THE BEST GIFT OF ALL & A SECRET WORTH SHARING – New UK paperback editions

I'm delighted to announce that Walker Books have just published new editions of two of the Mole and Friends books I created with Vanessa Cabban.

Following on from the new editions of the first two Mole and Friends books, back in February,  Walker have now released new editions of  The Best Gift of All and A Secret Worth Sharing. A new edition of Diamond in the Snow (originally published third in the series) will complete the set in November.

While the other books in the series are set above ground, stormy weather obliges Mole to remain in his natural underground habitat in The Best Gift of All …

 … but that doesn't stop him from visiting Rabbit and meeting up with Hedgehog and Squirrel en route.

When bad weather prevents Mole from visiting Rabbit above ground, he decides to visit her by tunnel instead.

A Secret Worth Sharing, originally published as the fifth and final book in the series, sees Mole making a new friend – Mouse.

Mole's friendship with Mouse is so special that he doesn't want to share her and decides to keep her a secret. But some secrets are worth sharing!

The last panel in this spread by Vanessa Cabban echoes the first Mole and Friends story, Bringing Down the Moon.

You can find out more about the books using the links below and read a recent interview I did about the whole Mole and Friends series for the Baby Book Club blog here.

Find out more about The Best Gift of All on my website

Order a copy of The Best Gift of All using the sales links below.

Find out more about A Secret Worth Sharing on my website

Order a copy of A Secret Worth Sharing using the sales links below.

THE PRINCESS AND THE PIG is my most borrowed book from UK libraries

The Princess and the Pig
was my most borrowed book

I recently received last year's UK library loans figures for my books, courtesy of the Public Lending Right (PLR) organisation.

There's been quite a shakeup among my most borrowed books, with three books appearing in the top 5 for the first time, including The Princess and the Pig, which knocked last year's most borrowed book Bringing Down the Moon, off the top spot.

My latest Mole and Friends picture book, A Secret Worth Sharing and piratical picture book, The Treasure of Captain Claw, also made it into the top 5 for the first time.

The PLR figures show that my books were borrowed from UK libraries a total of 208,308 times last year, slightly up from 204,491 loans the previous year.

Here are my top 5 most borrowed books.

Position	Book Title	Nº of Loans
1	The Princess and the Pig	17,330	↑
2	Bringing Down the Moon	14,922	↓
3	A Secret Worth Sharing	13,868	↑
4	The Treasure of Captain Claw	13,388	↑
5	The Pig’s Knickers	13,183	↓

  

The PLR organisation also publishes a list of the UK's Most Borrowed Authors and I've crept up 9 places in this to 171st place. The top 3 remain the same this year with US crime writer James Patterson in first place,  "Daisy Meadows" (the pseudonym used by a collection of authors who write the Rainbow Magic series) in second place and Julia Donaldson in third.

A Secret Worth Sharing

Published last year in hardback, the fifth Mole and Friends book, A Secret Worth Sharing has just come out in paperback. UK readers may have seen the book being read by Casualty’s Tristan Gemmill on the CBeebies Bedtime Hour over the summer.

It’s been eleven year’s since the first Mole book, Bringing Down the Moon, was published and I didn’t imagine at the time that illustrator Vanessa Cabban and I would still be creating books about Mole and his friends a decade later. Although the first four stories have proved very popular, with Mole’s adventures being translated into more than 22 languages, I decided the format needed shaking up a little for this fifth book, so I introduced a new character, Mouse, to Moles’s familiar circle. Here’s what it says on the back cover:

Mole's new friend, Mouse, is so special, he doesn't want to share her with anyone and decides to keep her a secret.  But some secrets are worth sharing. 

And here's my favourite spread from the book, the last panel of which echoes the first Mole story, Bringing Down the Moon.

The book is published by Walker Books in the UK. You can find out more about it on this page of my web site.