Hat's off: Kent moves to Andersen Press

Award-winning author/illustrator Nicola Kent has moved to Andersen Press for a two picture book/two-board book deal.

Andersen Press’ editorial director for children’s books Libby Hamilton bought world rights direct from the author.

The first pictue book, Grumpy Hat, is about Ravi, who breaks his sister’s toy car and goes to bed angry. In the morning he wakes with a "grumpy hat" stuck to his head. Forcing it off won’t work and he needs to discover why it is there. Kent says she was inspired by her experience as a parent to write a story about “how children deal with emotions of guilt and regret, and the power of saying sorry”.

Hamilton said: “Nicola is one of those rare beasts—a remarkable storyteller who thinks both visually and verbally. She creates to make other people smile.”

Kent previously worked as a TV producer for the BBC and Channel Four before switching gears to do an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art in 2016. She is the author of three previous titles, all published in the UK by Macmillan Children’s Books. She was the 2019 winner of the UK Independent Booksellers’ Best New Illustrator Award for The Strongest Mum and was shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards.