PRH to publish 17 picture books by children

Penguin Random House UK and Ministry of Stories are launching 17 unique picture books, written by children and illustrated by volunteer illustrators. 

Each of the 17 children were paired with a volunteer illustrator to "bring their stories to life" as picture books. The children attended weekend workshops at the Ministry of Stories’ creative hub in Shoreditch to write stories "for their younger selves". Each child was then matched with their own volunteer illustrator, who illustrated their stories on the page. Penguin Random House is publishing the young people’s stories as real picture books. Each child worked closely with their illustrator and had creative control over their picture book, explaining what their stories looked like and sketching ideas together.

The collection of books offer a glimpse into how the children see their world right now. It includes a story about two toucans who travel to England in search of jobs and become violinists in an orchestra, a rhyming book about a boy and his magical football boots that stop working when they get muddy, a classic fairy tale which sees potions and magic spells transform a princess into a giraffe just in time for her coronation, and the beautiful The Moon and Montgomery, about a little boy who wants to go to the moon but is too small.

The publishing project is part of a partnership between Penguin Random House UK and Ministry of Stories, which is now in its second year. Since 2016, the publisher has been supporting the charity’s efforts to reach new communities through both funding and expertise, through inspiring authors and employees to volunteer and fundraise. Together, their goal is to help close the creativity gap for 7,500 children across the UK by 2018.

Some of the children with their books in Shoreditch Library on Wednesday 24th May (Credit: Richard Gray)

Ministry of Stories, a creative writing and mentoring space, co-founded by Penguin Random House author, Nick Hornby, in 2010, helps young people aged eight to 18 discover and realise their own creative potential through innovative creative writing programmes, including after-school writing workshops. Over 200 Penguin Random House UK employees have been involved in other ways with the Ministry of Stories partnership, from mentoring to fundraising challenges, to volunteering with Hoxton Street Monster Supplies to offer their professional expertise as editors.

Rachel Gimbert, Business Change Analyst at Penguin Random House UK, who was involved in the picture book project, said: “Getting involved in the picture book project was an absolute pleasure and reminded me why we all do what we do every day. The kids were fascinating and creative in the most wonderful ways and their imagination as a group was truly inspiring. The chance to find new talent in the illustrators was really exciting and pairing them up to bring the stories to life was magic.”

Lucy McNab, co-director of Ministry of Stories, said: “This is a unique project which sees children author picture books for the first time. Children have a special take on what other children will be interested in. They are much closer in age to picture book readers, far closer than adults are. We found that the project gave the young writers a lot of empathy for the little ones.”

Danae, age nine, author of The Royal Giraffe, said: "The best thing about writing this book was I got my own turn to be an author and be me. Working with an illustrator felt like being a real author - it makes me feel happy that people notice my book."

Altogether 50 sets of the books have been printed for all those involved in the project and will be given to local school libraries and the Shoreditch Library in East London.

The project is part of a partnership between Penguin Random House UK and Ministry of Stories, which is now in its second year. Since 2016, the publisher has been supporting the charity’s efforts to reach new communities through both funding and expertise, through inspiring authors and employees to volunteer and fundraise.

The volunteer illustrators: (First Row) Rose Robbins, Laura Casella, Faan Peeti (Second Row) Alex Clark, Krina Patel, Tin Yan Lee, Michi Mathias, Zahra Tharani, Melis Malatani, Mrinali Alvarez, Anna Brown (Third row) Heidi Carlson Coburn, Maisie Noble, Gareth A Hopkins (Credit: James Atkinson)