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Milway's environmental series Big Sky Mountain to Piccadilly Press
Piccadilly Press has acquired a new highly illustrated four-book series from author-illustrator Alex Milway, dubbed a "love letter to the wild" for five to eight-year-olds.
The "enchantingly warm, funny and adventurous" original young fiction series will launch with Big Sky Mountain in paperback, e-book and audio in June 2021, with Big Sky Mountain: The Forest Wolves and Big Sky Mountain: The Beach Otters following in 2022 and the final instalment, Big Sky Mountain: The Sky Eagles in 2023.
The series has an environmental focus and will be illustrated in two-colour on every page by Milway. Commissioning editor Georgia Murray acquired world rights in all languages from Caroline Walsh at David Higham Associates.
On signing the deal, Milwood said: "Big Sky Mountain is the wilderness of my dreams, but it's also a place that feels very familiar and personal to me. Much of it is based on my relationship with my gran, so it's in many ways the most personal and biographical story I've written – despite having parachuting beavers and talking fish."
In the first book, young Rosa has come from the city to live with Grandma Nan and Albert the moose in the wilds of Big Sky Mountain. The synopsis reads, "what surprises are in store for her! Grandma Nan is no ordinary grandma, and Big Sky Mountain is like nowhere Rosa has dreamed about before. From canoeing down rapids to making friends with the local animals, life never stays still for long on Big Sky Mountain."
Murray commented: "Big Sky Mountain is Alex Milway’s love letter to the wild, and what a love letter it is! Alex has a real talent for creating worlds that children just want to jump into and we are so thrilled to have a new series on the Piccadilly list from the author of the much-loved and acclaimed Hotel Flamingo books."
Milway, a full-time children's author-illustrator and screenwriter, has previously published books including Pigsticks and Harold (Walker Books) and, most recently, the Hotel Flamingo series (Piccadilly Press).
