dha children’s classics guide 2020 · 2020. 3. 11. · key title: watership down (1972) an epic...

DHAChildren’sClassicsGuide2020

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Contents

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Agents

US Rights: Veronique Baxter; Georgia Glover; Anthony Goff; Jane Gregory; Caroline Walsh; Laura West; Jessica Woollard

Film & TV Rights: Penni Killick Nicky Lund; Georgina Ruffhead

Translation Rights:

Allison Cole: [email protected]: Brazil; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Iceland; Italy; the Netherlands; Norway; Portugal; Spain and Latin America; SwedenCo-agented: China (Roald Dahl only); Japan (Roald Dahl only)

Olivia Hickman: [email protected]: Arab World; Albania; Bulgaria; Croatia; Estonia; Greece; Israel; Latvia; Lithuania; Macedonia; Slovenia; Vietnam; all other marketsCo-agented: China, Czech Republic; Hungary; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Poland; Romania; Russia; Serbia; Slovakia; Taiwan; Thailand; Turkey; Ukraine

Translation Rights Assistant:Camille Burns: [email protected]

Contact

t: +44 (0)20 7434 5900f: +44 (0)20 7437 1072

www.davidhigham.co.uk

4

Richard Adams

Richard Adams (1920-2016), the son of a country doctor, was born in Newbury in England. He was educated at Bradfield school and Worcester College, Oxford. He served in the Second World War and in 1948 joined the Civil Service.

In the mid-1960s he completed his first novel, Watership Down, for which he struggled for several years to find a publisher. It was eventually awarded both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian award for children’s fiction for 1972. In 1974 he retired from the Civil Service and published a series of further novels, including Shardik, The Plague Dogs and The Girl in a Swing.

Primary Agent: VBTranslation Rights: DHA

Film/TV Rights: Adams estateSubagents:

Chinese - Bardon Chinese Media Japanese - Tuttle-Mori

Key title: Watership Down (1972)

An epic story that has been beloved for generations, Watership Down has become one of the most famous animal stories ever written.

Fiver, a young rabbit, is very worried. He senses something terrible is about to happen to the warren. His brother Hazel knows that his sixth sense is never wrong. So, there is nothing else for it.

They must leave immediately.

And so begins a long and perilous journey of a small band of rabbits in search of a safe home. Fiver’s vision finally leads them to Watership Down, but here they face their most difficult challenge of all . . .

Enquire for All Titles and Previous Publishers

5

Edward Ardizzone

Edward Ardizzone (1900-1979) began his career as an artist and Illustrator in 1927. In 1936 he made a picture book of a story he had told his children – the classic Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain. This developed into the internationally loved Little Tim series. Famous as a war artist and as a distinguished member of the Royal Academy, Ardizzone is also widely considered to be the foremost illustrator of his generation. He illustrated more than 170 books, and as well as his own work, he illustrated books by Eleanor Farjeon, Graham Greene, James Reeves and Dylan Thomas. Nurse Matilda by Christianna Brand, illustrated by Ardizzone, was adapted as Nanny McPhee (2005) and Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010) starring Emma Thompson.

Nurse MatildaUK: BloomsburyExtent - 384pp

Rights sold:Spanish – Ediciones SiruelaRussian – Azbooka-Atticus

Romanian – Grup Media LiteraBrazilian Portuguese - Editora

Schwarcz S.APolish – ZNAK

Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain

UK: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

Extent - 56pp

Rights sold:Japanese - Koguma

Select bibliography

Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain (1936)

The Little Bookroom (1955) Nurse Matilda (1964)

Primary Agent: GGTranslation Rights: DHA

Film/TV Rights: PKSubagents:

Chinese - Andrew Nurnberg Associates Japanese - Tuttle-Mori

Key title: Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain (1936)

In the first title of the beloved Little Tim series, a small boy wants to be a sailor, but his parents say he is much too young. Tim grabs the chance to stow away on a steamer, but little does he expect the hard work, stormy sea and sinking ship to come!

