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Jessie Burton is to pen her first children’s book following success with adults titles The Miniaturist and The Muse.
While both her adult titles are published by Picador, Bloomsbury Children’s has snapped up rights to two children’s books by Burton, both described as “dark and atmospheric fairy tales with a feminist twist”. They will be illustrated throughout, with the titles and illustrator to be revealed at a later date.
Ellen Holgate, editorial director for Bloomsbury Children’s Books, approached Burton with the idea of writing kids stories because she was looking for an author to reinvent the roles of women and girls in fairy tales.
Holgate said: “It means so much to Bloomsbury to welcome Jessie Burton to our list and to publish her first children’s stories. She’s a spellbinding, magical author and the brilliance of her characters has captured the hearts and imaginations of us all. She’s the perfect author to reinvent the roles of fairy-tale women and girls, and these stories will resonate with generations of children to come.”
Burton added: “Writing these stories will be somewhat of a fairy tale for me too, and I'm utterly delighted to have this chance with a very different audience. I can’t wait to delve deep into the treasure trove of fairy-tale tradition and write something old but something new, something borrowed, but something true.”
Ellen Holgate acquired world rights in all languages from Juliet Mushens at United Talent and will publish the books in hardback gift editions.
Burton’s first novel, The Miniaturist was the winner of both the Waterstones Book of the Year award 2014 and the Specsavers Book of the Year award 2014.
Her second book, The Muse, was released this month and went to the top of the Nielsen BookScan Original Fiction chart, jumping 10.1% in volume on its first week of sale.