EXCLUSIVE limited edition pressing of Beetle Queen available in Waterstones NOW!

Those of you who've been patiently waiting for the sequel to Beetle Boy, you need wait no longer. An exclusive edition of Beetle Queen has been made available early to Waterstones ONLY to sell in March. However the stock has already landed in stores, it's on tables right now and selling like hot cakes!

The Waterstones edition of Beetle Queen will be the only one to have the yellow and black polka dot edges, and once they've sold out, there'll be no more printed. So, hurry, get down to Waterstones and grab a copy quick before they sell out.

Beetle Boy is one of 20 titles chosen by librarians for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal Longlist

Today I'm struck dumb with gratitude by the news that my debut novel, Beetle Boy, has been selected for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist.

It was in my school library and then my local library in Hemel Hempstead, that I discovered who I was and what kind of person I wanted to be. It was librarians who helped me navigate the multitudinous shelves and pressed Alan Garner, Ursula Le Guin, Susan Cooper and Mervyn Peake into my hands. These books of high adventure and difficult choices helped me discover my own moral compass, and my visits to their worlds fired up my imagination. Libraries are a haven, a school, a parent and one of my most trusted friends. I am honoured beyond description to be on the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist. Thank-you to librarians everywhere. I owe you everything.

Here is the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist (alphabetical by surname):

Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot by Horatio Clare (Firefly Press)
Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Pan Macmillan)
Unbecoming by Jenny Downham (David Fickling Books)
The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon (Orion Children’s Books)
How Not to Disappear by Clare Furniss (Simon & Schuster)
The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock (Faber & Faber)
Whisper to Me by Nick Lake (Bloomsbury)
Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard (Chicken House)
The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard (Old Barn Books)
Pax by Sara Pennypacker (HarperCollins)
Railhead by Philip Reeve (Oxford University Press)
Beck by Mal Peet with Meg Rosoff (Walker Books)
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt (Andersen Press)
The Marvels by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (Puffin)
Island by Nicky Singer (Caboodle Books)
Dreaming the Bear by Mimi Thebo (Oxford University Press)
Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford (HarperCollins)
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (Corgi)
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (Andersen Press)

For more information, here's the full press release.

Beetle Boy is selected for The 2017 Branford Boase Award Longlist

The Branford Boase Award was set up to reward the most promising new writers and their editors, as well as to reward excellence in writing and in publishing. The Award is made annually to the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist. You can read the full list and find out more here.

Beetle Boy has been selected for the longlist of twenty wonderful titles, and I'm delighted about this because it gives me an opportunity to celebrate the work of my incredible editors. Let me introduce you to them. They help me make the Beetle Trilogy the best it can be.

My senior editor is Barry Cunningham OBE. He's famous for discovering, publishing and editing J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. He's also the man that read the Beetle Boy manuscript and offered me a publishing deal before I had an agent. I take all my hats off to this man.

Rachel Leyshon

Rachel Leyshon is the Editorial Director at Chicken House and the editor who has the most hands on dealings with editing my books, taking me through copy edits, proof edits and a million other tiny details. She's the one who listens to my groans and talks me through my tangles and I love her for that. She's calm, clever and a joy to work with.

Beetle Boy is shortlisted for the Sheffield Libraries Children's Book Award

I'm delighted to be able to tell you that Beetle Boy has been shortlisted for the Sheffield Libraries Children's Book Award.

The Sheffield Children's Book Award is voted for by children who read all six books and then vote for their favourite, which is why I'm particularly delighted to have been shortlisted for this award. It would be an incredible award to win, although Beetle Boy faces stiff competition. It's all in the hands of the readers now. Fingers crossed they like beetles.

Beetle Boy is Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize

I am over the moon that Beetle Boy has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize for 2017, not least because it was Waterstones who first championed the book back in February 2016, propelling it into the children's bestseller charts.

Keep your fingers crossed for me on the 30th of March when they make the announcement. The short list of middle grade titles is great company to be in, and stiff competition, as you can see from the image below.

You can find out more information here.

Italian Beetle Boy App

My amazing Italian publishers De Agostini Libri have just published Beetle Boy, which in Italy is called Il Ragazzo deglu Scarabei, and to accompany the book they have made this educational game, available from the app store, which gets children to think about the relationship between creatures and their habitats.

Find out more here: bit.ly/APP_Scarabeo

Please do share this with an Italian children you may know. It's so much fun!