Beetle Boy shortlisted for Top Ten Children's Books of the Year in CHINA

Beetle Boy has been selected as one of one hundred children's books competing to be in the Top Ten Children's Books of the Year in China. Beetle Boy is listed in the 'Children's Literature' category along with 39 other titles.

Through-out the next three months, titles will be read by families and children, who will vote for their favourites and the winners will be announced in November 2018.

I am beyond delighted that Beetle Boy is on this list. It is a great honour that I would never have dreamed of. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

You can read all about it here.

Another chance to watch the BBC documentary The Bug Couple

The BBC have repeated their great 30 minute documentary about Dr Sarah Beynon (scientific consultant to the Beetle Boy books) and Andy Holcroft's (bug chef extraordinaire) mission to get the UK eating bugs - The Bug Couple.

My 2017 Hay Festival event with Sarah and Andy was filmed for the documentary and features in the film. We got the audience munching insects. If you were there, you might spot yourself eating a cricket cookie.

Watch on the iPlayer

M. G. Leonard to write Adventures on Trains with Sam Sedgman

Me and my co-author Sam Sedgman at the National Rail Museum in York

I've got some super-dooper mega huge news!

I've been keeping this under wraps for a while, but my next book series will be about trains and because I don't know that much about them, I've persuaded the talented and lovely Sam Sedgman to write them with me.

Sam is a playwright and digital producer that I worked with at the National Theatre. He's obsessed with mysteries and railways, which will come in handy when we are creating our adventures on trains for you to read.

I'm very excited about these books. They will be published by Macmillan in 2020 and are going to be epic!

The books will follow 11-year-old Harrison Beck and his uncle, travel writer Nathaniel Bradshaw, as they travel the great railways of the world and encounter all manner of mysteries and adventures. The first book, The Highland Falcon, follows Harrison and Uncle Nat on board the last journey of the royal steam train. Among the passengers are aristocrats, actors and businessmen... and a very clever jewel thief.

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