Simon & Schuster Children's inks Abi Elphinstone to a new multi-book deal
Bestselling author Abi Elphinstone will write three new titles for Simon & Schuster Children’s across middle-grade and picture books, the first of which is an “enthralling adventure” entitled Goodnight Silver.
Former fiction editorial director Michelle Misra and picture book editorial director Isobel Doster acquired world rights to two standalone middle-grade fantasies, and a picture book text, from Hannah Sheppard at Hannah Sheppard Literary Agency.
The deals kick off with Goodnight Silver, to be published in October 2026, which centres around a girl who rescues an abandoned snow leopard cub in the mountains of Mongolia and embarks on a quest to save the secret, magical land of Whisperfell. The book’s cover and interior illustrations will be done by Olivia Lomenech Gill, who won the Carnegie Medal last year for her work with Chris Butterworth on Clever Crow. Lomenech Gill’s other work includes JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Illustrated Edition.
The second novel will also blend an “irresistible child-animal bond with environmental themes, magic and a cinematic adventure”. The new picture book is a “moving” story of a polar bear, to be revealed in 2027.
The publisher added that it would be supporting Goodnight Silver with its most “far-reaching” marketing and publicity campaign for Elphinstone.
S&S Children’s publishing director Ali Dougal said: “Abi Elphinstone is a truly special writer whose stories resonate deeply with young readers. Goodnight Silver is a wild and joyful adventure, with brilliant child heroes and an unforgettable snow leopard cub at its heart, brought beautifully to life with Olivia Lomenech Gill’s exquisite artwork. We are thrilled to be building on our longstanding publishing partnership with Abi and to bring the exceptional Goodnight Silver to the widest possible readership with a blockbuster campaign.”
S&S has published Elphinstone since her 2015 debut, The Dreamsnatcher. Elphinstone called S&S’s ambition for her next book “hugely exciting and I couldn’t ask to be working with a more dedicated and impressive publishing house”.
