Tiny Tree lands series of educational picture books by Winstanley

Tiny Tree Children’s Books has landed a new series of educational picture books written and illustrated by teacher and social entrepreneur Alex Winstanley to help children understand long-term health conditions. 

James Shaw, managing director and publisher, acquired world rights directly from the author. The My/Has series consists of the titles My Grandma Has Dementia, My Uncle Has Depression, My Brother Has Cancer, My Cousin Has Tourettes and My Child Has Cerebral Palsy. The series will launch in the first half of 2022.

Winstanley has already seen success in self-publishing the series. He began writing the books in March 2020 at the beginning of the first lockown and his book My Grandma Has Dementia quickly earned an Alzheimer's Society Dementia Hero Award. With this early success he began work on more titles about long-term health conditions, all of them informed by real people the author knew using their lived experience. 

Winstanley said: “I believe that children and young people are often shielded from conversations about differences. I think that society should embrace diversity, not challenge it, and it was immediately obvious when I first spoke to James that Tiny Tree held very similar values. As a publisher that clearly wants to do things differently, I am really excited about working with them.

"It's imperative that we talk about our wellbeing and to share our differences. Not only does this support a more inclusive world, but also helps to reduce potential anxieties for children who may have a family member or friend living with a long-term health condition.” 

Shaw added: “Alex has written some really powerful and insightful books and we’re excited to be working with him to help his work reach even more people. Helping children to better understand long-term conditions in this way is so important and we’re proud to be publishing a series like this”.