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ABOUT
I feel lucky to have a life 100% dedicated to books - I write, edit, publish and work directly with young children and their families. I'm best known as the author of the Lulu/Lola books, though I've written over 25 picture books. 
I'm also Editor at large at AlannaMax.
PUBLISHERS
In the UK, the Lulu and Zeki books are books are published by AlannaMax. In the US, Lola and Leo books are published by Charlesbridge Publishing. The Lulu & Zeki books are also published in Denmark by Forlaget Arvids, in Netherlands by Luister, in Brazil by Pallas in Sweden by EPIX and in Korea by Glburri. My books are also published by Chicken-House/Scholastic, Barefoot Books, Little Tiger, Annick Press and O'Brien Press. As well as writing, I am Editor at Large at AlannaMax (I founded Alanna Books in 2006 and the new, more exciting list has Ken Wilson-Max as Publisher. Alanna Max publishes Lulu (illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw), her little brother Zeki (illustrated by Ruth Hearson), Suzanne Bloom, Jakob Martin Strid, Margaret Bateson-Hill (illustrated by Francesca Pelizzoli and Anne Wilson) and a few more beautiful, select titles. Click here to visit the website. 
Alanna Books was shortlisted for the Independent Publishers Guild's
The Alison Morrison Diversity Award For more see the Alanna Max website LINKS
Lulu/Lola now has a (small but ambitious) website of her own
called Booky Girl with information and activities. She also has her own Goodreads page: click to visit or get recommendations. |
NEWS
Lulu is heading to pre-school this September. To see how she and her family prepare, see Lulu's First Day out July 4th 2019!
AWARDS, reviews and other nice things
Lulu Gets a Cat was selected for their Recommended List by Empathy Lab;
It made it to the shortlist of the North Somerset Teacher's Book Award Reviews are here. 
Zeki Gets a Checkup was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal. HUGE congrats to the amazing illustrator,
Ruth Hearson for this achievement. 
Zeki Can Swim was nominated by IBBY UK for the International IBBY's List of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities 2019. Reviews of both the US and UK editions are here.
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MEDIA
Click to visit my Facebook page Click to follow me on Twitter Click to visit my Goodreads page I blog and write about gender, diversity and inclusion. Read my blog or click on the links below to read more. How a picture book about a cat could help teach children about consent and boundaries - article for BookTrust
Why inclusive picture books need
to think about class and poverty blog for BookTrust Blog post as part of the blog Tour for Empathy Day 2018 kindly hosted by Mr Davies Reads An interview with Alex Strick on the BookTrust website about stories for everyone and naturally including childen with disabilities. 2017 Picture a Story - an author's story about letting go for The Federation of Children's Book Groups National Share A Story Month 2017 Author Interview on Lola & Leo, Must-have Children's Books, Literacy Rituals and things parents can do to support children's reading with the wonderful site Here Wee Read 2017 Author Spotlight - 2017 interview for KidLit 411 a one stop information shop for children's writers and illustrators An Inadvertent Publisher - Alanna Books 10 Year anniversary interview with Books for Keeps 2016 Random Ramblings of a Small Independent Publisher interview for The Letterpress Project 2016 If I were in charge of the World 10 Rules for Inclusive Publishing blog for Barrington Stoke 2015 Ebb and flow: The advances and retreats in the battle to make children’s books more inclusive and diverse IBBY Conference, key note speech 2015 or read on my blog here On reviewing books which are marketed in a very gendered way - a response to an article in the Independent newspaper Interview with speech-language pathologist Jeanette W Stickel and her kindergarten students on her blog SpeakWell, ReadWell Gendered Marketing of children's books It's NOT what kids want! In Books for Keeps No. 203 - Nov 2013 Who gets to Purple Plastic Purse? Beyond inclusion in children's books In Write4Children, Vol IV, Issue II Winchester University Press Storytelling in a multi-lingual setting In Books for Keeps No 180 - Jan 2010 Sales of the Lola and Leo books hit $1million in the USA in 2016. Read all about it in the Bookseller by clicking here. TWITTER
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I write, edit and publish books for young children. I believe that all children should see themselves in the stories they read, so I try to include a wide range of children and experiences in my stories. I also believe that books should broaden children's horizons and imaginations; introduce them to new things and worlds and feelings, and help them to open up to possibilities beyond their immediate circumstances – as the #We Need Diverse Books campaign says, books need to be a mirror and a window... |
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