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Five picture books by Rachel Morrisroe go to Hachette Children’s Group in three-way auction
Hachette Children’s Group (HCG) has acquired world rights to a five-book picture book publishing programme with author Rachel Morrisroe.
Former picture book development director, North at HCG, Emma Layfield, acquired world rights from Lydia Silver at Darley Anderson for Rachel Morrisroe in a three-way auction and Emily Talbot at United Agents for illustrator Aysha Awwad. The titles will be brought to publication by editorial director, picture books and preschool at HCG, Katie Sassienie.
The first title, A Million Chameleons, will be published in July 2025 in paperback, with Oodles of Poodles following in July 2026, both illustrated by Awwad. A second series is also in development.
Sassienie said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming the incredibly talented Rachel Morrisroe to the HCG list, launching her new picture book partnership with the wonderful Aysha Awwad. Rachel is a total rhyming genius, and A Million Chameleons is a laugh-out-loud, wild and wacky word-play explosion brought to life by Aysha’s personality-packed, brilliantly funny artwork.”
Morrisroe is the award-winning author of titles such as the How to Grow Magic books (illustrated by Steven Lenton), The Drama Llama (illustrated by Ella Okstad), The Robin Who Stole Christmas (illustrated by Richard Merritt) and the Superpets! series (illustrated by Jenny Taylor), all of which were published by Puffin.
Morrisroe commented: “I am thrilled to be working with the megaminds at Hachette to bring these picture books to market. The entire team has the sparkliest plans to develop the brand for younger preschoolers and I’m so excited about their ambition and vision for these titles. It has been a dream to work with the hugely talented Aysha Awwad on A Million Chameleons, whose vibrant and completely hilarious illustrations leap off the page. From the loves-a-cup-of-tea-leons to the cute-as-cute-can-be-leons and the always-needs-a-wee-leons, Aysha has smashed it! We hope that young readers and their grown ups will enjoy endless giggles as they explore the whacky chameleons in our book.”
Illustrator Aysha Awwad says: “Rachel’s side-splittingly hilarious and inventive text A Million Chameleons had me hooked from the first line. It has been an absolute blast delving into the secret lives of chameleons and working with Rachel and the team at HCG. To bring everything to life was a total joy. I hope readers will have as much fun with this book as I have.”
Awwad’s debut picture book Where Has All The Cake Gone? was shortlisted for the Federation of the Children’s Book Groups Children’s Book Award 2023, while her second, Whose Dog Is This? (Macmillan Children’s Books), was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2024.