‘Some of the saltiest and most satisfying picture books created during the last generation’ - Maurice Sendak,

author of Where the Wild Things Are

The Little BookroomUK: OUP

Extent - 322pp

Rights sold:Chinese - Bridging Consulting Japanese - Iwanami Shoten

Macedonian - NampressPolish - Wydawnictwo Dwie

SiostryRussian - Azbooka-Atticus

6

Antonia Barber

Antonia Barber (1932-2019) gained early recognition for her middle grade novel, The Ghosts, first published in 1969. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, an award she was later shortlisted for again in 1983 with The Ring in the Rough Stuff. The Ghosts was adapted for film in 1972 to great success, and released theatrically as The Amazing Mr Blunden.

Her first picture book, The Mousehole Cat, first published to great acclaim in 1990, with illustrations by Nicola Bayley, and is still in print today. It was awarded Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards, the Children’s Choice in the Nestle Smarties Book Prize, and received a commendation for the Kate Greenaway Medal. A perennial favourite, the story has been adapted, including as a play, musical, puppet show, ballet and an animated film.


Select bibliography

The Ghosts (1969)The Ring in the Rough Stuff (1983)

The Mousehole Cat (1990)

Primary Agent: CWTranslation Rights: DHA

Film/TV Rights: CISubagents:

Chinese - Bardon Chinese Media Japanese - Japan Uni

Key title: The Ghosts (1969)

A time-travelling ghost story, The Ghosts revolves around two children, Lucy and Jamie, in Camden Town between the wars. A mysterious stranger appears at their door with an unbelievably attractive offer for their poor widowed mother – to act as caretaker for a rundown but once magnificent house in the countryside. The only reason they’ve struggled to find someone so far: the local villagers are afraid of the house, with claims they have seen the figures of two child ghosts wandering about the grounds. Lucy and Jamie are drawn almost instantly into this mystery, and their journey takes them to the same spot 100 years earlier, in an attempt to save the lives of the two other children before they’ve ended.

7

BB

‘B.B.’, or Denys Watkins-Pitchford (1905-1990), was born in 1905 in Northamptonshire. He studied at the Royal College of Art and was for many years the art master at Rugby School.

He wrote and illustrated many books for both children and adults, all of which reflected his naturalist’s knowledge and passion for the countryside.

He is probably best known for Brendon Chase, published in 1944, The Little Grey Men (for which he won the prestigious Carnegie Medal in 1942) and its sequel Down the Bright Stream.

The Little Grey MenUK: OUP

Extent - 257pp

Rights sold:Chinese – HunanGerman - Freies

GeisteslebenRussian – Dobraya Kniga

Down the Bright StreamUK: OUP

Extent - 256pp

Rights sold:Russian – Dobraya Kniga

Select bibliography

The Little Grey Men (1942) Down the Bright Stream (1948)

Primary Agent: GG Translation Rights: DHA

Film/TV Rights: NLSubagents:


Key title: The Little Grey Men (1942)

The last four gnomes in Britain live on the banks of the bubbling Folly brook. They are perfectly happy with their quiet life, except, that is, for one . . . Cloudberry.

Restless and longing for adventure, Cloudberry sets off to follow his dream. But when he doesn’t return, the remaining gnomes must set off on their own adventure to find him.

8

Sheila Burnford

Sheila Burnford (1918-1984) was born in Scotland, where she attended St George’s School in Edinburgh. She married a doctor, David Burnford, in 1941 and worked as an ambulance driver during the Second World War. In 1951 she and her husband emigrated to Canada. They had three children and three beloved family pets. These animals inspired Sheila to write The Incredible Journey, which was published in 1961. Two years later Disney released a film adaptation, and from that point Sheila’s book became a well-loved bestseller.

The Incredible JourneyUK: Vintage

Extent - 176pp

Rights sold:Italian - MondadoriKorean – Sigongsa

Spanish – DanosTurkish – Beyaz Balina

Bel RiaUK: Sphere

Extent - 208pp

Rights sold:Finnish - Tammi

Select bibliography

The Incredible Journey (1961) Bel Ria (1979)




Key title: The Incredible Journey (1961)

The Hunter children must go abroad for the summer, so they reluctantly leave their three pets in the care of a friend. But the faithful animals only know they must get home again, somehow. So the labrador, the old bull terrier and the dainty Siamese cat set off on a perilous journey through the wilderness. But how will domestic animals fare against river rapids, hunger, icy temperatures and ferocious wild beasts? And if they make it home, will their owners be waiting for them?

