HarperCollins reveals new Clarice Bean story by Child

HarperCollins Children’s Books has revealed a “simply delightful” new Clarice Bean story written and illustrated by former Children’s Laureate Lauren Child. 

Ann-Janine Murtagh, executive publisher, and Nick Lake, fiction publisher, acquired world rights to Clarice Bean: Scram! from Philippa Milnes-Smith at the Soho Agency. It will publish on 26th May. 

It follows Clarice Bean: Think Like An Elf, published last autumn. The synopsis says: “Nothing ever happens except for sometimes. And only on rare-ish occasions, which is hardly ever. There are times when even I can’t turn the nothing into more than it is. But there was one day in the holidays that began as a nothing day and then everything happened. Absolutely nearly everything. 

“As a long hot summer stretches ahead of her, the unforgettable Clarice Bean finds herself escaping the danger of boredom when she meets an actual real-life dog who will not scram! It’s the story of how Clarice’s family came to have a dog and how he got his unusual name, but it’s also a story set over a swelteringly hot summer weekend, about two sisters and how they fall out over a pair of flip-flops and fall back in again — united by a stray dog.” 

Murtagh said: “We are incredibly proud to publish Lauren Child on the HarperCollins Children’s list. Lauren is simply an extraordinary talent – unique in her ability to use words and pictures to tell stories that depict the comedy of family life. Clarice Bean is one of the best-loved characters in children’s books and it is a joy to see her back this spring in a story that shows she and her creator in full bloom! It will be joyful to publish and no doubt delight readers all summer long.”