LBF Toasts Author of the Day Francesca Simon
By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 4/16/2008 6:46:00 AM
London Book Fair author of the day Francesca Simon met with American booksellers at a lunchtime reception today at Earls Court. Simon is the author of the children’s series Horrid Henry, which has sold 12 million copies worldwide and nine million copies in the U.K. Last month, Sourcebooks announced it will bring the books to the U.S. Simon and her publisher, Dominique Raccah, have high hopes that American children will flock to the series, which has been a huge hit in England and carries a British flavor (among the books in the series are Horrid Henry Meets the Queen).
Simon, who was born in the U.S. and lives in London, began writing the Horrid Henry series in 1993. The books, aimed at readers aged five to eight, have taken off worldwide: within the 12 million copies sold worldwide, five million have sold in the past five years alone. Horrid Henry books have been published in 23 countries, and next spring will mark the series’ arrival in the U.S. ‘I want to be [published] in America,’ Simon told a gathering of American booksellers today. ‘I’m everywhere in the world—even Vietnam.’
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky bought the series, aimed at five to eight-year-olds, from Orion Children’s Books in the U.K. It will publish its first six Horrid Henry titles in spring 2009, with two more the following in the fall. Raccah said the acquisition was a coup for the house, whose Jabberwocky line is not yet a year old. ‘It’s a breath of fresh air for U.S. publishing,’ she said. Simon, too, noted the difference between the Horrid Henry series and American books for the same age group, which she said are often ‘dreary’ and ‘written by 90 people. These books are different.’ Simon said word of mouth among educators has been key to the books’ success in the U.K. and hopes American teachers and booksellers will do the same.
There are currently 16 books in the series, and Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman won Children’s Book of the Year in England this year.
