who are using Yoto.