Bloomsbury Children's celebrates Rundell at the Natural History Museum

On Tuesday 12th September, Bloomsbury Children’s celebrated the launch of Katherine Rundell’s new fantasy children’s novel, Impossible Creatures, at the Natural History Museum, London. 

Held in the Earth Hall, with 380 guests in attendance, Rundell spoke about how the novel was initially inspired by a poem by John Donne, the subject of Rundell’s Baillie-Gifford winning biography. Rundell concluded her speech by paying homage to the children’s book community: "I am proud to be part of a community that offers children such rich, bone-deep joy.  When you love a book as a child, you love it hungrily. We who write for children have a duty not to give those who are hungry anything cheap or under-thought or vapid or uncared for: the writers and artists in the room rise so superbly to that challenge.

"I think of those who make children’s books as a great chorus, singing a song that was handed down to us, about tenacity and invention, and the importance of good food and good jokes, and endurance and love – and it will be picked up and sung on by the generation coming after us. I am so proud to be one of those singing that song."

Guests in attendance included actor Charles Dance, known for his role as Tywin Lannister in the HBO series "Game of Thrones", who read from the first pages of Impossible Creatures. Actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster was also in attendance.

Impossible Creatures is the first in a new middle-grade fantasy trilogy and Rundell’s first middle-grade novel in four years. The novel follows Christopher who discovers a magical world called the Archipelago where "the creatures we tell of in myth live and breed and thrive alongside humans". However, the animals are in danger. Christopher teams up with Mal, a girl with a flying coat who is also being chased by a killer, and they embark on an adventure to "find the truth – with unimaginable consequences for both their worlds".

Nigel Newton, chief executive of Bloomsbury, commented: “As stated in recent trading updates and results announcements, the phenomenal demand for fantasy fiction has helped drive record sales. Bloomsbury has a rich tradition in this genre and we have high expectations for Katherine Rundell to continue this trend. We are naturally overjoyed to see such widespread excitement around her latest novel.”