Little Tiger bags Nathanael Lessore's ‘brilliantly funny’ middle-grade series

Little Tiger has acquired Nathanael Lessore’s “brilliantly funny” young middle grade series, NOT My Superpower, illustrated by Simran Singh.

Senior commissioning editor Mattie Whitehead bought world all-language rights in two books from Clare Wallace at the Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency. Whitehead will be editing alongside Karelle Tobias, junior editor. 

Charlie Moyler, art director, acquired illustrations by Simran Singh from Davinia Andrew-Lynch at Curtis Brown. Kat Cassidy, junior designer, will be designing the books.

Little Tiger will be publishing Solving Crime is NOT my Superpower in March 2025, with book two, Time Travel is NOT my Superpower, to follow in autumn 2025.

The series synopsis reads: “Controlling the wind, smelling fear, farting colours… The people of Walsham can do it all! The WHOLE TOWN has been granted powers by a mysterious treasure, except for Sara. She can’t even levitate a squirrel!

“But the school football trophy (and her best friend Georgie’s lucky charm) has been stolen, and powers or no powers, it’s up to her to find it and catch the criminal. And who knows – maybe Sara will discover her super skills in the process… She certainly hopes she will!”

Mattie Whitehead and Karelle Tobias said of the acquisition: “Anyone who has read Nate’s books or has met him will know that his humour is next level. That humour combined with great characters, a twisty mystery and a dollop of silly superpowers makes this series an absolute treat. We’ve loved and laughed working on the series with Nate and we can’t wait for readers to meet Sara and her friends (and nemeses…) and discover their own superpowers.”

Lessore said: “Having grown up as the biggest superhero nerd, consuming anything DC or Marvel, it’s a dream come true to write my own superhero story with such a talented and thoughtful publisher behind me. My editors are just as playful and whacky with the ideas as I am, and Simran’s illustrations bring the characters and the world to life in a spectacularly fun way! Sara and her friends prove that being a hero is about more than just wearing a cape, and friendship is more effective than any superpower.”

Singh commented: “I’m so excited to work on this project and can’t wait until its release. I’ve loved designing the characters so far and I’m so looking forward to illustrating all their goofy scenes!”