Mercier Press Children's Rights List 2016

For further information, please contact:

Lisa Murphy Tel: 021 4614 700

Mercier Press, Unit 3, Oak House Fax: 021 4614 802

Riverview Business Park www.mercierpress.ie

Bessboro Road, Blackrock, Cork Email: [email protected]

MERCIER PRESS CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

LIST 2016

RIGHTS INFORMATION

For further information, please contact: Tel: 021 4614 700 Lisa Murphy Fax: 021 4614 802Mercier Press, Unit 3 Oak House, Riverview Business Park, Email: [email protected] Bessboro Road, Blackrock, Cork www.mercierpress.ie

2

Moxie the Underdog

Annie West

ISBN: 9781856355827

Format: Paperback

Size: 250mm x 250mm

Extent: 32pp

Category: Children’s Picture Book

Rights Available: All

Key NoteA delightful tale for children. Everyone loves the underdog and Moxie carries a positive message about coping with bullying.

Selling PointsBeautifully illustrated

Wonderful story, simply told

Engaging characters

Story and pictures by Annie West

DescriptionWhen Moxie, a weather beaten dog with a bullet hole in his ear, mysteriously arrives on a farm where the animals are cowed by a rude and nasty bull, the scene is set for a confrontation between street smart Moxie and the bully. Moxie teaches the rest of the farmyard animals to stand their ground, stick to their guns and take the bull by the horns. Featuring a cast of animal characters and illustrated by Annie West, Moxie the Underdog tells a simple story of tenacity.

Author InformationAnnie West was born in Glasgow. She graduated from Dún Laoghaire College of Art & Design in 1979 with a Diploma in Design for Communications. Annie exhibits every year in Dublin and Sligo. She illustrates !gures from history, literature and science with mischief in mind. She also works to commission and her paintings

can be found in the collections of such stars as Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise,

Neil Jordan, Mick Galway and Sharon Shannon.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


3

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad WolfLiam Farrell

ISBN: 9781856356824

Format: Paperback

Size: 198mm x 129 mm

Extent: 192pp

Category: Children 5-8


Key NoteThe Big Bad Wolf has a bad reputation but here is the REAL story....

Selling Points Easy reading for new readers who have moved on a stage

Large type, short words, short sentences

Black and white illustrations

Collection of three established backlist titles

DescriptionThe True Story of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf includes part 2, The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf and part 3, The Return of the Big Bad Wolf. It tells the story of Thomas Blake-Burke Wolfe, who, through a series of unfortunate events, is framed for destroying the property of the Three Little Pigs. He winds up in court at a shambolic trial but after the judge drops dead and the star witness goes missing, a re-trial is called. Will Thomas Blake-Burke Wolfe’s good name be cleared or will he be forever known as The BIg Bad Wolf?

Author InformationLiam Farrell is a fulltime children’s author and storyteller living and working in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. He also writes freelance newspaper and magazine articles, mainly on history, religion and general interest subjects. Liam regularly gives talks “Getting Started in Writing Commercially” for 5th & 6th class Primary School students and all Secondary School students.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


4

Penny SeriesEileen O’Hely

Nicky PhelanISBN: 9781856355728

Format: Paperback

Size: 198 mm x 129mm

Extent: 192pp

Category: Children 5-8

Rights Available: All except Korean, Chinese and Turkish language

Key NoteThe sixth and !nal book in the series that sees our heroine on yet another exceptional adventure, this time at the zoo

DescriptionIt’s an exciting day for Class 3B when Mrs Sword announces an excursion to the local zoo. To help solve the riddles set by the zoo keeper, Ralph brings along his favourite pencil, Penny, who is thrilled to be out of the classroom.

However, when they arrive Ralph !nds out that the zoo is threatened with closure, to be replaced with a Texta factory. Penny suspects that her arch-nemesis Black Texta is involved and with the help of her new friends, Spike the hedgehog, Milligan the stoat, Herby the tiger and Zelda the zebra, Penny must stop Black Texta’s campaign of destruction, while Ralph carries out his own quest to save the zoo.

