Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam are two hapless robber dogs who decide on a career-change after one bungled burglary too many – there’s plenty of laughs, lots of fantastic detail, and PILES of cake in this wonderful picture book. Here’s a look inside:
Three new fiction titles are released out into the world today, their faces all scrubbed and with clean hankies in their pockets.
The next Vulgar the Viking adventure, Vulgar the Viking and a Midsummer Night’s Scream, by the always-hirsute Mr Redbeard (and he knows who he is) is another hilarious tale of mayhem and mischief, as Vulgar is forced to partner Princess Freya in Blubber’s traditional midsummer maypole dance. No way is that going to go smoothly. In fact, it turns into a night the village will never forget. After all, it’s not often you see a small Viking dancing around a maypole in furry pants… Here’s a look inside:
And it’s a DOUBLE publication day for Paula Harrison. The sixth Rescue Princesses title, The Rescue Princesses: The Lost Gold is out today. Can Princess Isabella save the baby monkey who’s been trapped by hunters in the rainforest? With the help of her friends and her ninja moves, of course she can! Here’s the first chapter:
And the first in Paula’s new series, Faerie Tribes, comes out today. Faerie Tribes: The Crystal Mirror is an exciting, absorbing story for 9+ readers who love their faeries dark and mysterious. When Laney discovers that she has faerie powers and – best of all – she can fly, she little realises the dangerous forces that are at work around her, and how crucial a role she has to play in saving the faerie realm from evil… Faerie Tribes is a brilliant new series – we’re delighted and proud to Paula’s publisher. Here’s the first chapter:
The chance to win any our upcoming print titles has come around once more! We’re publishing a fantastic selection of books in May, and any one of them could be yours for free. If you’re a resident of the UK or Ireland you can win any of next month’s releases simply by subscribing to our Books Newsletter and either tweeting to @NosyCrowBooks or leaving a comment underneath this blogpost, telling us the name you subscribed with and the book you’d like to win.
In May we’re publishing Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam, by Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton – a funny, quirky story, full of depth of detail and colour, with a rhyme that will trip off the tongue and wonderful illustration by debut picture book artist Steven Lenton. It’s a real treat – especially for dog-lovers everywhere! Here’s the book’s trailer:
You could win The Rescue Princesses: The Lost Gold, the seventh Rescue Princesses volume by Paula Harrison. Princess Isabella loves her rainforest kingdom and its amazing creatures. So she’s very worried when treasure hunters start digging up the forest and scaring all the animals… Read the first chapter below:
And finally, next month we’ll publish the first book in a brand new series by Paula Harrison, Faerie Tribes: The Crystal Mirror. You can find out a bit more about the new series here, and read the first chapter below:
You can subscribe to the books newsletter here (if you’ve already subscribed you’re still eligible for this competition) – and every month we’ll write to you with details of our upcoming titles, author events, exclusive interviews, and all of our news. So have a good think about which book you’d like to win (we can only accept one entry per person), and good luck – we’ll pick the winners at random next week.
The Terrible Talent Show is the fourth book in the VERY funny Vulgar the Viking series – think Horrid Henry in a horned helmet. It’s perfect for boys aged 7-9 – there’s plenty of mess, mayhem and elk manure. This time around, the villagers of Blubber decide to hold a Talent Contest to show how very gifted they are. Vulgar knows it’s his time to shine. Will he perform his armpit ‘music’ or juggle some elk poo? No! He will act out a Viking legend, with fighting and dragons and giants and all that stuff. And he will win! Won’t he? Here’s the first chapter:
You can find the Kindle edition on Amazon here – and if you don’t have a Kindle, do not fear! The paperback is also available for the very reasonable price of £4.99, here.
Last week, we got the good news that three of our titles – the three pictured above, one of which is yet to be published – have been selected for The Reading Agency’sSummer Reading Challenge.
We don’t know how many books were chosen, but there’s usually around seventy, and it’s great to have three slots. This year’s theme is “Creepy House”.
We are particularly pleased to see the Summer Reading Challenge’s continued support for Christopher Edge, whose first book for us was in last year’s selection. Just-published Shadows of the Silver Screen was described by Martin Chilton in The Telegraph, as “a serious (and playful) intelligent historical thriller for children”. It’s set in the dawn of movie-making and dauntless heroine Penelope Treadwell unravels mysteries as a film’s plot leaks spookily into reality.
You can read the first chapter here:
It’s good, too, to see that the Summer Reading Challenge supports new talent. Our picture book chosen this year is written by award-winning writer of picture books and young fiction, Tracey Corderoy, who has been making her mark on the UK’s children’s writing scene over the last year or so, but it’s illustrated by Steven Lenton whose first picture book is Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam, a story of two rather ineffectual robber dogs, whose baking-based plot to distract their neighbours while they rob them results in their recognition that robbing is wrong and embarking on a new career.
We’re launching a new, monthly books newsletter (delivered by email) and, to celebrate, we have lots of things to give away.
As well as covering all our latest releases, the newsletter will include interviews with our authors and illustrators, exclusive competitions, a first look at what’s to come in the months ahead, details of upcoming events, and insights into what we’ve been up to in the Crow’s Nest.
The first bumper issue will cover our June and July titles (shown above in the picture at the top of this post), which are:
And we have copies of every title (along with some special Nosy Crow stuff) to give away! To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is subscribe to the mailing list and then either send us a tweet to our new, books-dedicated Twitter feed, @NosyCrowBooks or leave a comment below, mentioning the name you subscribed to the newsletter under, and the book you’d like to win.
You can sign up for the newsletter here (you’ll be sent an email asking you to confirm that you’ve joined), and we’ll announce the winners of each book when the first issue is sent out.
The competition is only open to residents of the UK and Ireland – but anyone can join our newsletter, of course. Good luck!
Today we at Nosy Crow are celebrating (with cake, natch) the publication of three fantastic fiction titles.
Olivia’s Enchanted Summer is the fourth in Lyn Gardner’s highly acclaimed stage-school series. Olivia and her friends have taken a show to the Edinburgh Festival, where things do not run smoothly at first. But the show must go on and soon everything is fireworks and enchantment. It even stops raining. Congratulations, Lyn, on another show-stopper!
The second in the Rescue Princesses series by Paula Harrison is also out today. In The Wishing Pearl, our brave princesses have to save a wounded dolphin and find some buried treasure at the same time. It’s an action-packed adventure that will keep every seven-year-old reader on the edge of her seat (while maintaining perfect posture, of course). Congratulations, Paula, on yet more royal thrills and spills!
And last, but by no means least, comes Vulgar the Viking and the Great Gulp Games by the ever-hirsute Odin Redbeard. A topical one, this, as Vulgar prepares himself to participate in the greatest sporting challenge of the (Viking) age. There isn’t a goat he hasn’t hurdled over, a hammer he hasn’t thrown, and a walrus he hasn’t wrestled in readiness. Now the time has come, and Vulgar is really going for gold! Congratulations, Mr Redbeard, on another hilarious read, and to Sarah Horne, for so brilliantly bringing Vulgar’s antics to life.
