All posts by Jenny Vaughan

Lionel Bender writes…

I spent most of the day at the Fair on Tuesday, 18 April. It was very busy. All children’s publishers of NF were upbeat and most said they were open to submissions. Some even have Submissions policies on their websites.

It appears packager Calcium is now publishing most of what it has done before and new stuff under the name of Children’s Books, so I guess that is one place for people to target. The usual suspects were present: Arcturus, Booklife, Miles Kelly, Weldon Owen, Welbeck, Michael O’Mara. And a good number of US publishers said they were open to pitches from UK authors.

On the evening of 19 April, I did my webinar for www.writingblueprints.com in the US, Writing Children’s Nonfiction: A Beginner’s Guide.About 150 signed up.

 Photo: © Lionel Bender

The 2022 ALCS Educational Writers Award is given each year to:  ‘an outstanding example of traditionally published non-fiction that stimulates and enhances learning’. The 2022 award was made on 22 February 2023 at the Goldsmith’s Ccentre, London. The winning title was What’s the T?, which ALCS describes as ‘a no-nonsense guide to all things trans and non-binary written by award-winning author and former PSHE teacher, Juno Dawson, with drawings by visual artist and illustrator, Soofiya.’

Published by Hachette Children’s Group. ISBN: 9781526362827. https://www.alcs.co.uk/news/whats-the-t-wins-educational-writers-award-2022

Runners-up were The Place For Me: stories about the Windrush Generation (Scholastic) and Musical Truth: A Musical Journey Through Modern Black Britain (Faber).

The same event saw the presentation of the Ruth Rendell Award, which ‘celebrates individuals who have gone above and beyond to promote literacy.’ This year there were two joint winners: author and illustrator Dapo Adeola and author and teacher Nigel Lungenmuss-Ward. Dapo was recognised for his work helping children from under-represented ethnic minority backgrounds and for his role as an ambassador to the National Literacy Trust. https://www.alcs.co.uk/news/dapo-adeola-and-nigel-lungenmuss-ward-win-ruth-rendell-award-2022

Nibweb (the network for children’s non-fiction writers) would like to thank the following organisations for making this website possible:
The National Union of Journalists:

and The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society:

Nibweb members would also like to thank illustrator Penny Ives for her work for this site. See more of Penny’s work at: http://www.swillustrators.co.uk/ and http://pennyivesillustrator.blogspot.co.uk/.

Moira Butterfield has won the Creative Play award for an  under-fives book,  Look What I Found at the Seaside,  published by Nosy Crow for the National Trust. The Creative Play Awards are sponsored and organised by Creative Steps magazine, which promotes creative play as vital in a child’s development. The illustrator is Jesús Verona. See https://creativesteps.co.uk/competitions/creative-play-awards/

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Fiona Macdonald tells us that: ‘The Mary Rose Museum have set up a “join-the-crew” museum trail based on a book I wrote (they were very helpful advisors).’ It’s You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on the Mary Rose: written by Fiona Macdonald, illustrated by David Antram, with David Salarya associated with the work.

See:  https://maryrose.org/news/join-the-crew-launches-at-the-mary-rose-this-summer/

and https://maryrose.org/events/2021/11/01/general-events/join-the-crew-of-the-mary-rose/

And John Townsend has drawn attention to a blog which mentions several Nibweb members – have a look to find out more about how we work and what we do.  https://www.salariya.com/blog/how-to-write-an-engaging-childrens-information-book/

We aren’t all listed on this site, but if you go to our ‘Contact Us’ page, we can send out a general email to everyone to help you find a suitable author.