9

Berlie Doherty

Berlie Doherty has been a compulsive writer of novels, plays, stories and poetry for all ages since 1982. She has written over fifty books, and is translated into twenty-one languages. Many of her books have been dramatised for radio, television and the stage.

She has won many awards around the world, including the Carnegie Medal twice (the only author to do so in the prize’s history) for Dear Nobody and Granny Was A Buffer Girl. She was also runner-up for the Carnegie with Willa and Old Miss Annie.

Dear NobodyUK: Penguin

Extent - 240pp

Rights sold:French - Gallimar

German - Ernst KlettKorean - Changbi Publishers

Russian – KolobokThai – NanmeeBooks

Street ChildUK: HarperCollins

Extent - 208pp

Rights sold:French - LarousseRussian – Hemiro

Thai – NanmeeBooks

The Girl Who Saw LionsUK: AndersenExtent - 240pp

Rights sold:German -

Südwestrundfunk

Select bibliography

Dear Nobody (1991)Street Child (1993)

The Snake-Stone (1995)Deep Secret (2003)

The Girl Who Saw Lions (2018)


Film/TV Rights: PK Subagents:


Key title: Dear Nobody (1991)

Dear Nobody is the moving story of two teenagers and an unplanned pregnancy.

This compelling story is beautifully told from two points of view, brilliantly evoking the feelings of both Helen, in a series of letters to the unborn baby, and of Chris as he reads the letters and relives the events of their relationship while Helen is in labour.

10

Eleanor Farjeon

Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) is regarded as one of this country’s finest writers of poems and stories for children. In 1956 she was awarded both the Carnegie Medal and the Hans Christian Andersen International Medal; her hymn “Morning Has Broken” is a favourite around the world.

Eleanor lived for many years in a little village called Houghton. The children of the village used to gather outside her cottage to play their favourite skipping games, and one day Eleanor went and asked them to recite their rhymes for her. These rhymes, which have been passed down from generation to generation, can be found word-for-word in Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep.

The Little BookroomUK: OUP

Extent - 322pp

Rights sold:Chinese - Bridging Consulting Japanese - Iwanami Shoten

Macedonian - NampressPolish - Wydawnictwo Dwie

SiostryRussian - Azbooka-Atticus

Jim at the CornerUK: New York Review of

BooksExtent - 96pp

Rights sold:Japanese - Dowaken

Shuppen

The Old Nurse’s Stocking Basket

UK: PuffinExtent - 136pp

Rights sold:Russian - Azbooka-Atticus

Chinese - Guangzhou Bright Book Publishing

Select bibliography

Kaleidoscope (1928)The Old Nurse’s Stocking Basket

(1931)Jim at the Corner (1934)The Glass Slipper (1944)

The Little Bookroom (aka One Foot in Fairyland, 1955)



Chinese - Bardon Chinese Media Japanese -Tuttle-Mori

Key title: The Little Bookroom (1955)

A girl sits in a dusty room, crammed to the rafters with books. Sunlight dances on the covers, between which are stories of magical worlds and faraway places, lands of princesses, kings, giants, and real children too.

Eleanor Farjeon was that girl, who was so enchanted by her little bookroom that she recreated it by writing this wonderful collection of short stories.

This charming book is beautifully illustrated throughout by Edward Ardizzone.

11

Anne Fine

Anne Fine has written numerous highly acclaimed and prize-winning books for children and adults. The Tulip Touch won the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year Award; Goggle-Eyes won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal; Flour Babies won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year; and Bill’s New Frock won a Smarties Prize. Anne Fine was named Children’s Laureate in 2001 and was awarded an OBE in 2003.

Madame Doubtfire was adapted into a film starring the late Robin Williams in 1993.

