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Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear Written by Lindsay Mattick Illustrated by Sophie Blackall Little, Brown and Company   10/20/2015 978-0-316-32490-8 32 pages Ages 4—8 . . “Before Winnie-the-Pooh, there was a real bear named Winnie. In 1914, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian on his way to tend horses in World …

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Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, a division of Hachette Book Group, will publish children’s books based on DreamWorks Animation’s television series Dinotrux.

Little, Brown has licensed the rights to publish the television show tie-in books. This includes the rights to produce storybooks and board book formats in the US and Canada. The show, an original series distributed by Netflix, is originally based on a picture book series by Chris Gall which is also published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

The new line of books are slated for publication in April 2016. Kara Sargent, executive editorial director, brand, licensed, media tie-in publishing, will oversee the editorial direction.

 

 

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Little, Brown Book Group has launched a new standalone imprint called Fleet.

The new imprint will publish a broad range of both literary fiction and non-fiction, putting out about 6-8 original works a year. The imprint will produce both paperbacks and e-books and will drop its first four titles in May 2016.

Ursula Doyle will be the publisher of the list. “I chose the name Fleet because Fleet Street is just around the corner from the Hachette offices, and I love the resonance of the name and its long-standing association with print,” explained Doyle in a statement. “And of course I hope the word’s other meaning will reflect our publishing – fleet of foot, alert, responsive. I look forward to building a varied, lively and engaging list of new and existing authors whose work will be published with enthusiasm, focus and determination.”

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The Tapper Twins Go to War (with Each Other)

written by Claudia Tapper with Geoff Rodkey
Little, Brown and Company     4/07/2015
978-0-316-29779-0
236 pages     Age 8—12

“This brand-new series by a popular screenwriter is a pitch-perfect, contemporary comedy featuring twelve-year-old fraternal twins, Claudia and Reese, who couldn’t be more different…except in their determination to come out on top in a vicious prank war! But when the competition escalates into an all-out battle that’s fought from the cafeteria of their New York City private school all the way to the fictional universe of an online video game, the twins have to decide if their efforts to destroy each other are worth the price.

“Told as a colorful “oral history” by the twins and their friends, and including photos, screenshots, chat logs, online gaming digital art, and text messages between their clueless parents, The Tapper Twins is a hilariously authentic showcase of what it’s like to be in middle school in our digitally-saturated world.” [publisher]

Review
Claudia and Reese, age 12, twins, are at war, with each other. Who started the war depends on whom you ask, Claudia or Reese. They cannot agree on anything. Claudia decides, after the war is over, to document what happened. She writes using all at her disposal, including photos, interviews, online screenshots, and her mostly-absent parents’ phone text messages. I love her description of her and Reese,

“We are, unfortunately, twins. I am twelve years old. Reese is six.”

Reese interjects whenever he can. Like any war, it starts when one side (Reese), accuses the other side (Claudia), of doing something wrong (farting in the sixth-grade cafeteria), which harms others (a few sixth-grade princess sensibilities, many noses, and Jens—Claudia’s secret crush). Embarrassed and angry at such a terrible accusation—she claims innocence—Claudia is out for revenge. The War has begun. 

Claudia tries several ways of embarrassing her brother, but Reese does not embarrass easily. Claudia begins by placing a large, dead, stinky fish in Reese’s backpack, but even after several days, and others complaining of the awful smell, Reese doesn’t notice. When he learns of the fish, he fires back. Then Claudia returns his fire, and back-and-forth, until someone is tragically hurt. The fighting is both online and off for some digital-age humor. Claudia also allows others to comment in her “Officially True History of the War between the Trapper Twins (Claudia and Reese).” These interjections into Claudia’s history of war help the story gel into a humorous middle school tale. Readers meet Claudia’s secret Norwegian crush (Jens), the twins’ Upper East Side private school friends, the snobby Princesses, and the twin’s parents.

Rodkey, who wrote the excellent Chronicles of Egg series (reviewed here: bk1, bk2, bk3), knows his readers well and understands how siblings fight. I loved the first book of this new series, which delves into cyberbullying as part of the twins’ fighting. Even though Claudia writes the history, she comes off as the antagonist, rather than the victim she sees herself to be, making it easy to favor Reese. Still, the sibling fighting feels natural, not forced. That the twins are more alike than they believe and never really lose their sibling-love is also true to form. If you have siblings, you just might recognize yourself in either Claudia or Reese.

The Trapper Twins will have readers laughing, happily rolling their eyes, and smiling throughout its witty story. Those who like the Dork series, or the Aldo Zelnick Alphabet Novels (example here), will love The Trapper Twins even more. The Trapper Twins series continues this September with book 2: The Trapper Twins Tear Up New York. The prologue and first chapter are at the back of this book to give you a taste of the next. I cannot wait to continue this series. I love Rodkey’s writing and his wit.

THE TRAPPER TWINS GO TO WAR (WITH EACH OTHER). Text copyright © 2015 by Geoff Rodkey. Illustrations and photographs (except where noted) copyright © 2015 by Geoff Rodkey. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Little, Brown and Company, New York, NY.

Purchase The Trapper Twins Go to War at Amazon—Book Depository—iTunes— Hachette Book Group.

