Miranda Hart turns children's book author

Actress and comedian Miranda Hart has won a publishing deal with Hachette for a children’s book about a girl who loses her smile.

The Girl With The Lost Smile is aimed at the eight-12-year-old market and tells the story of Chloe, a girl “with a big imagination and an even bigger heart”, who wakes one day to discover she’s lost her smile. “With the help of some very unusual friends and mystical creatures, Chloe embarks on an extraordinary, otherworldly adventure to find her smile - and much more besides along the way,” Hachette said.

Hannah Black, publisher at Hodder & Stoughton teamed with Hachette Children’s Group to acquire world rights in a three -book deal from Gordon Wise at Curtis Brown. The book will publish in a hardback, priced £12.99, on 5th October 2017.

Hart said it had been a long-held ambition of hers to write a book for children.

“I still remember the vivid images from the magical worlds of my favourite authors when I was younger - and I am excited that I might be able to do the same here,” she said. “I hope it feels as fantastical and exciting to read for young people as it did for me to write.  I got rather involved in all the adventures even though I was writing them!’

Black, publisher at Hodder & Stoughton, said Hart understands “what enthrals and engages children. And she brings her rich and boundless imagination to Chloe’s world, along with all her hilarity and sensitivity, with truly magical results”.

Hart has previously penned Is It Just Me?, The Best of Miranda and Peggy and Me, all published by Hodder & Stoughton.

She joins fellow celebrities Dermot O’Leary and Fearne Cotton who have also announced they are writing children’s books this week.

Last month, full time writers hit out at the slew of celebrity book deals struck in recent months, warning in The Bookseller that full-time fiction writers are struggling while famous people attract big advances and sizeable marketing budgets.

Photo: Alisa Connan © Hodder & Stoughton. 2016