Madame DoubtfireUK: Puffin

Extent - 256pp

Rights sold:Enquire for all rights sold

The Diary of a Killer CatUK: PuffinExtent - 64


Bill’s New FrockUK: Puffin

Extent - 128pp

Rights sold:Romanian - Editura

Paralela 45Korean - BIR Publishing Co

Spanish - SantillanaChinese - New Buds

Select bibliography Madame Doubtfire (1987)

Bill’s New Frock (1988)Goggle-Eyes (1989)Flour Babies (1992)

The Diary of a Killer Cat (1994)Step by Wicked Step (1995)

The Tulip Touch (1996)Charm School (1999)Roll Over Rolly (1999)Notso Hotso (2001)

Ivan the Terrible (2007)

Primary Agent: AGTranslation Rights: DHA

Film/TV Rights: GRSubagents:

Chinese -Andrew Nurnberg Associates Japanese - Tuttle-Mori

Key title: Madame Doubtfire (1987)

Madame Doubtfire is a wonderfully funny, punchy story about family life. Lydia, Christopher and Natalie are used to domestic turmoil. Their parents’ divorce has not made family life any easier in either home.

The children bounce to and from their volatile mother, Miranda, and their out-of-work actor father, Daniel. Then Miranda advertises for a cleaning lady who will mind the children after work - and Daniel gets the job, disguised as Madame Doubtfire.

12

Pauline Fisk

Pauline Fisk (1948-2015) was an author with a strong sense of place and a rare gift for blending the natural with the supernatural in ways that made the latter seem entirely credible. Although her output was not large, her voice was distinctive, and she found success with her first novel, Midnight Blue (1990), which won the Smarties book prize and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children’s Book Award (now the Costa award).

Midnight BlueUK: Lion

Extent - 224pp

Rights sold:All rights available

In the TreesUK: Faber & Faber

Extent - 355


Flying for FrankieUK: Faber & Faber

Extent - 240pp

Rights sold:Spanish - Mondadori

Select bibliography

Telling The Sea (1992)The Beast Of Whixall Moss (1997)

The Candle House (1999)Sabrina Fludde (2001)The Red Judge (2004)

The Mrs Marridge Project (2005)Flying For Frankie (2009)

Mad Dog Moonlight (2009)In The Trees (2010)Tyger Pool (2010)




Key title: Midnight Blue (1990)

Bonnie, a young teenager, escapes the harsh reality of her mother’s weakness and her grandmother’s hatred by flying to another, kinder world. There, with the mysterious Shadow Boy, she discovers a life that is both healing and disturbing. But, unwittingly, she opens the way for the malevolent Grandbag, with chilling consequences.

Pauline Fisk’s compelling writing is reminiscent of the fantasy of Alan Garner and the magical realism of David Almond.

13

Eve Garnett

Eve Garnett (1900-1991) was born in Worcestershire and trained as a painter in London at Chelsea and then the Royal Academy Schools. Ill health curtailed her painting career and thus she became a very successful children’s book writer and illustrator.

Her first book, The Family from One End Street was first published in 1937, won the Carnegie Gold Medal and has been in print ever since. It has also been adapted for radio in1999.

The Family from One End Street


Rights sold:Portuguese – 20/20

EditoriaJapanese - Iwanami

Shoten

Holiday at Dew Drop InnUK: Puffin

Extent - 336pp


A Child’s Garden of Verses


Rights sold:(illustrations only)

Japan - Zuiunsha Shuppan

Select bibliography

The Family from One End Street (1937)

Further Adventures of the Family from One End Street (1956)

Holiday at Dew Drop Inn (1962) Child’s Garden of Verses (1948)

Primary Agent: JGTranslation Rights: DHA

Film/TV Rights: JGSubagents:


Key title: The Family from One End Street (1937)

There is never a dull moment in the lively Ruggles family. From capable Lily Rose, whose good deeds don’t always go to plan, down to prize-winning baby William, the seven Ruggles children are experts at finding fun and adventure.

The classic story of life in a big, happy family.

14

Jamila Gavin

Jamila Gavin was born in Mussoorie, India, in the foothills of the Himalayas. With an Indian father and an English mother, she inherited two rich cultures which ran side by side throughout her life, and which always made her feel she belonged to both countries.

The family finally settled in England where Jamila completed her schooling, was a music student, worked for the BBC and became a mother of two children. It was then that she began writing children’s books, and felt a need to reflect the multi-cultural world in which she and her children now lived.

