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Author and poet Dean Atta is joining forces with illustrator Alea Marley for two new picture books. Hatchette Children’s Group will publish Confetti, Atta’s debut picture book, in January 2024. Auntie’s Bangles will follow in January 2025.
World rights for both books were acquired by Emma Layfield, picture book development director, North, at Hachette Children’s Group, in deals made with Becky Thomas at Lewinsohn Literary Agency and Anne Moore Armstrong at The Bright Agency.
Publishing in hardback and e-book on 18th January 2024 and in paperback in May 2024, Hatchett says that Confetti “celebrates love and life through the seasons as Ari and her growing family discover just how special dancing in a cloud of confetti can be, whether it’s at Pride, birthdays or family weddings”.
Auntie’s Bangles will publish in hardback and e-book in January 2025, followed by paperback in May 2025. The synopsis reads: “Auntie’s Bangles is a moving picture book about a young girl’s love for her auntie and how she helps her cousin to find light in the world even after loss.”
Layfield said: “Dean Atta is one of the most celebrated contemporary poets. Having published his YA novels to such success, we are thrilled to be building Dean across the list and bringing his heartfelt debut picture books to market. By pairing him with Alea Marley we are creating a dream picture book team with real longevity. Confetti and Auntie’s Bangles remind us all that when you look around and truly open your eyes life can be full of celebration and Alea’s stunning artwork brings this joyful message to life perfectly.”
Atta said: “Confetti and Auntie’s Bangles are stories very close to my heart. Both are celebrations of love and life. Confetti is inspired by my two nieces, Arianna and Andia. Looking at the world through their eyes always fills me with such wonder and joy and that wonder and joy comes through so strongly in Alea Marley’s beautiful illustrations.”
Marley, who has illustrated more than 15 picture books and recently won the Lillian Shepherd Award for Excellence in Illustration, said: “I absolutely adore the texts for both Confetti and Aunties Bangles. The stories are filled with so much love and I’m thankful I get to bring Dean’s wonderful words to life.”
Atta, a British author from London, is a member of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen and a patron of LGBT+ History Month. His young adult novel in verse, The Black Flamingo (Hachette Children’s Group / Balzer + Bray), won the 2020 Stonewall Book Award and was shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, Jhalak Prize, Los Angeles Times Book Prize and Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.