Latest acquisitions: Children’s and YA

See what Australian publishers have been signing recently in children’s and YA.

Animals

Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia has acquired rights to Bindi Irwin’s debut picture book, titled You Are a Wildlife Warrior! Saving Animals & the Planet, illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki, for publication in February 2025. The picture book, which the publisher said is ‘written in a playful rhyming structure’, ‘encourages readers to walk on the wild side and uncover their inner conservationists’, featuring scenes from the Irwins’ wildlife park, Australia Zoo, including animals such as rhinos, kangaroos and crocodiles, as well as these animals’ habitats, and ‘all the ways we can protect them’.

Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Corey Tutt’s children’s titles Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles (illustrated by Ben Williams) and Before It Was Called Science, the follow-up to The First Scientists (Hardie Grant Explore). Caution! is ‘bursting with vibrant illustrations by Ben Williams and cool facts about more than 60 reptiles,’ said A&U. ‘Tutt celebrates First Nations knowledge and Languages for reptiles found on Country, from lizards and snakes to turtles and crocodiles.’

Younger readers

The University of Queensland Press has acquired world rights to debut author Sandy Bigna’s middle-grade verse novel Little Bones, in a two-book deal via Danielle Binks of Jacinta di Mase Management, for publication in 2025. Little Bones is a gothic magic-realist story that follows 12-year-old Bones, who copes with her younger brother’s recent death by collecting animal skeletons. When she inadvertently makes the skeletons of a bird and a snake come to life, Bones must work out how to reverse the curse—and how to say goodbye to her two new friends.

Walker Books Australia has acquired world rights to the picture book One Day, written by Shirley Marr and illustrated by Michael Speechley, in a two-book deal. Walker will publish One Day under its Walker Studios imprint in May 2025. ‘Shirley and Michael’s beautiful encapsulation of the notion of carpe diem has never been more beautiful,’ said Walker publisher Clare Hallifax. ‘From Shirley’s exquisite prose to Mike’s charming and inventive illustration, readers young and old will be charmed and inspired.’

YA

Simon & Schuster has acquired world rights to two books in a new YA series by debut author Ruby Jean Cottle, via agents Lou Johnson and Belinda Bolliger at Key People Literary Management. The first book, Black River, will be published in 2025, to be followed by White Mountain. The ‘mystical new duology’ is described as ‘a blend of fantasy, sci-fi and romance, and a cross between the Vampire Diaries and Shatter Me’.

A&U has acquired ANZ rights to Garth Nix’s The Even-Handed Booksellers of Edinburgh, via Fiona Inglis at Curtis Brown Australia, for publication in 2026. Set in an alternate 1980s Scotland, the novel continues the series that began with The Left-Handed Booksellers of London and The Sinister Booksellers of Bath. A&U plans to publish The Even-Handed Booksellers of Edinburgh in 2026.

Hachette has acquired world rights to Scott Woodard’s debut contemporary YA novel, Poster Boys, via Danielle Binks at Jacinta di Mase Management, for publication in 2026. Poster Boys is a coming-of-age story and comic adventure about three boys; ‘one a try-hard, the other a jock, and the last who is popularity-challenged’, according to the agency. Hachette head of children’s publishing Jeanmarie Morosin said: ‘We couldn’t be more delighted to be the lucky publisher of Scott’s funny, zeitgeist-y YA novel about privilege, toxic male cultures and just getting through high school intact.’

Hachette has also acquired world rights to The Foal in the Wire, a YA verse novel from poet Robbie Coburn, via Belinda Bolliger at Key People Literary Management, for publication in 2025. The Foal in the Wire is about Sam, a 15-year-old ‘haunted by trauma and depression’, among other struggles including bullying, loss and disillusionment, whose life changes when he finds a wounded foal, an event that brings Julia—a young person ‘with an alcoholic father and a mother who abandoned the family’—into his life.

Walker Books has acquired Operation School Ball, a second young adult novel from Angourie Rice and Kate Rice, for publication in October 2025. Publisher Clare Hallifax said: ‘Angourie and Kate’s second novel is—like its authors—clever, funny, insightful and unafraid, and cements their reputation as masters of young adult storytelling. I read this manuscript in one sitting, and once finished, could not wait to read it again. Expect the unexpected, but definitely expect to be delighted.’

Pictured (L–R): Bindi Irwin and Corey Tutt.

Category: Think Australian rights