The Trapper Twins made the New York Times Bestseller List at #14!
Learn more about The Trapper Twins Go to War (with each other) HERE.
Read an Excerpt HERE.

Meet the author, Geoff Rodkey, at his website:  http://geoffrodkey.com/
Meet the illustrator, The Trapper Twins book website:  http://www.tappertwins.com/
Find more middle grade books at the Little, Brown and Company website:  http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/kids/

Little, Brown and Company is part of the Hachette Book Group

Copyright © 2015 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

Review section word count = 413

 

Filed under: 5stars, Books for Boys, Favorites, Middle Grade, Series Tagged: Brown and Company, Chronicle of Egg, family relationships, Geoff Rodkey, Hachette Book Grou, humor, Little, New York City, private schools, sibling fighting, The Trapper Twins Go to War (with each other), The Trapper Twins Tear Up New York, twins

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Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has teamed up with LEGO for a new series of graphic novels aimed at young readers and writers.

The two companies signed a multi-book, multi-year agreement to produce numerous LEGO-themed books aimed at readers ages 6 – 11. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers will launch a LEGO line with graphic novels based on three different bestselling LEGO properties: LEGO Ninjago, LEGO Friends and LEGO BIONICLE. Rex Ogle, Senior Editor at Little, Brown, will edit the books.

The first titles will come out in time for the holidays this year and will cost $7.99.

 

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This month, Secrets of a Christmas Box, a fantasy novel where the Christmas Tree ornaments come to life once the family go to bed, is The Children's Book Review's best selling middle grade book.

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Before I get into what mine is, I want to give a bit of background to the images you're going to see.

Towards the end of last year I introduced three little angels to you. One named Twilight, one Dusk, and the other Noon. Each one features animals and obviously, a certain time of day. This was the basis/theme for the series. To catch up, here are the two links to those posts:

• http://warriorprincessdream.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-series.html
• http://warriorprincessdream.blogspot.com/2010/10/angel-series-cont.html

Created by Sheila Lygo

Not too long after that, Crafts and Me asked if I would finish the sketches and create line art for digital stamps. And I did, you can find them here:

• Noon - http://www.craftsandme.co.uk/noon-digital-stamp-p-1195.html
• Dusk - http://www.craftsandme.co.uk/dusk-digital-stamp-p-1196.html
• Twilight - http://www.craftsandme.co.uk/twilight-digital-stamp-p-1287.html

Many crafters have used these images and created gorgeous cards with them! It has inspired me not to give up on the images....but I still wasn't motivated on how to use them yet.

I have created many line art works for Crafts and Me, and there is something rewarding seeing all of your paintings and sketches in beautiful, black, and clean lines. I knew this past Monday I had to keep painting. Oceana is finished, and I'm still working on the months and another large WIP, but I believe I can do more. With two shows next year (more on that later), I need to be painting!

Though,  I didn't want to think about composition or the poses. I went through those beautiful line art works and saw the little angels. PERFECT! Now is the time.
But will I stay with the titles and theme? 
Here's what I wanted from these:

1. The focus to be solely on the angel, and the background to be simple enough for licensing.
2. Large enough to make an impact in person, but not so huge I will never get them done.
3. They have to be sitting on something that can be similar in each and again, doesn't take away from the angel.
4. To have a meaning worth sharing, that aligns with my faith, and inspires.

The results? The Three Pillars.

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Little, Brown has acquired a debut novel by Times critic, columnist and features writer Kevin Maher, with publishing director Clare Smith snapping up her first title for the imprint in a hotly-contested four-way auction.

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Little, Brown science fiction and fantasy imprint Orbit has appointed Jenni Hill, previously of Solaris Books, as commissioning editor.

Hill will report to editorial director Anne Clarke, and will take up her post on 31st October. While at Solaris, she worked with authors including James Lovegrove, Gail Z Martin and Emily Gee.

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Publishers including Penguin, Preface, Little, Brown and The History Pres, have enlisted a battery of titles to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War next year.

The History Press is following up its release of The Silent Listener: Falklands 1982—The Inside Story of British Electronic Surveillance and Intel Controversies by Major D J Thorp earlier this year with Ordinary Heroes: Untold Stories from the Falklands Campaign by Christopher Hilton.

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Angry Robot has appointed Little, Brown online marketing manager Darren Turpin to the role of marketing and digital manager.

Turpin will join the company on 7th November and report directly to Marc Gascoigne, publishing director of the science fiction and fantasy imprint. He will work on promoting all Angry Robot titles, as well as developing some new digital initiatives.

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Today we bring you another installment of Youth Media Movers and Shakers. We've culled through industry publications looking for the recent executive placements we think you should know about. If you have executive news that you want us to highlight... Read the rest of this post

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I polished off the cover for Albert at the Zoo early last week, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. It's a nice looking cover. I think it relates to the first book well.

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To offer you a quick look at the greeting card designs that were delivered just yesterday (woohoo!), I’m posting a few pages from my catalog, so you can see the kind of stuff I’ve been up to! I’m currently working on a new design for this site, complete with an online store, so soon you will be able to see all the designs in living color! Click the images below to see them larger. Note: the colors won’t be quite as neon in print. Enjoy!

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