Author InformationEileen O’Hely is an Australian of Irish descent. She is the best-selling author of !ve previous Penny the Pencil books and currently lives in Sydney.

Nicky Phelan is currently working as animation director in Brown Bag Films and was nominated for an Oscar in 2010 when Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty was nominated for Best Animated Short Film.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


5

Pep Squad

E.T. O’Hely

ISBN: 9781781171950

Format: Paperback

Size: 198mm x 129mm

Extent: 320pp

Category: Children 9+


Key Note:A fantastic kids spy adventure set in a secret agent training school

Selling Points:

DescriptionFourteen-year-old Jess Tierney is an exceptional teenager: athletically gifted and academically brilliant. Bored at her

conventional Dublin school, she is thrilled to be o"ered a place at PEP Academy, the training ground for the top secret PEP

(Planet Earth Protection) Squad. During her !rst term Jess quickly makes friends with her room-mate, extreme-sport loving

Emily Harris, and the Sykes twins, Ben and Matt. Together they start to learn the skills they will need to become world-class

spies, like lock-picking, making disguises, abseiling, foreign languages and combat training.

At the end of their !rst-year the teenagers are promised an easy !rst mission. But then they !nd out they have to in!ltrate a

Bavarian castle and steal a sample of a deadly virus that could wipe out all of humanity. Faced with armed guards, a

complex security system, an evil genius and a traitor in their midst the trainee spies must save the day or die trying.

This is set to be the next big thing in adventure !ction for pre-teens!

Author Information

olds. This is her !rst book for older children. She currently lives in Sydney.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


6

Dead Hairy

Debbie Thomas

ISBN: 9781856356787

Format: Paperback Size: 198mm x 129mm

Extent: 256pp Category: Children 9+


Key Note:A funny, original and gripping adventure story with a wild collection of wacky new characters!

Selling Points:* Award-winning writer* Something completely new to the world of Irish children’s books* Media savvy author with connections in the children’s book world

DescriptionWhen Squashy Grandma’s teeth get stuck behind the radiator, Abbie calls the Very Odd Job Man. Matt Platt and his even odder daughter Perdita invite Abbie to the Hair Museum, where history has hairstyles and !sh have beards. Drawn into a hair-raising hunt for Perdita’s mum Coriander, Abbie befriends Fernando, the heartbroken shrunken head of a Spanish conquistador, and Chester, a helpful patch of chest hair. But waddling in the shadows is a !endish foe: the white-suited,

doinks’ quite another. And who are those hairy hobos holed up with Coriander? With kidnaps, kooks and creepy crooks, Dead Hairy is a crazy caper of laughter, love and lice crispies. This quirky tale, full of screwballs and pitfalls, will tickle children, parents and squashy grandmas alike.

Author InformationDebbie Thomas lives in Kildare and has worked as a reporter for BBC radio. She now works for a charity supporting people with leprosy and writes for various magazines. She runs a children’s book club and creative writing classes. Stella

Toilet?’.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


7

Class ActDebbie Thomas

ISBN:978 1 78117 262 9

Format: Paperback

Size: 198mm x 129mm

Extent: 224pp



Key Note:An all-new crazy adventure from established author Debbie Thomas that celebrates bees, friendship and the kind of

cleverness that is often overlooked in school.

Selling Points

DescriptionWhat is the point of Brian O’Bunion? Bottom of the class, slowest on the pitch, never invited to parties … he sometimes

wishes he could just disappear.

Then, one day, some of his classmates actually do.

That’s when Brian’s knack of noticing while going unnoticed leads him into a sticky trap of enchanting honey, freaky bees

and not-so-sweet revenge.

A buzzing tale of bullies and battleaxes, a bossy fossil, a bottom that longs to dance and a brave-hearted boy who makes

the grade without coming top in his class.

