Letter from London
By Julia Eccleshare, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 1/31/2008
Horrid Henry Hits 10 Million
Earlier this month Orion celebrated the sales of 10 million copies of Francesca Simon’s Horrid Henry title. Illustrated by Tony Ross, the books’ sales have come through 129 different editions sold in the U.K. trade and through book clubs. Following this success, Copyright Promotions Licensing Group has announced a toy deal that will create a range of characters as well as joke and trick products, all of which is being launched at the U.K. Toy Fair this week. Commenting to PW on the reason for the spectacular success of the books, Simon said, “Perfect Peter and Horrid Henry are two sides of everyone—the desire to please and to be good, the desire to get one’s own way and to rule the world. I think children love the books because Henry is so funny, and expresses what everyone thinks but doesn’t dare say. You get all the pleasure of behaving badly, with none of the consequences, which is of course why we love to read.”
Celebrating Horrid Henry: Lisa Milton, managing director,
Orion Books; author Francesca Simon; illustrator Tony
Ross; and Fiona Kennedy, publisher, Orion
Children's Books.
Nestle Prize Folds
Booktrust and Nestle issued a joint statement earlier this month announcing the ending of the Nestle Children’s Book Prize, after 23 years. Both sides give a shift in policy as the reason for the change. Nestle is increasingly concentrating on nutrition and health, while Booktrust now runs three major “gifting” schemes to every child in the country. Set up to encourage a love of reading and awarded in three age categories, the prize has been won by almost 100 authors and illustrators including J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, Helen Oxenbury, Malorie Blackman and Lauren Child. It was one of the first U.K. prizes to encourage children to participate, and has drawn in thousands of school children across the U.K. to act as judges. However, Nestle’s baby milk program in developing countries has always been a controversial issue, with some authors being unwilling to accept the prize on that account. These objections have been compounded by a general move away from sponsorship deals with food or drink companies for any children’s activities. The ending of the prize takes away one of the most significant and high profile children’s book prizes in the country.
2008 Named National Year of Reading
The U.K.’s National Year of Reading was announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a press conference at 10 Downing Street earlier this month. To run from January to December 2008, the NYR is a government initiative designed to promote pleasure reading of all kinds during the year andto ensure better reading opportunities for all. Highly successful in stressing the importance of reading and raising standards of literacy, the U.K.’s previous National Year of Reading took place in 1997. Details of publishers’ individual responses to the NYR are still to be announced.
Mr Gum Heads to TV
Nickelodeon Animation Studios has begun production on a pilot for an animated TV series based on Andy Stanton and David Tazzyman’s bestselling Mr Gum books, published by Egmont. The news follows a recent world rights deal with Egmont to publish another four Mr Gum books, bringing the series to eight titles. The deal was struck by Eve White at Eve White Literary Agency.
You’re a Bad Man, Mr Gum!, Stanton’s first book, won the Red House Children’s Book Award, the Blue Peter Award for “most fun story with pictures,” and was also a Richard and Judy Kids Book Club pick.
Rewriting the Classics
Classic novels by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens have been “retold” for children aged 9-13. In the belief that children no longer read these authors in the original, and fueled by the huge success of recent TV adaptations, Real Reads Ltd. is publishing six Dickens titles, including Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, and six Jane Austen novels, including Pride and Prejudice and Emma. Categorized as “rewritten” rather than adapted, the titles retain their essential plot and are written in a style that imitates the original. Gill Tavner, author of the Jane Austen Real Reads, argues that they are not “dumbing down” the stories. Instead, she believes, “They will lead many children to the originals. They also make accessible great plots, characters and social concerns to people who might otherwise never encounter them.”
