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Independent publisher Maverick Books, based in Pulborough, is building a picture book list aimed at readers aged four to eight years, rather than the traditional preschool market. The company will launch a range of six picture books for older readers in spring 2011.
Managing director Steve Bicknell said: "Our picture books will offer slightly more challenging subject matter, something with a bit of an edge, and that is deliberate. Children sometimes want to be surprised or scared."
Maverick is working with debut or new authors and international illustrators. Among its 2011 titles are picture books that give a modern twist to cautionary tales, including The Fearsome Beastie (Giles Paley-Phillips, Gabriele Antonini), in which children are gobbled up by a monster (there is a happy ending) and Mrs Macready is Ever So Greedy (Julie Fulton), in which Mrs Macready comes to a sticky end after over-eating. The company is also publishing reworkings of traditional fairy tales.
Other 2011 titles will include The Dog Detectives range, about two problem-solving dogs. The first title in the series, The Dog Detectives in the Outback, has been launched as an iPad app and the characters may be developed for television.
Maverick is publishing straight into £5.99 paperback formats for the UK trade market and is also in talks with a potential distributor in the US. Internet blogging and instore events will be used to drive sales through high street retailers, Bicknell said.