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Hardbacks drive children's Christmas

18.12.07 Caroline Horn

Gift sales of Anthony Horowitz and Charlie Higson’s latest novels have rocketed this Christmas season after their publishers moved them into hardback.

Chains and independent bookshops both reported strong sales for Horowitz’s Snakehead and Higson’s Hurricane Gold, which were published in hardback for the first time this Christmas. “It has definitely worked for us,” said Jenny Morris of The Lion & Unicorn Bookshop in Richmond. “The independents were also given signed copies, which has made these titles very popular as gifts.”

Toby Bourne, Waterstone’s category manager for fiction and children’s, agreed. “Teen fiction is having a stellar year,” he said. Snakehead has sold 122,554 copies to date through Nielsen BookScan, taking £183,000 in its first week on sale—Horowitz’s highest ever weekly revenue from a single title—while Hurricane Gold has racked up 55,641 sales to date.

But Bourne criticised the “burgeoning range” of annuals on offer from publishers this Christmas, which he said could be “very space hungry and some of the licences weak, which doesn’t help customers”. He did say that Waterstone’s has done well with a wide range of annuals, with the first Horrid Henry “selling in Dr Who and The Beano-type quantities”.

Bourne was also disappointed with reference output, which he said did not seem as strong as in previous years—although he did cite “stand-out” titles Dinosaurium and Mythology.

Independents pointed to a strong Christmas for fiction, with London’s The Golden Treasury pleased with the performance of The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner and Stone Heart and Iron Hand by Charlie Fletcher. Morris at The Lion & Unicorn said its stand-out bestseller has been Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf by Catherine Storr, thanks to strong hand-selling. Lauren Child’s illustrated Pippi Longstocking has been selling strongly for Chapter One in Woodley, although there is reported to be a shortage of new stock available.

Blackwell said it had reordered fiction including George’s Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking, Caroline Lawrence’s The Beggar of Volubilis and Malorie Blackman’s The Stuff of Nightmares, which “has suddenly taken off”. Natalia de la Ossa, children’s department manager of Blackwell’s Oxford branch, said picture books had been doing well thanks to a strong range: “Our bestselling picture book is Macmillan’s Puff the Magic Dragon, but they have completely run out of stock—we got the last 50 copies.”

Bourne said Waterstone’s children’s sections have been “busy and buzzing” so far this Christmas. De la Ossa was more cautious: “The stores have been very busy, especially from last week, although we expect this week to get busier—traffic may be slightly down so far on last year.”

Retail Caroline Horn children's Christmas Charlie Higson Anthony Horowitz

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