Jessica Ennis-Hill pens children's book series

Hodder Children’s Books, an imprint of the Hachette Children’s Group, has signed a book deal with Olympic athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill.

Anne McNeil, senior publisher at Hodder Children’s Books, has acquired world rights to seven books in a series called Evie’s Magic Bracelet, from Jane Cowmeadow of Jane Cowmeadow Communication Management.

Ennis will co-write the series with children’s author Elen Caldecott and the first book, The Silver Unicorn, will be published in March 2017. In the book, Evie is sent a magical bracelet from her Grandma Iris in Jamaica. Three further titles will be released in 2017 and the final three in 2018.

Ennis-Hill said: “I have so many great memories of being a little girl. My friends and I spent lots of time exploring and having adventures where my imagination used to run riot. It has been so much fun working with Elen to go back to that world of stories and imagination and share it with readers. I very much hope that the books will inspire and encourage them to look for the magic in everyday life.”

The Olympic athlete won two gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics and a silver medal in Rio 2016. She has also been named an ambassador for World Book Day.

Hodder Children’s Books has also published titles by Mo Farah, another British Olympic medal-winning athlete.