Just wanted to post this lovely image (created by Lauren, one of the brilliant Scholastic editorial team). World Book Day is so exciting – dressing up, making a fuss about books, getting book recommendations from friends! It’s really wonderful that we celebrate reading, especially reading for pleasure. I became a writer through loving books and working in publishing (still one of the most fantastic jobs ever, but writing does just about win). The Princess and the Suffragette was inspired by a book I read over and over as a child, A Little Princess. I’m only a writer because I loved to read first!
This is the gorgeous cover for the US edition of The Princess and the Suffragette. I love it that the US and UK covers are so different, but both perfect for the book! The US edition comes out in October, and it’s been reviewed by Kirkus, a book review magazine, who said “A well-paced, mostly easy-to-read glimpse into one aspect of women’s history.”
I’ll be doing two events at the Queen’s Park Book Festival – one about my Animal Stories, and a discussion event about writing classic sequels, with Lou Kuenzler. More details here!
Children’s Events
I’m going to be at The Festival In A Factory on Saturday June 9th, at 10.30. Come and hear about The Princess and the Suffragette, my sequel to A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Make your own Suffragette rosette!
https://festivalinafactory.co.uk/holly-webb/
Well, I think this year’s World Book Day counts as the strangest ever! I was supposed to be at a school in London, but the events had to be cancelled due to snow. I saw so many photos of brave authors trekking out to schools round the country!
The photo above is me on my way to a very cold event earlier in the week.
I hope you all had a wonderful day – either celebrating World Book Day in school all dressed up, or at home snuggled up on the sofa with a book!
I’ve been sent some gorgeous photos of World Book Day costumes…
Hannah took this brilliant Rex to be Polly from the Hounds of Penhallow.
Two fabulous Suffragettes – it’s so lovely to see people inspired by The Princess and the Suffragette.
A very sad and lost kitten
Maisie Hitchins with Wonder Woman, which is an excellent combination, I think.
And some amazing Extreme Reading!
It’s one hundred years today since some (not all…) women were granted the right to vote. I wrote about the Suffragettes’ struggle for the vote in The Princess and the Suffragette, my sequel to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beautiful book, A Little Princess.
This weekend I was lucky enough to talk about the book at Blackheath Halls, a lovely venue in London where Suffragette meetings were held a hundred years ago. They were celebrating the centenary with a weekend of Suffrage-themed events.
It was so lovely talking about The Princess and the Suffragette, showing lots of photos, and then making our own Suffragette rosettes!
An original Suffragette rosette from the Museum of London, who have a fantastic exhibition on until January 2019.
www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/whats-on/exhibitions/votes-women
And my version!
Some fabulous Suffragette fans with their own rosettes – slogans included Grrrrl Power, Hope Not Hate and History is HERstory too.
I made my own Suffragette jewellery for this and the other Princess and the Suffragette events I’ll be doing this year.
And then it was my birthday on Sunday – and I got beautiful Suffragette purple, white and green flowers!