Simon & Schuster UK Commissions Two Middle Grade Fiction Anthologies

Simon & Schuster Children's Books have commissioned two middle grade fiction anthologies - Holiday Ha Ha Ha! and Winter Magic, both to publish in 2016.

Get ready to laugh your summer socks off with Holiday Ha Ha Ha! The collection contains eight sunny, funny reads from bestselling authors Steve Cole, Joanna Nadin, Jeremy Strong, William Sutcliffe, Steven Butler, Candy Harper and Jonathan Meres. David Solomons, whose debut children's book, My Brother is a Superhero, won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2016, is also a contributor.

From disastrous car journeys to super-powered grannies to gruesomely funny ghost hunters there's something for everyone in this side-splitting anthology. The cover is illustrated by Jamie Littler, known for his illustrations in Danny Wallace's children's booksHamish and the WorldStoppers and Hamish and the Neverpeople.

Holiday Ha Ha Ha! publishes in paperback, 30 June 2016.

Poised for Christmas, Abi Elphinstone, author of The Dreamsnatcher and The Shadow Keeper has curated and contributed to a gorgeous collection of wintery stories in Winter Magic, featuring ice queens, frost fairs, snow dragons and pied pipers. Classic children's writers Michelle Magorian, Michelle Harrison, Geraldine McCaughrean, Jamila Gavin, Berlie Doherty, Katherine Woodfine, Piers Torday, Lauren St John, Amy Alward and Emma Carroll have created an unmissable, enchanting treat of a collection.

Abi Elphinstone has worked as a teacher in the UK and Africa, and is now a full time author and explorer. She volunteers for Beanstalk, and runs the children's book blog www.moontrug.com. Elphinstone says: 'I truly believe that the calibre of books being published for 8-12 year-olds at the moment is outstanding. The adventures are vast, the sense of wonder is unparalleled and I am so excited that a portion of this brilliance will be captured in Simon & Schuster's Winter Magic anthology.'

Winter Magic publishes in hardback, 3 November 2016.

Combined sales for contributors to both anthologies amount to nearly 7 million since records began.

Holiday Ha Ha Ha! and Winter Magic are the first anthologies of this kind to be published by S&S Children's. Each anthology showcases the finest UK authors currently writing middle grade fiction.

Conceived in-house, S&S hold world rights to both anthologies.

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