Coram BoyUK: Egmont

Extent - 368pp


The Blood StoneUK: Egmont

Extent - 420pp


The Wheel of SuryaUK: Egmont

Extent - 304pp


Select bibliography

The Wheel of Suraya (1995)The Eye of the Horse (1994)

The Track of the Wind (1997)Coram Boy (2000)

The Blood Stone (2003)


Film/TV Rights: Casarotto Ramsay Subagents:

Chinese -Andrew Nurnberg Associates Japanese -Tuttle-Mori

Key title: Coram Boy (2000)

The Coram man takes babies and money from desperate mothers, promising to deliver them safely to a Foundling Hospital in London. Instead, he murders them and buries them by the roadside, to the helpless horror of his mentally ill son, Mish.

Mish saves one, Aaron, who grows up happily unaware of his history, proving himself a promising musician. As Aaron’s new life takes him closer to his real family, the watchful Mish makes a terrible mistake, delivering Aaron and his best friend Toby back into the hands of the Coram man.

15

Elizabeth Goudge

Elizabeth Goudge (1900-1984) was born in Somerset. She had a long and distinguished literary career writing novels for adults and children, which were best-sellers throughout the world.

She was awarded the Carnegie Medal in 1946 for The Little White Horse, perhaps her best-known work, a new film version of which was released in 2009 under the title The Secret of Moonacre.

The Little White HorseUK: Lion

Extent - 224pp


Linnets and Valerians (aka The Runaways)

UK: Hesperus PressExtent - 256pp

Rights sold:All rights sold

Select bibliography

Smoky House (1941)Henrietta’s House (1942)

The Little White Horse (1946)Make-Believe (1949)

The Valley of Song (1951)Linnets and Valerians (1964)

I Saw Three Ships (1969)

Primary Agent: GGTranslation Rights:DHA



Key title: The Little White Horse (1946)

‘For a fleeting instant Maria thought she saw a little white horse with a flowing mane and tail, head raised, poised, halted in mid-flight, as though it had seen her and was glad.’

The beautiful valley of Moonacre is shadowed by the memory of the Moon Princess and the mysterious little white horse. When Maria Merryweather comes there on a visit she finds herself involved with an ancient feud. She is determined to restore peace and happiness to the whole of Moonacre Valley. And Maria usually gets her own way...

16

Russell Hoban

Russell Hoban (1925-2011) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He started writing at an early age, winning prizes for his stories and poems during his school years. He served in the US Army during the Second World War, earning a Bronze Star, and later worked as an illustrator in advertising. He began writing children’s books in 1958, and since then has published more than fifty titles.

In 1968, he published his first full-length novel, The Mouse and His Child, which was later made into an animated film. He moved to London in 1969 (originally for a two-year stay) and lived there for the rest of his life.

Primary Agent: AGTranslation Rights: DHA

Film/TV Rights: NL Subagents:


Key title: The Mouse and His Child (1968)

‘What are we, Papa?’ the toy mouse child asked his father. ‘I don’t know,’ the father answered. ‘We must wait and see.’

So begins the story of a tin father and son who dance under a Christmas tree until they break the ancient clockwork rules and are themselves broken. Thrown away, then rescued from a dustbin and repaired by a tramp, they set out on a dangerous quest for a family and a place of their own - the magnificent doll’s house, the plush elephant and the tin seal they had once know in the toy shop.

“Hoban is the best sort of genius.” Patrick Ness, Guardian

“The Hobans have done it again: a sly text attacking a real juvenile problem and attractive illustrations. Highly recommended.” Kirkus on Bread and Jam for Frances

The Mouse and His Child (1968)

UK: Faber & FaberExtent - 176pp

Rights sold:Chinese - Trustbridge

PublishingItalian - Adephi Edizioni

17

Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones (1934-2011) and her two sisters grew up deprived of books. But, armed with a vivid imagination and an insatiable appetite for stories, Wynne Jones wrote and read them herself She never ceased writing and from 1973 onwards published many titles, which have been published worldwide in thirty languages. Her magical adventures have enthralled children and adults ever since. In 2004 Howl’s Moving Castle was made into an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki for Studio Ghibli, Japan, to much acclaim.

Her numerous awards include the Guardian Award for Children’s Fiction, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award (twice) and a Life Achievement award at the World Fantasy Convention 2007.

