FERDINAND MAGELLAN illustrated by Tom Knight This will be the sixth in the FIRST NAMES historical biography series published by David Fickling Books (by the same editorial team who'd worked on the Horrible Histories series).
I grew up knowing about the 16th century explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, because he "discovered" the Philippines where I was born. I jumped at the chance to write about how Magellan came to be the first man to circumnavigate the world (he didn't) and discover the Pacific Ocean (even though there were 25,000 islands on the ocean, many of which had been populated for gazillions of years).
Magellan was a figure of pathos as well as derring do – and his story is a thrilling adventure. Tom Knight's illustrations are hilarious and impressive when you think how much research had to go into creating them! Ferdinand will be pubished in the UK in April by DFB and in the US by Abrams Kids in September.
US Edition is out now! BONE TALK has been shortlisted for the Costa Book Prize, the Carnegie Medal and other children's book prizes. Published by David Fickling Books in the UK, by Anvil in the Philippines and by Scholastic in the US.
• USBBY Outstanding International Book
• NBC News 13 Best Asian American Children's and Young Adult Books for 2019
• Washington Post's Best Children's Books for 2019.
US edition cover illustration is by Jap Mikel; UK/Philippine edition cover is by Kerby Rosanes
IS IT A MERMAID? illustrated by Francesca Chessa was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal. It was published in the UK and the US by Otter-Barry Books. SIRENA BA YA? – a bilingual Filipino edition – has been published by Adarna Books. It has been featured on Milkshake TV.
SHINE was listed for the Guardian Children's Book Prize. It is published by Penguin Random House in the UK and by Anvil in the Philippines. UK cover illustration by David Dean. Philippine cover illustration by Ricky Villabona
TALL STORY was listed for 13 prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the Blue Peter, the Branford Boase and the Waterstones Prize. It is published by Penguin Random House in the US and the UK, by Anvil in the Philippines, and as Una Storia Gigante in Italy by Rizzoli,. UK cover illustration by David Dean. Philippine cover by Rommel Joson
My story Mimoo and Mum-Mum is featured in ONE SNOWY NIGHT, an anthology of animal tales published by Stripes in October 2018. Illustrations by Alison Edgson
Illustration at right by Galia Bernstein for Hare Takes a Wife one of the stories in my anthology of animal trickster stories ANIMAL TRICKSTERS, for the Oxford Reading Tree Series.