Bloomsbury bags Pankhurst's magical adventure stories

Bloomsbury Children's Books is to publish a new series by author and illustrator Kate Pankhurst. 

Zöe Griffiths, editorial director for fiction, and Isobel Doster, commissioning editor for non-fiction, have jointly acquired three books by Kate Pankhurst from Hannah Whitty at Plum Pudding Ltd. They bought world rights in all languages, including e-book and audio.

The as-yet-untitled books follow the adventures of a young girl who works at her family's magical launderette, with publication dates still to be confirmed. 

Griffiths said: "We couldn’t be prouder to be Kate Pankhurst’s long-term publisher. Kate is such a unique and creative talent and we’ve all been in a spin of excitement to get started on this brilliant fiction series, while continuing to grow her unrivalled "Fantastically Great Women" brand."

Bloomsbury first published Pankhurst in 2016 with Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World. Since then there have been 11 books, including gift editions, activity books and branded merchandise. According to the publisher, the series has collectively sold 370,000 copies in the UK through the Nielsen Toatal Consumer Market. 

Pankhurst said: "After an amazingly creative five years working with the non-fiction team at Bloomsbury on the Fantastically Great Women series, I’m thrilled that this new fiction project will also be under Bloomsbury’s roof. I know it’s absolutely the perfect, nurturing home for my new young fiction series and its strangely wonderful world."