Little Tiger scoops mother and daughter middle-grade series

Little Tiger is to publish "a fresh take on the witch school genre" middle-grade series by mother and daughter team Honor and Perdita Cargill. 

Editors Ella Whiddett and Mattie Whitehead acquired world rights for four books in the Diary of an Accidental Witch series from Clare Wallace, of the Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency. Katie Saunders has been signed up to illustrate the series in a deal struck with Alexina Thielemans at Advocate Art.

The synopsis explains: "Bea Black has just moved to Little Spellshire, a town with a magical secret. When her dad accidentally enrols her at the local witch school, she has to get to grips with some interesting new classes. Also on her to do list? Make friends, look after the grumpy class frog and do everything humanly and magically possible to stay on a broom.

"But with the Halloween Ball on the horizon, will she be able to master her wand skills in time to WOW? And more importantly can she keep her newfound magical abilities a secret from her Dad?"  

In a joint statement Whiddett and Whitehead said: “Honor and Perdita have brought Bea’s voice to life with such warmth and humour, and Katie’s illustrations add the perfect dusting of magic to the story. It’s a real treat and we can’t wait for readers to fall in love with Bea and Little Spellshire!”

Honor and Perdita Cargill said: “Working on this series – collaborating together again and with the fantastic Stripes team and Katie Saunders – is an absolute joy.  We couldn’t have wished for a more fun project to lift our spirits in 2020!”

Saunders added: “As soon as I read the manuscript I fell in love with Bea. My daughter Olive is the same age as Bea so I can really relate to her little quirky character. I'm so excited to see her unfold in this gorgeous book that I know children are going to love.”

Little Tiger will publish the first book in September 2021, with books two and three in 2022 and the final book in this deal to follow in 2023.