Howl’s Moving CastleUK: HarperCollins

Extent - 304pp

Rights sold:Enquire for All Titles and

Previous Publishers

Charmed LifeUK: HarperCollins

Extent - 288pp

Rights sold:Finnish - WSOY

French - GallimardSpain - Anaya

Ukranian - Vydavnyctvo Starogo Levai

Earwig and the WitchUK: HarperCollins

Extent - 133pp

Rights sold:Italian - Adriano Salani

Japanese - Tokuma Shoten

Korean - Sigongsa

Select bibliography

Howl’s Moving Castle (1986)Castle in the Air (1990)

House of Many Ways (2008)Earwig and the Witch (2011)

A Tale of Time City (1987)Power of Three (1976)

The Dark Lord of Derkholm (1998)



Chinese - Bardon Chinese Media Japanese -Tuttle-Mori

Key title: Howl’s Moving Castle (1986)

In the land of Ingary, where seven league boots and cloaks of invisibility do exist, Sophie Hatter catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell. She makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above Market Chipping, where she meets Michael, Howl’s apprentice, and Calcifer the Fire Demon, with whom she agrees a pact. But, rumour has it, the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls…

18

Clive King

Clive King (1924-2018) was born in Richmond, Surrey. In 1926 he moved with his parents to a farm in Kent, alongside which was an abandoned chalk-pit, which later became the setting for Stig of the Dump.

Thereafter he went to King’s School, Rochester, Downing College, Cambridge, and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

From 1943 to 1947 he served in the Royal Navy, travelling widely and civilian postings as an officer of the British Council took him to Amsterdam, Belfast, Aleppo, Damascus, Beirut, Dhaka and Madras.

Stig of the DumpUK: Puffin

Extent - 263pp

Rights sold:Spanish - Editorial Casals

Korean - Bomnamu

The Town that Went SouthUK: Atheneum Books

Extent - 213pp


Select bibliography

The Town that Went South (1959)Stig of the Dump (1962)

The 22 Letters (1966)

Primary Agent: CWTranslation Rights:DHA

Film/TV Rights: NLSubagents:

Chinese - Andrew Nurnberg Associates Japanese - Japan Uni

Key title: Stig of the Dump (1946)

Barney is a solitary little boy, given to wandering off by himself. One day he is lying on the edge of a disused chalk-pit when it gives way and he lands in a sort of cave. Here he meets ‘somebody with a lot of shaggy hair and two bright black eyes’ wearing a rabbit skin and speaking in grunts. He names him Stig. Of course, nobody believes Barney when he tells his family all about Stig but, for Barney, cave-man Stig is totally real. They become great friends, learning each other’s ways and embarking on a series of unforgettable adventures.

Stig of the Dump is illustrated by Edward Ardizzone.

19

Penelope Lively

Penelope Lively is a novelist, short story writer and author of children’s books. Her novels have won several literary awards, including the Booker Prize for Moon Tiger in 1987. The Road to Lichfield and According to Mark were shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Her children’s book The Ghost of Thomas Kempe was awarded the Carnegie Medal, and A Stitch in Time won a Whitbread Award. Family Album was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2010.

The Ghost of Thomas Kempe

UK: EgmontExtent - 256pp

Rights sold:Italian - Adriano Salani

A Stich in TimeUK: HarperCollins

Extent - 160pp

Rights sold:Chinese - Shanghai Cai

Qin Ren Culture Diffusion Company

Italian - Ugo Guanda Editore

The House in Norham GardensUK: Puffin

Extent - 304pp

Rights sold:Japan – Goblin Shobo

Select bibliography

The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (1973)The House in Norham Gardens (1974)

A Stitch in Time (1976)

Primary Agent: LKTranslation Rights: DHA

Film/TV Rights: NL Subagents:


Key title: The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (1973)

James is fed up. His family has moved to a new cottage – with grounds that are great for excavations, and trees that are perfect for climbing – and stuff is happening. Stuff that is normally the kind of thing he does. But it’s not him who’s writing strange things on shopping lists and fences. It’s not him who smashes bottles and pours tea in the Vicar’s lap. It’s a ghost – honestly. Thomas Kempe, the 17th century apothecary, has returned and he wants James to be his apprentice. No one else believes in ghosts. It’s up to James to get rid of him. Or he’ll have no pocket money or pudding ever again.

