Ivy Kids scoops 'heart-warming' tale of friendship from Alice Hemming and Nancy Leschnikoff

Ivy Kids, an imprint of The Quarto Group, has scooped The Bison and the Butterfly from Alice Hemming and illustrator Nancy Leschnikoff, in collaboration with Kent Wildlife Trust. 

Publisher Georgia Buckthorn acquired world rights from Kent Wildlife Trust. Senior designer Myrto Dimitrakoulia acquired illustration rights from Robyn Newton at the Bright Agency. The "heart-warming" story will be published in July 2024 and printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. 

The Bison and the Butterfly is inspired by Kent Wildlife Trust’s rewilding project "Wilder Blean", which reintroduced bison to Kent woodland in 2022. The story follows a lonely bison who doesn’t know why anybody would want to be her friend, but as she meets the animals of the forest she realises they appreciate her more than she ever could have imagined. 

The book also contains a non-fiction section at the back with information about the rewilding project and the facts about the bison and butterfly the story is based on.

Lee Mason-Baldwin, head of education at Kent Wildlife Trust, said: “We are so excited about this new opportunity to inspire the next generation with Alice’s incredible story based on the Wilder Blean project. Every book sold will help children to understand the biodiversity-boosting power of animals like bison and a proportion of profits will go towards future nature conservation too!”

Buckthorn added: "The Bison and the Butterfly is a sweet and light-hearted tale about friends in nature. Alice’s story is fantastically clever in explaining how important species such as bison help other creatures to thrive, using the fun and accessible analogy of a bison looking for friendship in the forest. We are tremendously excited to be publishing Alice’s story and to help raise awareness of the power of rewilding to heal nature in the UK and beyond.”