HC Children's signs multi-book deal with Benji Davies

HarperCollins Children’s Books has signed a multi-book, world rights deal with picture book creator, Benji Davies.

The first title in the new contract, The Grotlyn, will be published this autumn, with simultaneous release in e-book and audiobook format.

Alice Blacker, picture books publishing director at HarperCollins Children’s Books in the UK, secured the deal via Vicki Willden-Lebrecht of The Bright Agency. The Grotlyn will be unveiled to a global audience at this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

The Grotlyn is a "beguiling" new picture book and Davies’ first book in rhyming text. "Atmospheric and nostalgic in style, it affirms Benji as an inventive picture book creator with a style and story that will delight all of his fans and win many new admirers", the publisher said.

Blacker said: “Benji is an extraordinary talent – a timeless storyteller who conveys such heart in his picture books. We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome him to HarperCollins’ star-studded picture book list."

Davies said: “It’s hugely exciting to be joining the list at HarperCollins. I’ve long been a fan of their publishing. Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came To Tea was my favourite picture book as a small boy, so to be finding a place under the same umbrella is humbling and wonderful. I am very much looking forward to working with the fantastic team at HarperCollins.”

Davies is an illustrator, author and animation director. He won the inaugural Evening Standard’s Oscar’s First Book Prize in 2014, AOI World Illustration Awards 2015 and Best Picture Book and overall Children’s Book of the Year at the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards 2015.