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Inclusive indie Knights Of has scooped The Boy Who Grew a Tree, a "pitch-perfect" story by author Polly Ho-Yen, illustrated by Sojung Kim-McCarthy.
World rights were secured by editorial director Eishar Brar, via Clare Wallace at Darley Anderson. Aimed at readers aged five to seven, the book will be published in paperback on 5th May 2022, priced at £5.99.
"Nature-loving Timi is unsettled by the arrival of a new sibling and turns to tending a tree growing in his local library," the synopsis reads. "But there is something magical about the tree and it is growing fast and the library is going to close. Can Timi save the library and his tree, and maybe bring his community closer together along the way? A charming early reader, filled with black-and-white illustrations."
“We are so delighted to be publishing Polly and her charming heart-warming story for younger readers," Brar said. "She is pitch-perfect in both her portrayal of young green-fingered Timi and the safety (and, occasionally, the magic) that can be found in libraries. Bringing both Polly and Sojung Kim-McCarthy to the list is a real joy!”
Formerly a primary school teacher, Ho-Yen used to get up early in the morning to write stories. Her books have been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award, among others.
“The Boy Who Grew a Tree comes from my passion for nature, public libraries and one particularly awe-inspiring child I once taught who had a deep and unshakeable love for growing," she said. "I couldn’t be happier to be bringing this story to readers with Knights Of and to be joining its brilliant list."
Kim-McCarthy is a Korean-British children’s book author-illustrator based in Dorset. She moved to the UK in 2010 to study illustration at Arts University Bournemouth and has been working as an illustrator ever since. She won the World Illustration Award in 2021 with her Minari movie postcard illustrations, and has been highly commended for both the FAB Prize and the Macmillan Prize, as well as being longlisted for the House of Illustration & Folio Society Book Illustration Competition.