Owlet launches new fiction strand with Poynter's whale novel

Independent children’s publisher Owlet Press is launching a new fiction strand today (28th April), kicking off with a chapter book by McFly star and author Dougie Poynter.

Sam Langley-Swain, publisher at Owlet Press, acquired UK publishing rights to Poynter’s The Whale Watchers. Iris Worldwide brokered the deal with Steph Thwaites and Isobel Gahan from Curtis Brown Group on behalf of Poynter, and with Plum Pudding on behalf of illustrator Amberin Huq. The book will be published in paperback on 7th July, with a high-profile PR and media campaign led by Iris at the end of June.

The book is an inclusive novel with themes of sustainability and conservation and will be illustrated throughout. It aims to raise awareness of the role whales play in the fight against climate change and will explain how readers can help protect the mammals and their environment by reducing single-use plastic and embracing a more sustainable reuse culture. 

The project has been commissioned by Brita, water filtration experts providing sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic bottles, in order to raise funds for its charity partner, Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC).

The publisher plans to release one or two fiction titles per year alongside its growing picture book and non-fiction lists.

Poynter is a musician, songwriter and designer and the co-author, with McFly bandmate Tom Fletcher, of The Dinosaur That Pooped series and Plastic Sucks and Dinosaurs Rock (Penguin Random House Children’s). A keen conservationist, he played a role in the campaign to ban microplastics in the UK.

For this new novel, he has worked with an expert team of editors, writers and scientists at WDC to create a fictional narrative underpinned by science, with additional factual content for KS2 readers included in the back of the book.

Huq studied illustration at University College Falmouth. Clients include Bloomsbury, Apples and Honey Press, Hodder Education and Highlights magazine.

“I am so excited to be launching our fiction list with a title that has real punch," Langley-Swain said. "Our picture book list has shown children how to be kinder to each other and to our planet so this seemed like the ideal first step into fiction. We are thrilled to be working with a high-profile author like Dougie, whose passion for protecting the environment shines through in this story, as well as Amberin, who will bring a community of inclusive characters to life with authenticity and a sense of adventure.”