Beetle Boy is one of 20 titles chosen by librarians for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal Longlist

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Today I'm struck dumb with gratitude by the news that my debut novel, Beetle Boy, has been selected for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist.

It was in my school library and then my local library in Hemel Hempstead, that I discovered who I was and what kind of person I wanted to be. It was librarians who helped me navigate the multitudinous shelves and pressed Alan Garner, Ursula Le Guin, Susan Cooper and Mervyn Peake into my hands. These books of high adventure and difficult choices helped me discover my own moral compass, and my visits to their worlds fired up my imagination. Libraries are a haven, a school, a parent and one of my most trusted friends. I am honoured beyond description to be on the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist. Thank-you to librarians everywhere. I owe you everything.

Here is the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist (alphabetical by surname):

Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot by Horatio Clare (Firefly Press)
Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Pan Macmillan)
Unbecoming by Jenny Downham (David Fickling Books)
The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon (Orion Children’s Books)
How Not to Disappear by Clare Furniss (Simon & Schuster)
The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock (Faber & Faber)
Whisper to Me by Nick Lake (Bloomsbury)
Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard (Chicken House)
The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard (Old Barn Books)
Pax by Sara Pennypacker (HarperCollins)
Railhead by Philip Reeve (Oxford University Press)
Beck by Mal Peet with Meg Rosoff (Walker Books)
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt (Andersen Press)
The Marvels by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (Puffin)
Island by Nicky Singer (Caboodle Books)
Dreaming the Bear by Mimi Thebo (Oxford University Press)
Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford (HarperCollins)
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (Corgi)
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (Andersen Press)

For more information, here's the full press release.

Beetle Boy is selected for The 2017 Branford Boase Award Longlist

The Branford Boase Award was set up to reward the most promising new writers and their editors, as well as to reward excellence in writing and in publishing. The Award is made annually to the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist. You can read the full list and find out more here.

Beetle Boy has been selected for the longlist of twenty wonderful titles, and I'm delighted about this because it gives me an opportunity to celebrate the work of my incredible editors. Let me introduce you to them. They help me make the Beetle Trilogy the best it can be.

My senior editor is Barry Cunningham OBE. He's famous for discovering, publishing and editing J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. He's also the man that read the Beetle Boy manuscript and offered me a publishing deal before I had an agent. I take all my hats off to this man.

 

Rachel Leyshon

Rachel Leyshon

Rachel Leyshon is the Editorial Director at Chicken House and the editor who has the most hands on dealings with editing my books, taking me through copy edits, proof edits and a million other tiny details. She's the one who listens to my groans and talks me through my tangles and I love her for that. She's calm, clever and a joy to work with.

Beetle Boy is shortlisted for the Sheffield Libraries Children's Book Award

I'm delighted to be able to tell you that Beetle Boy has been shortlisted for the Sheffield Libraries Children's Book Award.

The Sheffield Children's Book Award is voted for by children who read all six books and then vote for their favourite, which is why I'm particularly delighted to have been shortlisted for this award. It would be an incredible award to win, although Beetle Boy faces stiff competition. It's all in the hands of the readers now. Fingers crossed they like beetles.

Beetle Boy is Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize

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I am over the moon that Beetle Boy has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize for 2017, not least because it was Waterstones who first championed the book back in February 2016, propelling it into the children's bestseller charts.

Keep your fingers crossed for me on the 30th of March when they make the announcement. The short list of middle grade titles is great company to be in, and stiff competition, as you can see from the image below.

You can find out more information here.

Italian Beetle Boy App

My amazing Italian publishers De Agostini Libri have just published Beetle Boy, which in Italy is called Il Ragazzo deglu Scarabei, and to accompany the book they have made this educational game, available from the app store, which gets children to think about the relationship between creatures and their habitats.

Find out more here: bit.ly/APP_Scarabeo

Please do share this with an Italian children you may know. It's so much fun!

Beetle Boy audiobook selected as a Notable Children's Recording - 2017, by the American Association for Library Service to Children

Screengrab from the Association for Library Service to Children in America website

Screengrab from the Association for Library Service to Children in America website

I am super delighted to share the news that the Association for Library Service to Children in America have selected the Beetle Boy audiobook as one of their top Notable Children's Recordings of 2017. This means a great deal to me, not just because they value the story, but also because I narrate my own audiobooks, rather than an actor.

Beetle Boy makes The Telegraph's Top Fifty Books of the Year.

2016 has been a fantastic year for literature, from tales of post-punk rebellion and fish-out-of-water detectives to politically incorrect satire and secrets from the Hollywood studio system. Here our top critics count down the year's best, from 50 …

2016 has been a fantastic year for literature, from tales of post-punk rebellion and fish-out-of-water detectives to politically incorrect satire and secrets from the Hollywood studio system. Here our top critics count down the year's best, from 50 to 1.

The Telegraph has done a round up of the top 50 books of the year and Beetle Boy is at number 31. Considering there are only 4 children's books on the list, I'm delighted that Beetle Boy is on there.

Find out more

New York Public Library picks Beetle Boy as one of it's 2016 Best Books for Kids

New York Public Library Reveals its List of Best Books for Kids and Teens Just in Time for The Holidays

Chosen by NYPL's children librarians throughout the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island, this list is a perfect guide for those looking to give the best books to their favourite young readers. The titles selected represent an inclusive list of books published in 2016 that consist of diverse characters, rich storytelling, and the ability to engage and stimulate a life-long love of reading.

Beetle Boy is one of twenty-two middle grade titles chosen for the list.

An interactive website that sorts and categorizes the selections based on a range of categories, such as genre, format, and age, will launch on December 1.

Find out more

The Art of Make Believe: Staging Children's Stories - an exhibition at The National Theatre

The entrance to the Art of Make Believe exhibition at the National Theatre

The entrance to the Art of Make Believe exhibition at the National Theatre

This week I did something new. I curated and opened a public exhibition about staging children's stories, at The National Theatre.

It is a free family friendly exhibition which aims to encourage playful participation and features books such as The Wind In the Willows, His Dark Materials and The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-time. I hope will be enjoyed by everyone coming to see Peter Pan over the festive period. It's playful and full of activities, so if you are on the south bank between now and April 2017 you should pop in because it's free and utter fun.

Here are some pictures!