Firefly Press | Children's Books for readers from five to young adult

Flight takes off

We are over the moon that WW2 adventure MG novel Flight by Vanessa Harbour and edited by Janet Thomas has been longlisted for the prestigious Branford Boase Award 2019 and shortlisted for the Sheffield Children's Book Awards 2019.

The Branford Boase Award was set up to reward the most promising new children's writers and their editors, as well as to reward excellence in writing and in publishing. The Award is made annually to the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time children's novelist. The short list will be published on the 1st of May, 2019. The winner will be announced on 3rd July at a ceremony in London.

If Jakob sneezed, he could die.

Austria 1945. After losing his family, Jakob shelters with Herr Engel in a rural stable, where they hide the precious Lipizzanner stallions they know Hitler wants to steal. When a German officer comes looking for Jakob and finds the horses, Jakob and his guardian know they must get the stallions to safety, but the only way is straight through Nazi territory.

Joined by Kizzy, an orphan Roma girl, the three must guide the horses across the perilous Austrian mountains. Will they reach safety? What will be waiting for them on the other side?

Praise for Flight:

New Statesman's Best Children’s Books of Summer 2018

South Wales Evening Post Children's Book of the Week

‘You know from the first page that you are in the hands of a great storyteller’ James Nicol

‘A powerful, page-turning, unforgettable adventure... I loved it!’ Cathy Cassidy

‘the perfect ingredients of horses, an exciting and engaging plot, believable characters and that little sprinkle of magic writing which I know will make it a huge success.’ Lucy Coats

‘This is enchanting storytelling with character at the heart, in a historic setting, with timeless values, and very much reminiscent of the classic assuredness of Morpurgo.’ Vashti Hardy

‘An exciting addition to the war story canon.’ Charlotte Eyre, The Bookseller

'I absolutely love this book! It's a stunningly good adventure story with all the big heart, sharp style and fast pace of a classic children's novel.' Amanda Craig

Firefly Set to Soar

We are very excited to announce that we have teamed up with entrepreneur Robin Bennett of Quarto Translations in an investment deal which will boost our award-winning list of children’s and young adult titles.

Robin Bennett has founded more than a dozen successful businesses including publishers’ translation specialists, Quarto Translations, and has now come on board with Firefly as Commercial Director.

“I think Firefly has huge potential and we’ll be looking to build step by step on its core business of producing excellent MG and YA fiction that children want to read,” he said. “We will also be looking at future opportunities including translated books and foreign rights sales.”

Publisher Penny Thomas said: “We are delighted to welcome Quarto Translations on board, and to have Robin Bennett working with us; I know we will benefit hugely from his experience and enthusiasm.

“Firefly has come a long way in six years, with the invaluable support of the Welsh Books Council, our wonderful authors, directors, staff and freelance team and many others. We will now be able to underpin this success and take it to the next level in what is a challenging, but hugely exciting and rewarding business.

“We have a strong backlist and an incredible line-up of books and authors going forward, including forthcoming titles from Shoo Rayner, Jennifer Killick, Catherine O’Flynn, Horatio Claire, Catherine Fisher, Jon Blake and Eloise Williams, and so a great deal to look forward to.”

Firefly Press and Quarto Translations can be found on Stand 1D49 in the Children’s Hall at the London Book Fair, March 12th – 14th.

Firefly will also be represented on the Wales stand 5C129 at LBF; and part of a Wales presence at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, April 1st – 4th with the support of the British Council Wales. You can find us on the Publisher’s Association Collective Stand 25 B 84. Come and see us!

We are represented by Bounce Sales & Marketing, and by Margot Edwards Rights Consultancy for rights enquiries.

We also have a new HQ at D.20, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff CF23 6XD.

Walker cover reveal

Excited to reveal the cover for Walker, a fun new young MG adventure by Shoo Rayner publishing on 14 March 2019.

Available to pre-order on Amazon, your local bookshop and via our website with free p&p.

All Walker wants is a dog, but his mother is allergic. So he decides to set up his own business walking everyone else’s. This works better than he could have imagined when he finds he can talk to the dogs and understand what they say to him! The dogs lead him to a terrible puppy farm hidden in the wood by Arlington Wherewithall, a famous TV star and owner of a pet food company, the richest man in their area. He knows nobody will believe him, so it is down to Walker and the dogs to stop the farm and save the puppies.

January Half Price Sale

Order though our website before midnight January 20th to take advantage of our HALF PRICE January sale.

ALL our titles for children and teens are HALF PRICE when ordered through our website and post and packing is completely free for UK orders. Browse through the books in the tabs above and click on the book pages to place your order.

Choose from recent middle grade hits, Seaglass by Eloise Williams, Alex Sparrow and the Furry Fury by Jennifer Killick or Blue Peter Book Award shortlisted The Clockwork Crow by Catherine Fisher.

Try our Dragonfly books for younger readers, such as Lollies 2017 shortlisted Thimble Monkey Superstar and Thimble Holiday Havoc by Jon Blake, Grace Ella, Spells for Beginners by Sharon Marie Jones, Mr Mahli's Shed and a ghost named Dylan by Laura Sheldon or the Dragon Gold series from Shoo Rayner.

Find terrific titles for teen and young adult readers including Behind Closed Doors by Miriam Halahmy, The Territory trilogy by Sarah Govett or Three Strikes by Lucy Christopher, Kat Ellis and Rhian Ivory.

Mo, Lottie and the Junkers cover reveal

We are very happy to present the cover for Mo, Lottie and the Junkers, the first book in an exciting new series by Jennifer Killick, publishing on 18 April. Irresistible comic sci-fi about new families, moving across the street, solving a mystery and saving your friend.

Mo Appleby’s ordered life is turned upside down when he and his mum move in with his new stepdad and stepsisters, Lottie and Sadie. The home he left behind is just across the street, and there’s something not quite right about the new occupant. Other strange new people keep popping into his life, too: a bonkers lollipop man and a boy called Jax, who seems to understand Mo better than anyone else, especially Lottie.

Who are the weird new people in their town? Do they have any involvement in the disappearance of Mo’s dad many years ago? And why does the ice cream taste so good? Lottie is determined to find out exactly what’s going on, even if it makes Mo mad, and even if it leads them both into serious danger...

Mo, Lottie and the Junkers is publishing on 18 April and has been selected for The Reading Agency's Summer Reading Challenge 2019.

Book cover illustrated by Gareth Conwy and designed by Kathryn Davies.

Subscribe to our newsletter!