20

Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain’s best loved writers for children. He has written over 130 books including The Butterfly Lion, Kensuke’s Kingdom, Why the Whales Came, Private Peaceful, Shadow, and War Horse, which was adapted for a hugely successful stage production by the National Theatre and then, in 2011, for a film directed by Steven Spielberg. Michael was Children’s Laureate from 2003 to 2005. The charity Farms for City Children, which he founded thirty years ago with his wife Clare, has now enabled over 70,000 children to spend a week living and working down on the farm.

Private PeacefulUK: HarperCollins

Extent - 208pp

Kensuke’s KingdomUK: HarperCollins

Extent - 176pp

Running WildUK: HarperCollins

Extent - 352pp

Select bibliography

Long Way Home (1975)Robin of Sherwood (1996)Kensuke’s Kingdom (1999)

Out of the Ashes (2001)Private Peaceful (2001)

Cool! (2002)Born to Run (2006)

Running Wild (2009)


Film/TV Rights: Berlin Associates Subagents:


Key title: Private Peaceful (2001)

Told in the voice of Private Tommo Peaceful, the story follows twenty-four hours at the front, and captures his memories of his family and his village life by no means as tranquil as it appeared.

Full of vivid detail and engrossing atmosphere, leading to a dramatic and moving conclusion, Private Peaceful is both a compelling love story and a deeply moving account of the First World War.


2121

Philippa Pearce

Philippa Pearce (1920-2006) was awarded the OBE in 1997 for her services to children’s literature. Her book Tom’s Midnight Garden won the Carnegie Medal in 1958 and has remained in print ever since. In 2008 this was celebrated with a special 50th Anniversary Edition, and the first Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture at Homerton College, Cambridge.

Until her death she lived near Cambridge, opposite the house where she spent her childhood and which features in Tom’s Midnight Garden.

The Little GentlemanUK: Puffin

Extent - 160pp

Rights sold:German - Aladin

Hebrew - PaamonItalian - Adriano SalaniJapanese - Iwanami

Korean - Sigongsa

Mrs Cockle’s CatUK: Jane NissenExtent - 320pp

Rights sold:Japanese - TokumaKorean - Nonjang

Turkish - Beyaz Balina

Minnow on the SayUK: Oxford University Press

Extent - 272pp

Rights sold:Japanese - Kodansha

Select bibliography

Tom’s Midnight Garden (1958)The Elm Street Lot (1969)The Squirrel Wife (1971)

What the Neighbours Did and Other Stories (1972)

Lion at School and Other Stories (1973)

The Way to Sattin Shore (1983) The Little Gentleman (2004)


Film/TV Rights: GRSubagents:


Key title: The Way to Satin Shore (1983)

Kate never knew her dad, but that doesn’t stop her missing him. She often secretly visits the gravestone with his name on it. But when the gravestone disappears Kate has a mystery on her hands. She has to find out what has happened and as she delves deeper into her family’s past, she realizes that there are many secrets to uncover and that all the clues point to one place. As Kate races to Sattin Shore her mind is a whirl of emotions: what she finds there will change the shape of her life for ever.

22

Geoffrey Trease

Geoffrey Trease (1909-1998) was born in Nottingham in 1909. While at school he produced his own British Boys’ Magazine. This featured “stories of adventure and British pluck from all corners of the globe”. Later he won a classics scholarship to Oxford but gave it up to go and work in London as a social worker in the East End and a struggling journalist on the Bloomsbury fringes. He became a teacher, but soon returned to a writing career.

His first book, Bows Against the Barons, was published when he was 25 and he went on to write over 100 books for both children and adults. He never lost his energy and creativity and delighted generations of young readers.

He was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes




Key title: Cue for Treason (1937)

Fleeing from the evil Sir Philip Morton, Peter Brownrigg finds himself on the wrong side of the law. On the run to London he meets Kit and the two decide to stick together. But a chance discovery endangers their lives and soon Peter is deep in murderous plots, secrets and even treason.

Set in the turbulent days of Elizabeth I, this classic story of danger and intrigue conjures up a world of mystery, twists and turns and thrilling action.


