We are beyond thrilled to have three of our books shortlisted in The Week Junior Book Awards 2024!
🌟 Digging for Victory by Cathy Faulkner in the Breakthrough Book Category
🌟 Michael the Amazing Mind-Reading Sausage Dog by Terrie Chilvers and Tim Budgen in the Fiction Younger Category
🌟 Cracking Cricket by Robin Bennett in the Hobbies & Interests category
Celebrating the brilliant world of children’s books and the talented people who create them, The Week Junior Book Awards honour the authors, illustrators and publishers who inspire children to read for pleasure. The emphasis is on original ideas, outstanding illustration and smart storytelling, as well as new and diverse talent.
Set in Devon in 1941, Digging for Victory tells the story of twelve-year-old Bonnie Roberts who is desperate to play a valuable part in the war effort. For her, tending the family vegetable patch just doesn’t cut it; she wants to be a hero like her RAF pilot brother, Ralph.
But when the mysterious Mr Fisher is billeted at her farmhouse, and Ralph is reported missing in action, she starts to question what heroism actually involves. And as Bonnie attempts to find out who Mr Fisher really is, she embarks on a life-changing and emotional voyage of discovery.
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Michael the Amazing Mind-Reading Sausage Dog
Michael’s dream is to go from being an unknown pup to a Hollywoof sensation and global su-paw-star. But becoming famous is no walkies in the park…
How long will it take Michael’s fellow inhabitants of Snuffles-by-Sea to recognise his amazing talent? And with the help of his trusty sidekick, Stanley Big Dog, what can possibly go wrong?
Heartwarming and humourous, this title for 7-9 features fun ‘paw-written’ entries by Michael himself and brilliant illustrations by Tim Budgen.
The news is finally out! The tale of the tiger sea captain, Skrimsli, written by Nicola Davies with illustrations by Jackie Morris, has been shortlisted for The Wainwright Prize for nature writing, in the Children’s Category. This comes hot off the heels of Skrimsli’s 2024 Wales Book of the Year win.
Illustrated by Jackie Morris, this epic prequel to The Song that Sings Us tells the thrilling story of a tiger sea-captain, a boy called Owl, a desert princess, a horse with a heart of gold and many others as they fight to save their worlds from war, hate and environmental destruction. Born into captivity in a circus, Skrimsli must work out where he belongs in a world ruled by human fear and greed. But he soon finds he has friends in many places, and that fear is not the only story…
Jackie said: There are few characters that are so dear to my heart as Skrimsli, the tiger captain, born in the imagination of one of Wales’ finest writers, and now roaming the wild. It is a real honour that the strength of this
Skrimsli is the second fantasy adventure from author Nicola Davies set in a world where animals and humans can sometimes share their thoughts. It traces the early life of Skrimsli, the tiger sea captain who, along with his friends, Owl and Kal, must escape the clutches of a tyrannical circus owner, then stop a war and save the ancient forest.
Also in the series:
Harlon has been raised to protect her younger siblings and their outlawed power of communicating with animals. But when the sinister Automators attack, they must flee for their lives. In a thrilling adventure they must all journey alone through ice fields, forests and oceans to try to rescue each other and fulfil a mysterious promise.
The Let Your Imagination Fly project aims to organise author visits to schools, libraries or community centres, particularly in low income and/or ethnically diverse areas across Wales, to target potential new readers through social media, and to collaborate with reading promotion agencies to encourage more children from Wales to read for pleasure.
Since the project’s launch, we have been working alongside our fantastic authors with schools, libraries and reading promotion organisations to reach as many new readers as possible.
Here are some snapshots from over the summer:
If you would like to find out more about the opportunities to get involved with Let Your Imagination Fly, please contact Megan.Rees@fireflypress.co.uk
Penny Thomas, publisher at children’s and YA publisher Firefly Press, has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in The Cyber Ciphers of Eartha Quicksmith by Loris Owen from Anne Clark of Anne Clark Literary Agency.
Best friends Kip, Albert, Leela, and Timmi uncover a new series of ingeniously hidden riddles from Renaissance luminary Eartha Quicksmith, propelling them on a perilous quest to find the missing eyepiece of the Futurescope. Aided by big-hearted android Incognita, they set sail in Eartha’s extraordinary vessel, The Salamander, and journey through an ocean of transparent metal beneath the Earth’s crust. Captured by the tyrannical Nexus organisation, they must use all their skills to escape the ice floes of the North, with the help of mysterious new allies. As the Grittleshank Cooperative’s smoulderstone mine threatens global catastrophe, Kip faces an impossible choice: stop them or save his captive mother.
“Sideways thinking is very close to my heart, as something my dad taught me.” said Owen. “I’m thrilled that this third story in the Quicksmiths series will be told, and hope that its riddles, twists, lifelore and indestructible friendships give readers the elements they need to change their world.”
Thomas said, “Loris’ incredible powers of invention are second to none! She champions science, invention, friendship and teamwork in this remarkable trilogy which makes for a fascinating, fun and exhilarating read!’
The novel is slated for publication in spring 2025.
Penny Thomas, publisher at award-winning children’s and YA publisher Firefly Press, has acquired UK and Commonwealth Rights to VANISHING EDGE by Zillah Bethell from Julia Churchill at A.M. Heath.
Set somewhere between Port Talbot’s Sandfields estate and the horizon, Vanishing Edge is a dreamlike, fantastical novel, structured by the town’s omnipresent steelworks.
A postcard to the love-hate relationship between best friends, and the love-hate relationship with your hometown, the novel pulses with the tidal pull and push of family ties, and with dreams of escape.
One day Apricot Jones wakes up to graffiti on her front door, and a man in a black Jaguar who calls himself the Baglan Giant looking for her mum, Carys. Apricot and her best friend Charlie must find the secret that Carys is keeping and come to terms with the losses in their own lives while reaching out for new beginnings. But who is the boy waiting for Apricot in the speedboat beyond the breakers…
Vanishing Edge is a darkly comic tale of what it means to be alive, seventeen and living in Port Talbot.
Penny Thomas said: ‘Zillah Bethell has been one of my favourite writers for many years. Her writing is by turns fantastical, direct, elusive and joyous, and always pushes the boundaries. In this dreamlike portrayal of life for two teens in the steelwork’s town of Port Talbot, she manages to bring us a realism that isn’t gritty, humour, pathos and, as always, food for thought!’
Zillah Bethell said: ‘Under the steerage of Penny Thomas, Firefly is doing hugely exciting things in publishing which I’m super-honoured to be a part of.’
Slated for publication in March 2025, Vanishing Edge is the first in a series of short novels for children and young adults inspired by life in contemporary Wales. Books to follow include titles from Emma Smith-Barton and Patience Agbabi. The initiative is supported by the Books Council of Wales.
