Graffeg signs four picture books by Doyle and Whitson

Welsh independent publisher Graffeg has acquired four more picture books by author and illustrator team Malachy Doyle and Andrew Whitson.

Graffeg acquired world rights to the books, which are part of the Molly series, from James Catchpole of The Catchpole Agency, and will publish in 2019 and 2020.

The first book was Molly and the Stormy Sea, published in June this year in English, Welsh (Mali a’r Mor Stormus) and Irish (Muireann agus an Fharraige Fhiáin, released by An tSnáthaid Mhór). The story is about a girl called Molly who wakes up to find her father has not returned from his fishing trip, so goes down to the harbour to offer the sea her favourite possessions in exchange for his safe return.

Graffeg m.d Peter Gill said: “When we first read Molly and the Stormy Sea and looked at some of Andrew's amazing drawings which really bring the story to life we knew we had to publish it. The story is so compassionate and like a lot of Malachy's books, there is twist at the end which makes people connect with the story and Molly all over again. We are delighted to be able to publish more in the series.”

The new titles will further explore the small island where Molly and the fishing community live and will be called Molly and the Whale, Molly and Lighthouse Keeper, Molly and Megan and Molly and Granny.

Molly and the Whale is scheduled for another co-edition publication in June 2019 with An tSnáthaid Mhór handling the Irish Language version.