Prizes galore for our children’s books

Whether you’re still enjoying a summer holiday (hopefully with a good book) or whether, like us, you are back at work – welcome to 2018. But first, to wrap up 2017, we ended the year with a little flurry of good news – some of which we hope will come to fruition in 2018.

Sister Heart by Sally Morgan was shortlisted for an Adelaide Festival Award for Literature, while One Thousand Trees by Kyle Hughes-Odgers was a Bookstagram Choice Awards winner for Best Artfully Illustrated Picture Book. Meanwhile Pandamonia by Chris Owen and Chris Nixon was a finalist in the 2017 Little Hakka International Picture Book Competition. As a result, this fun and funky picture book featured in an exhibition in Shenzhen, China, over Christmas. At the end of last year, Carlo Gallucci Editore in Rome purchased the rights to Pandamonia, which has already sold into China, Taiwan and North America.

In other international news, My Place was renewed by Bompiani in Italy, while Booknbean Publishing Co in Seoul purchased the Korean-language rights for Brobot and Dungzilla. In the UK, the lead actor in the audio adaptation of Alan Carter’s Prime Cut, Andrew Leung, is one of three finalists vying for Best Debut Actor in the BBC Audio Drama Awards. We wish Andrew luck and would love to see him take out the award for his pitch-perfect performance as Cato Kwong.

Last, but certainly not least, we welcome all the new babes born (or very soon to be born) into the Fremantle Press family – may your lives be full of love, laughter and the joy of reading. Congratulations to all the creators of our bumper crop.

Watch the video for more highlights from the year that was.