New Richard Adams picture book with Oneworld

Watership Down author Richard Adams has written a picture book about a dragon made out of old egg cartons, according to the Independent.

Adams, who is now 95 years old, said The Egg-box Dragon was inspired a craft project one of his daughters took part in at school in the 1960s. “The Egg-box Dragon was my children’s creation, really. It was someone’s idea to make a dragon. The whole class used to amuse themselves by thinking up more and more ideas about Egg-box Dragon; how his tail was made; how his ears were made; what sort of stories he liked, and so on. I took it up and developed it, writing further stories about him.”

His literary agent, Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates, has sent the text of the book to Juliet Mabey, editorial director at Oneworld, which published an illustrated edition of Adams’ most famous book, Watership Down, in 2014.

Mabey told the Independent that The Egg-box Dragon was “under consideration” for publication. She said: “Several illustrators have expressed interest in taking on the task of bringing to vibrant life what could become an instant classic, including Korky Paul, best known for his iconic images of Winnie the Witch.” 

Neither Mabey nor Baxter responded in time to comment when contacted by The Bookseller.

Adams wrote Watership Down whilst working as a civil servant. Published in 1972 by Rex Collings, the book went on to win the Carnegie and the Guardian Children’s Book Prize. He went on to write several novels, including The Plague Dogs and The Girl in a Swing.