Piers Torday makes Barrington Stoke debut with 'funny and uplifting' story

Bestselling author of The Last Wild series Piers Torday is making his Barrington Stoke debut with a "funny and uplifting" children’s story. World rights to Letters to a Dog were acquired by Ailsa Bathgate, publisher at Barrington Stoke, an imprint of HarperCollins, from Clare Conville at C&W. The book will publish in May 2025.

The book is a "funny and uplifting story", which follows Jamie, who begins to write letters to a longed-for pet while awaiting an operation. The synopsis reads: "Jamie is in hospital waiting for a life-changing operation. And to make a difficult time even harder, he’s fallen out with his dad and refuses to speak to him when he comes to visit.
"To keep his spirits up, nurse Shirley suggests he writes a letter to the dog he desperately wants to adopt from the local dogs’ home. But imagine his surprise when Dog writes back!"

Torday said: "When I used to work in school libraries as a volunteer reader helper, I was always thrilled when a child chose a Barrington Stoke title for us to share. Because I knew I was about to discover my next favourite book. They have a list I envied not just for their accessibility and concision but also their astonishing range of voices and stories. So it has been nothing but a privilege to write for them the story of a very special dog—and her equally special child friend. As a child, I used to wish my dog could talk, and I sent him postcards when I went away on holiday. But what if he wrote back?"