Author InformationDebbie Thomas lives in Celbridge, County Kildare where she runs creative-writing classes, book clubs and workshops on

development issues for kids. Originally from Bristol, she has also lived in Bangladesh and South Africa. She is the author of

Books Ireland, a Poetry Ireland Writer in Schools and an active participant in the many children’s and general book festivals

that take place around the country.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


8

Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent The Father of Lies Chronicles

Alan Early

ISBN: 978 1 85635 827 9

Format: Paperback

Size:198mm x 129mm

Extent: 320pp


Rights Available: All except French language

Key Note:An exciting new adventure story set in Dublin, where Viking mythology comes to life. Can Arthur stop the trickster Viking God Loki and the World Serpent from destroying the world?

Description:Something wicked has awoken under the streets of Dublin ...

When his dad is o"ered a job working on the new Metro tunnel, Arthur has to move to Dublin with him. While exploring a hidden underground river, Arthur and his new friends Will and Ash !nd a mysterious glowing pendant. The pendant depicts a giant snake strangling the trunk of a tree. The friends soon !gure out that the pendant is a warning, a sign that something evil is waiting underneath the city. Something that’s been imprisoned for a thousand years, something left by the Vikings, something that can - and will - destroy !rst the city, then the world.

What did the Vikings bury under the city of Dublin and why did they leave it there? Who is the dark man that spies on Arthur and what is his evil plan? In the end, only Arthur and his friends can save the world from the dreaded World Serpent.

About the Author:Born in Leitrim and now living in Dublin, Alan Early studied in the National Film School, Dun Laoghaire. Upon graduation in 2008, he co-founded Annville !lms. From an early age he used to write and illustrate short stories about Banshees and ghost animals and whatever else struck his imagination. When he was ten, he visited Dublinia, a recreated Viking Village and so began a love a"air with Viking lore.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


9

Legend of the Golden Key

Tom McCaughren

ISBN: 978 1 85635 803 3

Format: Paperback

Size: 198mm x 129mm

Extent: 192pp



Key Note:New and updated edition of the classic Tom McCaughren tale of fun and adventure. First in the series.

Selling Points:* Popular Irish children’s author

Description:

a fortune in gold and chooses instead to wed her penniless lover. The lovers disappear but what of the fortune?One summer day !ve young hopefuls decide to solve the mystery of the Golden Key. Tasper and his friends start their quest at the castle, where strange things begin to happen on the grounds and unexplained lights are seen in the sinister fairy fort.Can they solve the riddle? Will the treasure be found?

About the Author:Tom McCaughren is from Ballymena, Co. Antrim, and has written !fteen books altogether, most of them for children and young adults. They have won !ve awards for literature including The White Ravens from the International Youth Library in Munich, the Reading Association of Ireland Award and the Bisto/Children’s Book Trust Books of the Decade Award.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


10

The Book of LearningNine Lives Trilogy 1

E. R. Murray

ISBN 978 1 78117 3626Format: PaperbackExtent: 352ppCategory: Children 9+Size: 198 mm x 129mmRights Available: All

DescriptionAfter the death of her beloved grandfather on her twelfth birthday, Ebony Smart’s world is turned upside down. Sent to Dublin

to live with her weird Aunt Ruby, who she has never met, she has only her pet rat, Winston, for company.

With every window nailed shut and a mysterious locked room, 23 Mercury Lane is brimming with secrets. Warned against

entering by a voice in the shadows, Ebony fears for her future, but has no idea how much her life is about to change.

that she has to !nd a way to prevent a terrible evil or else she will die and the future of the Order, as well as the world, will be

placed in terrible danger.

With so much at stake, does Ebony have what it takes to succeed when nothing is what it seems?

Author InformationAfter living in various locations around the world, Elizabeth Rose Murray moved to West Cork to write full time. She has

poetry and short !ction published in journals across the UK and Ireland including Southword, South Circular, Esc and 3am.

