Huge thanks to Jade Westwood at Bloomsbury for making this super cool book trailer for SHE REX, making super cool use of Deborah Allwright's art! SHE REX is now officially available in book stores and online, in hardback and paperback - and soon to be published in Spanish, Greek and Italian, too!

Here it is! The beautiful cover to THE WORLD MADE A RAINBOW, illustrated by Emily Hamilton and designed by Goldy Broad, both of whom are phenomenal for getting this book whipped into such gorgeous, perfect shape in super quick time, during lockdown.

The whole team at Bloomsbury Kids have been wonderful, as ever. I'm so proud of what we've created. I hope the book provides a little comfort and reassurance to the kids who encounter it. You can pre-order direct from Bloomsbury, or ask your local indie book store to place an order for you. The book will raise funds for charity - official announcement on that very soon. 🌈

SHE REX is romping and stomping into book stores from 6 August 2020! Written by me, illustrated brilliantly by Deborah Allwright and published by the magnificent team at Bloomsbury Children's.

It's basically a story about mansplaining, and if you've ever been on the receiving end of that, I suspect you'll be delighted by the ending...
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You can find SHE REX anywhere you normally buy books. I heartily recommend buying one from your nearest book store. Most can get you a copy by the very next day if they don't already have one in stock, and some of them are even hand-delivering to anyone who's currently shielding. Alternatively you can buy direct from the publisher here. Stay safe and shop happy! 

Here's the back cover blurb:-

It's been a long time coming, but my first chapter book, DO NOT DISTURB THE DRAGONS is about to hit the shelves - and I couldn't be more proud of the end result.

It's illustrated brilliantly by Sharon Davey, who is extremely talented, has a cracking sense of humour and is a warm-hearted, generous person - all of which makes her a dream to work with. Just like the rest of the team at our publishers, Bloomsbury.

Huge thanks to the whole team who all deserve so much credit - it always seems wrong to me that books don't have a big list at the end like movies do. 

Hannah Sandford - editor and my right hand throughout umpteen drafts Juliette Rechatin - in-house designer
Emily Marples - publicity
Mattea Barnes - marketing
Jessica Bellman - desk editor
Patrick Knowles - lettering designer
Jess White - copy-editor
Sarah Taylor-Fergusson - proofreader 
Pari Thomson - assistant editor
And of course our agents, The Catchpole Agency and Plum Pudding, who had our backs throughout.

THANK YOU ALL. I hope everyone is as delighted with the book as I am -- especially the young readers who are about to discover the realm of Wondermere with Grace on her first epic quest. Yes, her first - we're all busy working on Book 2!

I'm finally allowed to share the news! Shortly after lockdown began, I woke up at 3am one morning and wrote a poem about all the rainbows children are making - and it's going to be a book. Very soon!

'THE WORLD MADE A RAINBOW' is designed to bring comfort to young children, and to the child inside all of us. Right now we're all seeking reassurance, but it's hard to come by. I hope that this book will help families discuss the changes to our lives in an honest and yet encouraging way.

I'm hugely grateful to Bloomsbury for embracing and supporting this project. They're currently in talks to partner with a children's charity so that proceeds can have as positive an impact as possible. 

Meanwhile, illustrator Emily Hamilton and designer Goldy Broad are bringing the art into beautiful shape in a very short amount of time, under the eagle eye of my editor Elaine Connolly. (Thanks, too, to Emma Blackburn for getting the ball rolling. What a lovely final book to be making with you after all the ones we've made during your time at Bloomsbury!)

With any luck 'THE WORLD MADE A RAINBOW' will quickly become a piece of social history - a time capsule for children in classrooms to study, to help discuss their personal experiences of lockdown - rather than a mirror held up to reflect our current situations. 

I'm really missing working with children (apart from my own, of course!) and visiting schools to promote reading for pleasure. I'm very glad to have found some small way to put my limited skills to use during the pandemic. 

​You can watch me and the other authors reading the stories for you here. EAR WORM ALERT! My video features a crazily catchy song, performed by me and my good friend, David Gibb. 

Check out this super cool reading of THE DAY THE BANANA WENT BAD by Kevin Bishop in aid of Save The Children!

Save The Children say:

"Every donation to Save with Stories will help the children and families who’ve been hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, both in the UK and around the world, providing the most vulnerable families with the food they need, as well as access to early learning resources and simple household goods. .

If you can, please donate to Save the Children by visiting  savethechildren.org.uk/savewithstories. Or you can text STORIES to 70008 to give a one-off donation of £5.
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Together, we can help families get through this. 

You’ll be billed £5 plus standard rate text message. We receive 100% of your donation. By texting STORIES you agree to calls about fundraising appeals, campaigns, events and other ways to support. Include NO PHONE to opt out of calls. Queries? 02070126400. Read our Privacy Policy savethechildren.org.uk/privacy The Save the Children Fund is a charity registered in England and Wales (213890) and Scotland (SC039570)"

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I hope you are well and finding plenty of things to do to keep you happy and distracted during these strange times. If, like me, you're looking for content to help keep your kids busy, my RESOURCES PAGE has 50 printable activity sheets as well as several play-along audio games to keep kids active in a small home. My YouTube channel is full of fun video challenges to help your kids develop their literacy skills. Please share, subscribe and have fun!

Lots of love,
Michelle xox

What a couple of weeks! I've been all over the place having an absolutely wonderful time with booksellers, librarians, teachers and KIDS GALORE. Five thousand, is my best estimate, and I loved meeting each and every one of you! I hope you had fun hearing about THE DAY THE BANANA WENT BAD, and that you're still buzzing with ideas for playing, telling and writing stories of your own.

Our society treats children as lesser beings, but kids are the BEST - and they deserve the best. Whatever you got up to on World Book Day - whether you had an author visit, or you all dressed up, or you decorated your classroom, or painted a spud - I hope you had loads of fun celebrating the joy of reading. 

!​Below are a few pictures from my recent travels to Stockport, Andover and Hull. Thanks to: Louisa Danquah at Scholastic for keeping me organised; Sue and Andrew at Simply Books for the warmest of welcomes; Authors Aloud for super admin support and Hull Schools Library Service - Joyce, the JOY bit of your name is spot on! You were the best company and you made my visits loads more fun.

And a HUGE THANKS to all of the schools who welcomed a big, bonkers banana: Stockport Grammar, Cale Green Primary, Anton Infants, Pearson Primary, Sidmouth Primary, Ganton School, Cleeve Primary, Northcott Community Special School, St Mary Queen of Martyrs, Wheeler Primary, Eastfield Primary and Newington Academy.