You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Puffin is launching a new list of classic children’s books, with the first 20 titles to hit shelves in July.
Publisher Shannon Cullen said the list, A Puffin Book, which includes titles such as Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian and Charlotte’s Web by E B White, was a “refreshment” of Puffin’s classics range. It will replace the existing Puffin Modern Classics.
Puffin decided to launch a new list to make the books as appealing to children as frontlist titles, opting for its 20 biggest sellers as the first 20 titles, she added.
“We want to get them in the hands of contemporary readers,” Cullen said. “We know parents and booksellers buy them, they have a level of nostalgia, but we want children to see them as exciting books.”
The books will be branded with A Puffin Book’s logo, but the covers will be a mix of new and old designs. Cullen said: “Some of the books will have new jackets and some, such as Charlotte’s Web, will have the original jacket, redesigned to make it contemporary. We looked at each title individually.”
Puffin will host a public exhibition of archive materials in July to promote the books. There will also be a social media campaign encouraging readers to share their favourite titles using the hashtag #ShareAPuffinBook. At Christmas, Puffin will launch a promotional campaign with a retail focus under the banner “A Puffin is for Life’”.
Puffin will sell the books in paperback and e-book format for £6.99 in the UK and international group territories. Another 20 titles will be added to the list in July 2015.
The full list is:
A Dog So Small by Philippa Pearce
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Annie by Thomas Meehan
Back Home by Michelle Magorian
Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert O’Brien
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor
Smith by Kenny McKendry
Stig of the Dump by Clive King
Stuart Little by E.B. White
Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
The Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
Watership Down by Richard Adams