Elizabeth has been shortlisted in the following competitions: Francis MacManus 2013 (Short Story), Penguin/RTÉ Guide

2013 (short story), Powers/Irish Times 2013 ("ash !ction), Writing.ie/Anam Cara 2013 & 2012 ("ash !ction) and Aesthetica

Midsummer Festival.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


11

A History Of Irish Fairies

Carolyn White

ISBN: 9781856350099Format: PaperbackSize: 198mm x 129mmExtent: 88ppCategory: ChildrenRights Available: All except USA

Key Note

Selling Points

The author deals with their important place in country folklore and tells us of their mannerisms, clothing, food andlove lives

DescriptionWhether you believe in fairies or not you cannot ignore them and here for the !rst time is a history of fairy life in Ireland. A large part of this book is concerned with relations between mortals and fairies. Stories of magical groups of fairies such as the Far Darrig,

History of Irish Fairies’ takes fairies as seriously as they deserve to be taken.

Author InformationCarolyn White has a PhD in Comparative Literature. She has studied in France and has travelled extensively in Europe.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


12

Irish Leprechaun Book

Mary Feehan

ISBN: 9781856350891Format: PaperbackSize: 198mm x 129mmExtent: 96ppCategory: Children 5-8Rights Available: All

Key NoteAll the best stories about the elusive Irish spirit who can lead you to the crock of gold.

Selling Points* Worldwide interest in leprechauns* Fun and engaging way to access Irish folklore and mythology

DescriptionLeprechauns are supposed to know where pots of gold are buried and they guard this secret very well. They are hard to ensnare, and if you manage to catch one then you must hold him very !rmly and never, even for a second, take your eyes

collection of leprechaun tales is one to be treasured.

Author Information

RIGHTS INFORMATION


13

Irish Tales of Mystery and Magic

Edmund Lenihan

ISBN: 9781781174173 Format: PaperbackSize: 212mm x 165mmExtent: 224ppCategory: Children 9-12Rights Available: All except Chinese Language

Key NoteNew edition of the award-winning collection, complete with Alan Clarke’s witty, eye-catching illustrations

Selling Points* Well-known, established Seanchaí and illustrator* Lavishly illustrated children’s gift book

Description

and amuse children of all ages.These tales of ancient Irish heroes and druids tell of strange and peculiar adventures at a time when creatures of the night walked the earth and magic was everywhere… Stunningly illustrated, these hair-raising stories capture some of that magic.

Author InformationEddie Lenihan, who lives in Crusheen, County Clare, is a celebrated storyteller and the author of many books for children and

paintings and drawings have been exhibited in Ireland and abroad - at the International Children’s Book Fair in Bologna, Italy; the Itabashi Art Museum in Tokyo and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others.

RIGHTS INFORMATION


14

Fionn Mac Cumhail’s Tales from IrelandThe Irish Mystery & Magic Collection

Eddie Lenihan

ISBN: 9781781173572

Format: Hardback Size: 188mm x 135mm

Extent: 64pp Category: Children 9+


Key Note:A new miniature series of Eddie Lenihan’s charming stories with fabulous illustrations by Alan Clarke

Selling Points:* Striking illustrations make them stand out from the competition

Description

perfectly complemented Eddie’s take on the stories of Fionn Mac Cumhail and the Fianna.

Unavailable for several years and much sought after, these beautifully illustrated stories will now be available in a collection of

the Making of the Burren’. These tales of ancient Irish heroes and druids tell of strange and peculiar adventures when creatures of the night walked the earth and magic was everywhere. Stunningly illustrated, these hair-raising stories capture some of that magic.

Author InformationOriginally from Kerry and now living in County Clare, Eddie Lenihan’s storytelling is beloved by generations of children and

adults alike. He has published several books of folklore for both children and adults, the most successful of which has been

numerous commissions for murals, book covers,caricatures and magazines and has designed concepts for animation and theatre.

Mercier Press Children's Rights List 2016

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