Select bibliography

Bows Against the Baron (1934)Cue for Treason (1937)

No Boats on Bannermere (1949)Trumpets in the West (1994)

Cue for TreasonUK: Penguin Children’s

Extent - 368pp

Bows Against the BaronUK: Five Leaves

PublicationExtent - 166pp

No Boats on BannermereUK: Girls Gone By

Extent - 218pp

23

Robert Westall

Robert Westall (1929-1993) made a sensational debut with The Machine Gunners in 1975. It won the Carnegie Medal and Westall established an international reputation. His books have been translated into many languages and dramatised for television. He won The Smarties Prize, the Guardian Award and was twice awarded The Carnegie Medal.

In 2006 an exhibition devoted to Westall’s work was on show at Seven Stories, the Centre for the Children’s Book, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, close to where he was born and brought up. Published to coincide with the exhibition, the story of his childhood is told in his autobiographical writings The Making of Me


Film/TV Rights: PKSubagent:

Chinese - ANA Japanese - Tuttle-Mori

Select bibliography

The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral (1989)

Stormsearch (1990)Kingdom by the Sea (1990)

Gulf (1992)Falling into Glory (1993)The Night Mare (1995)

Blizzard (1996)

Key title: Kingdom by the Sea (1990)

When a bomb during an air raid destroys Harry’s home and kills his family, he knows that he is all alone in the world and has only himself to rely on. Anxious that he will be sent to live with his fussy Cousin Elsie he goes on the run across the war-battered land of North East England, his only friend in his journey a stray dog that he meets on the beach. Will Harry ever find a place to call home again, or will he be on the run forever?

‘A writer who managed to combine literary excellence with a talent for capturing the imagination and interest of child, and in particular, young adult readers’ – Julia Eccleshare, The Times

The Kingdom by the SeaUK: HarperCollins

Extent - 257pp

GulfUK: DHA

Extent - 95pp

The Night MareUK: DHA

Extent - 126pp


24

T. H. White

T. H. White (1906-1964) was born in Bombay, India, where his father was a member of the Indian Civil Service, and was educated at Cheltenham and Queen’s College, Cambridge. He was an English master at Stowe School from 1930 to 1936, and while there, completed his first real critical success, England Have My Bones, which was an autobiographical account of his country life.

He afterward devoted himself exclusively to writing and to studying such obscure subjects as the Arthurian legends, which were to provide the material for his books. White was reclusive by nature, often isolating himself for long periods from human society, and spending his time hunting, fishing, and looking after his strange collection of pets.


Film/TV Rights: GRSubagent:

Chinese - Andrew Nurnberg Associates Japanese - Japan Uni

Key title: The Once and Future King (1938-1970)

T.H. White’s masterful retelling of the Arthurian legend is an abiding classic. Here all five volumes that make up the story are published together in a single volume, as White himself always wished.

This is the tale of King Arthur and his shining Camelot; of Merlyn and Owl and Guinevere; of beasts who talk and men who fly; of knights, wizardry and war.

Contains The Sword in the Stone, The Witch in the Wood, The Ill-Made Knight, The Candle in the Wind and The Book of Merlyn.


Select bibliography

The Sword in the Stone (1938)The Witch in the Wood, a.k.a The Queen of Air and Darkness (1939)

The Ill-Made Knight (1940)Mistress Marsham’s Repose (1946)The Elephant and the Kangaroo

(1947)The Candle in the Wind (1958)

The Book of Merlyn (1970)

The Once and Future KingUK: Penguin Children’s

Extent - 864pp

Mistress Marsham’s Repose

UK: Random House Children’s

Extent - 274pp

The Elephant and the Kangaroo

UK: PenguinExtent - 240pp

Richard AdamsEdward Ardizzone

Antonia BarberBB

Sheila BurnfordBerlie Doherty

Eleanor FarjeonAnne Fine

Pauline FiskEve Garnett

Jamila GavinElizabeth Goudge

Russell HobanDiana Wynne Jones

Clive KingPenelope Lively

Michael MorpurgoPhillipa PearceGeoffrey TreaseRobert Westall

T. H. White

dha children’s classics guide 2020 · 2020. 3. 11. · key title: watership down (1972) an epic...

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