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Simon & Schuster Children's signs picture book series from Hart and Woodgate
Simon & Schuster Children’s Books has signed three titles in the "hugely commercial and collectible" My Small World series from Caryl Hart and illustrator Harry Woodgate.
Polly Whybrow, editorial director for picture books, acquired world all language rights for the text from Mandy Suhr at Miles Stott Agency and from Alice Sutherland-Hawes at ASH Literary Agency for the illustrations. My Small World: Dinosaurs will be published in June 2023 with My Small World: Underwater and My Small World: Frozen following in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
"I am so thrilled to be working with Simon & Schuster and Caryl Hart on My Small World, a wonderfully creative series which invites young readers to step into miniature adventures full of imagination and excitement," said Woodgate. "It has been so much fun illustrating the first book, Dinosaurs, including building loo roll palm trees, cardboard volcanoes and lots of adorable modelling clay dinosaurs, and I can’t wait to share the finished book. Caryl’s writing is engaging and perfectly pitched to get kids creating small worlds of their own, and together I think we’ve made something really special."
Whybrow commented: "Imaginative play is the bedrock of early years education, and with more and more parents looking to engage their children in play-based learning, the My Small World series is set to be a hugely significant turning point in the market. Not only are the books glorious to read out loud, they are all at once informative, creative and exploratory– the perfect hands-on tool for inventive and playful learning."
Hart added: "Children love to create small worlds and often use these to express their feelings about their lives and understanding of the world around them. As they play, children immerse themselves in stories and narrate the game as they go along. With the My Small World series, adults can help children create verbal narratives by getting involved with their games, asking them open questions about their play and letting them decide where the story goes. Playing together strengthens the bond between caregiver and child and is also great fun! I hope that our My Small World books will inspire care-givers and children to play creatively together using whatever materials they have at home."
