Bologna Children's Book Fair 2012

As preparations for the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2012 gather pace, we'll post books we'll be presenting at the fair. For more information on the titles, 

contact Rockpool Children's Books.

The fair runs from March 19th till March 22nd. 

Our address at the fair is Hall 25 B84, 

once again coming under the umbrella of the UK Publishers Association. 

To begin with, I'm delighted to present this new series
by Sam Walshaw, Princess Penelope.
Beautifully illustrated and written by Sam, her work goes from strength to strength. 

Her books sell worldwide, 

China being the latest country to appreciate her beautiful books.

Bologna 2012

As a Publisher of fine children's picture and board books, 

Rockpool Children's Books would be delighted to welcome you to our stand 

at the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2012, 19th - 22nd March. 

We can be found in Hall 8 B25, on the UK Publishers Association collective stand.

Frankfurt 2011

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Gloria Bailey of the Publishers Association, 

for her wonderful and usual attentiveness as I joined their collective 

stand in Frankfurt this year.

It was a good and busy fair, and we saw many good friends 

and aquaintances, and many new ones.

Lots of interest in Rockpool Children's Books titles and I'm 

delighted to thank Frans Maree of Fantasi, a South African publisher 

for taking Sam Walshaw's Maisey and the Pirates series at the fair.

They will be published in Afrikaans.

One of my main aims was to try and interest French publishers 

in our list of French titles...

...watch this space!

Rupert Annual

 The new Rupert Annual is now out, and features on the cover Rupert and Robo!

The annual consists of four stories, Rupert and the Little Plane and Rupert and Ozzie,
by Alfred Bestall; Rupert and the Mail Train by John Harrold, 

and finally, a new story, Rupert and Robo by Stuart Trotter.

It's been quite a year for Rupert activity, starting off with myself and Martin Crowther
from the Rupert Bear Museum in Canterbury 

joining Bill and Sian on the couch of BBC Breakfast.

Seemed to go down ok. There was quite a media frenzy in the early part of the year,
with several radio interviews, then in July1st was interviewed by the marvelous 

Mark Radcliffe at the BBC in Manchester.

His programme Rupert Bear and me, went out in October and excellent it was too. He also interviewed Rupert fans Terence Stamp and of course Terry Jones.

In August the Followers had their yearly AGM in Warwick, 

which turned out to be a very busy day signing wise for me.

The Followers are looking for new members.

Moms With Apps

 Had a great meeting with Lorraine Ackemann from Moms With Apps after 

her talk at the TOC Conference in Bologna. 

Moms With Apps is a collaborative group of family-friendly developers 

seeking to promote quality apps for kids and families. 

I showed her our new Rockpool App, and she liked it very much.

Lorraine was very interested to know why we'd done this and what our aims were.

I explained that the new Rockpool App means that strong storytelling 

and quality illustration can now be enjoyed with an added dimension 

as they come to life with vision, sound and interactivity. 

Children love to explore the pages with their fingers and thumbs 

as the stories are narrated to them.

http://momswithapps.com/

The Rockpool App

Rockpool Children´s Books has launched its own branded App at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Available from the iTunes App Store, Rockpool, a leading publishers of Children´s Picture Books with an International reputation, is making selected children´s book titles available for download.

Stuart Trotter – Director of Rockpool, and Illustrator, also known for illustrating the Rupert Bear annual, and appearing on the BBC for Rupert´s 90th anniversary, continues to produce Children´s Picture Books to an amazing standard. Rockpool Children's Books nurtures new and established talent and uses high production values to create inspiring, inventive, well designed, children's books that can be enjoyed by all ages.

2011 Bologna Children's Book Fair

 Last week Rockpool Children's Books attended its 
sixth Bologna Children´s Book Fair. 

We had an excellent fair, and as usual, welcomed potential customers/clients 
from all over the world. We didn’t exhibit in our conventional way, 
but joined the UK Publishers Association Collective stand. 

With the support of Gloria Bailey and Helen Brown, from the PA, 
it was an enjoyable experience, 

and we may be back next year, if all is well. A big thank you to them. 

Also I’d like to thank Mark from GBH for delivering our books 

safe and sound to Bologna for the sixth year running.

This year has seen a major development in Rockpool Children’s Books 

as it’s Rockpool App became available on iTunes three days before the fair. 

Created by App developers Fingers’n’Thumbs in collaboration with  

Rockpool Children’s Books, 

 the App is unique as it’s a  Rockpool App Bookshop 

containing 10 enhanced e-book readers from our back list

and one fabulous brand new title from Sam Walshaw, Neandersmall. 

 

I attended the Tools of Change conference in Bologna 

which addressed the digital world of Apps, e-books, tablets, Apple and Android. 

The conference was very interesting with light being shed 
on this very new and fluid side of the industry. 

Whilst at the fair, information passed back and forth to the Fingers’n’Thumbs team 
in the UK, only to be told, as the conference came to a close, 

that our Rockpool App had gone to number one 

in Apples App Store ‘New and Noteworthy’! 

Needless to say, interest in Rockpool’s App from publishers 
at the fair has been extremely strong. 

Follow up meetings will take place at the London Book Fair 11^th – 12^th April. 

We still have a few slots available, but going fast, 

so if you’re interested in us developing you high quality, 

cost effective App, contact us quick.