Bloomsbury Children’s Books nabs new series by Kim Normanton of the Super Great Kids Stories podcast

Bloomsbury Children’s Books has acquired a new series by Kim Normanton of the "Super Great Kids’ Stories" podcast.

Sally Beets, senior commissioning editor at Bloomsbury Children’s Books, acquired world rights from Julia Churchill at A M Heath Literary, in a four-way auction for a two book deal.

The first book, Super Great Kids’ Stories from Around the World, will publish in the autumn of 2025 in hardback, with the follow-up planned for 2027. The Bloomsbury Children’s rights and international sales teams will be showcasing early artwork at this year’s Bologna Book Fair.

Compiled by early-years expert and BBC Radio 4 producer Normanton, Super Great Kids’ Stories from Around the World will offer readers a chance to "share the wonder and diversity of traditional tales from all over the globe". The synopsis adds: "A group of expert storytellers, including podcast favourites British-Guyanese storyteller Tuup, Kenyan storyteller Wangari Grace and Irish Katie Corkery, will represent the tales from countries from five continents around the world including: England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, India, China, Japan, Nigeria, Ghana, Mexico, Australia and the US."

The book will also feature the work of five illustrators, with Terri Po confirmed to illustrate the Asia section and Waterstones Prize-shortlisted Sally Agar illustrating the Europe chapter. Each story will also contain tips from the authors for telling the stories aloud, as well as background and context to the stories.

"The Super Great Kids’ Stories" podcast was founded in September 2020 by Normanton and audio producer David Smith. It is in Spotify’s top 1% of most followed podcasts, with 600,000 monthly downloads, and is the winner of the gold award in the British Podcast Awards for Best Children’s Podcast 2023.

"I’m such a fan of the ’Super Great Kids’ podcast – it’s inclusive, immersive fun for all the family," Beets said. "I’m excited for Kim, David and their team of expert storytellers to bring their prowess to the world of publishing, where we will create a super great, richly diverse and lively collection of stories, full of humour, heart and a sprinkling of magic."

Normanton added: "Telling traditional tales has been a neglected art, but there’s growing interest in celebrating diverse cultures, and a raised awareness about the need to improve our children’s speaking skills. These engaging stories enable children to develop a rich vocabulary and to learn a love of language through repeating the rhymes and learning to tell their own versions."