Reeve and McIntyre to launch virtual bookshop tour

Author illustrators Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre are to embark on a virtual bookshop tour this summer, highlighting and supporting the work of booksellers in the UK.

From May until September, the duo behind the Roly-Roly Flying Pony series will showcase a bookshop every week for 14 weeks, featuring bookseller interviews on their blogs and via social media. The "tour" will run until 2nd September - publication day for the fourth Roly-Poly Flying Pony book, Kevin vs The Unicorns, which is dedicated to "all the hard-working booksellers who have soldiered on through the pandemic".

Participating bookshops will also be offered entry into a prize draw to win a Reeve and McIntyre event on Bookshop Day (9th October), a Roly-Poly Flying Pony pack and a photo of Kevin ‘visiting’ their bookshop.

Commenting on the tour, the pair said: "Booksellers have always been huge supporters of our books, so after the year they’ve had we felt it was our turn to give back. Kevin, the roly-poly flying pony, agreed and he can’t wait to celebrate booksellers by eating lots of biscuits."

Bookshops can apply from Friday 23rd April by visiting the Oxford University Press Bookseller hub and completing the Big Up Bookshops interview questions by 13th May. Those selected to take part will all be contacted with their allocated tour dates before the tour launches on 27th May.