Pavilion Children's signs Newbery's first non-fiction

Pavilion Children’s Books has acquired This Book is Cruelty Free: Animals and Us, Costa Prize winning author Linda Newbery's first non-fiction book, which will explore the impact of people's lifestyle on animals and the environment.

Neil Dunnicliffe, publisher, acquired world rights from Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates. The book will be published on 8th July 2021.

This Book is Cruelty Free is aimed at older children and teenagers who are concerned about animals, wildlife and the planet. The guide will explore how the everyday choices readers make affect animals and the environment, offer insight, explore morals and ethics, and give practical guidance on how readers can change their behaviour for the greater good. 

Newbery will share how to live cruelty-free and how to inspire others to do the same. It will include sections on how diet and food choices impact on animal rights and the environment, cruelty-free fashion and beauty, considerations around owning a pet, the role of zoos and animal parks, building an appreciation of wildlife and nature to help mental wellbeing, and waste and recycling.

Dunnicliffe said: "I'm delighted to be working with Linda Newbery on this important and groundbreaking book. I've long admired Linda's writing and to publish her thoughts on such an important subject and one close to her heart is a real privilege."

Newbery added: "I'm grateful to Pavilion for giving me the chance to reach young (and older) readers and encourage them to make cruelty-free choices wherever possible. I spend half my life campaigning on animal and environmental matters, so I thought it was about time I wrote a book on the subject."

Newbery is the author of six children's novels including the 2006 Costa Children's Book of the Year Set in Stone (David Fickling Books).