The School Library Association (SLA) awards were announced on 25 November, and Nibweb member Anita Ganeri was honoured with the Hachette Children’s Group Award for Outstanding Contribution to Information Books. Launched in 2017, the award is given to an eminent UK writer or illustrator of information books for children, to mark an exceptional contribution to excellence in their field. Here’s what the SLA has to say about Anita’s work:

‘Known for her lively writing style and ability to relate sophisticated subject matter in an engaging way for children. Anita is the recipient of the Blue Peter Book award for a title in the highly successful Horrible Geography series. With over 500 titles to her name, Anita has also written extensively on subjects such as history, religion and PSHCE (Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education) topics and is a true champion of children’s non-fiction. If you see her name on the cover of a book, then you know that it will be accurate and suitable for the suggested age range. For teachers and librarians, her name is a guarantee that you will be adding quality to your book collections.’

https://www.sla.org.uk/article/hannah-groves/winners-announced-for-slas-2021-information-book-award/2399

Penny Ives, who did the lovely artwork for this website, has a new website and blog:

https://janeaustenandthepenguin.uk

Worth a look!

Anne Rooney, a founder-member of Nibweb and prolific author of children’s non-fiction titles has been elected to the Society of Authors’ Management Committee. For more about Anne and her work, see our ‘Meet Us’ page.

Nibweb member Mark Levesley says: ‘I’ve recently been producing a range of UK curriculum worksheets that link to the COVID-19 pandemic. These are free to download and use by teachers, parents, tutors, students etc. and attempt to take standard parts of the UK curriculum and set them within the context of the pandemic.’  https://shwca.se/covid19science

Mark is also co-author with Penny Johnson, Sue Kearsey, and Iain Brand of a series of workbooks for Exploring Science International. These cater for the three years of lower secondary science education in international markets, chiefly the Middle East. Below  is the cover of his biology book:

See:  https://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/secondary/Science/11-16/exploring-science-international-11-14/overview.aspx

Nibweb member Anna Claybourne has just published an atlas unlike any other – all about mermaids and other mystery sea-creatures. The Mermaid Atlas: Merfolk of the World  is published by Laurence King, which describes it like this: ‘Magical and mysterious, the merfolk of the world are notoriously elusive, but this enchanting compendium will reveal their secrets. Learn all about the beautiful Selkies of the Scottish seas, the wily Iara of Brazil who love to outwit travellers and the fearful Ningyo of Japan who can give you eternal life. This captivating book features a mix of mermaid “facts” and short retellings of some of the most magical and enticing traditional menfolk tales’.

ISBN: 9781786275844

Laurence King, June 2020

£14.99

Anna has also recently published two exciting new and more conventionally scientific titles.

 A Question Of Science: Why Doesn’t The Moon Fall Down? And Other Questions About Forces was published by Wayland in February, and is part of a series that ‘draws kids into science in a fun way … (it) features one question per spread with a clear explanation to follow, diagrams and fun and humorous illustrations. The quirky questions are designed to range from those that children will often ask to things they may never have thought of, but will still be keen to know the answer to.’

Wayland, February 2020

ISBN-13: 9781526311542

£12.99

Amazing Evolution: The Journey of Life, is a beautifully illustrated book about evolution, which ‘shines a light on this incredible process, from the beginnings of life around 3.8 billion years ago, to the millions of different species alive today, including the moon-walking, talking apes with super-powerful brains –human beings!’

Ivy Kids 2019

Illustrated by Wesley Robins

ISBN: 9781782406365

£14.99

Nibweb writer Anna Claybourne – with 150 titles to her name – is on the shortlist for this prestigious award. It’s called Science Makers: Making with States of Matter.

The publisher explains that the book invites young people to ‘learn all about states of matter by following in the footsteps of famous scientists, artists and inventors.

• Turn salt water into drinking water with Mária Telkes’ brilliant invention
• Be inspired by sculptor Néle Azevedo to create melting ice people
• Make ice cream using ice and salt like inventor Nancy Johnson, and much more!’

The winner will be announced in November – meanwhile, we’re all wishing Anna the best of luck.

Making with States of Matter is part of a series Anna’s written that ‘introduces a fascinating variety of historical and modern scientists, artists and makers and their discoveries and creations, along with instructions for a creative project inspired by each maker’s work.’

Making with States of Matter
Wayland 2018
Price: £12.99 hardback
ISBN-13: 9781526305480