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Walker Books will publish Unleash Your Creative Monster: A Children’s Guide to Writing by Andy Jones and Olaf Falafel, the first title in a two-book deal.
Executive editorial director Denise Johnstone-Burt acquired world rights in the books from Mark Stanton at The North Literary Agency (representing Andy Jones) and Antony Topping from Greene & Heaton (representing Olaf Falafel). Publication of the first title is scheduled for June 2021.
Unleash Your Creative Monster is a "funny and informative" guide to creative writing. There will be over 50 writing prompts, exercises and tips aimed at 9–12-year-old storytellers. The guide will explore writing tools such as simile, metaphor, dialogue and character, and covers problems such as finding inspiration to beating writer’s block.
Jones works as a creative director in advertising in his day job, while his fifth novel, The Last Act of Adam Campbell (Hodder), will be published in February 2021. Unleash Your Creative Monster was partially inspired by writing prompts Jones gave his two daughters.
Falafel, who works as a comedian and illustrator, has been using tips from Unleash Your Creative Monster during his #ArtClubWithOlafFalafel YouTube series which has aired during lockdown every Monday at 11 a.m. The series includes interactive activities such as drawing, painting, animation and discovering famous artists.
Jones commented: "This book is very personal for me, and the team at Walker won us over immediately with their ideas and enthusiasm. To see something that began as a fun activity with my daughters become a beautifully illustrated and designed book is an absolute joy."
Falafel said: "If children have half as much fun reading this book as I did drawing it then that will still be twice as much fun as any other book they’ve ever read – although I’ve never been great at maths so don’t quote me on that!"
Denise Johnstone-Burt added: "I was taken immediately with the intelligence, accessibility and originality of Andy and Olaf’s proposal, from the warmth of Andy’s voice to the humour of Olaf’s attention-grabbing layouts. It’s so unusual to find the kind of rapport between an author and illustrator that Andy and Olaf have clearly developed. I have no doubt that, once completed, this will be the go-to guide for getting kids writing – a book of substance and heart."