Cover Reveal: Winnie’s Great War by Lindsay Mattick and Josh Greenhut, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Let us play a game. Think of all the picture books that have won the Caldecott Award over the years. Not the Honors, mind you. The Gold. The Big Kahuna. Are you picturing them? Good. Now, separate out all the Nonfiction winners. This would be easier to do if we were talking about the NonFictionphobic Newberys, but it can be done. I count eight to nine (though we could have a marvelous debate about some of the older titles, I’m sure).

Now. Of the eight or nine Nonfiction titles, how many have ever been adapted into Fictional middle grade novels? If you answered, “Not a one” then you’re on the right track, baby. To the best of my knowledge it has never even been attempted before.

Until now.

Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in history we have the creators behind the winner of the 2016 Caldecott Award coming back with the same story in an entirely new format. I give you . . .

It’s clocking in at an impressive 144 pages, filled to brimming with more Sophie Blackall pencil art inside. Here are the stats:

Winnie’s Great War by Lindsay Mattick and Josh Greenhut, Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
On sale: September 18, 2018
Ages: 8-12

From the creative team behind the bestselling, Caldecott Medal–winning Finding Winnie comes an extraordinary wartime adventure seen through the eyes of the world’s most beloved bear.

Here is a heartwarming imagining of the real journey undertaken by the extraordinary bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. From her early days with her mama in the Canadian forest, to her remarkable travels with the Veterinary Corps across the country and overseas, and all the way to the London Zoo where she met Christopher Robin Milne and inspired the creation of the world’s most famous bear, Winnie is on a great war adventure.

This beautifully told story is a triumphant blending of deep research and magnificent imagination. Infused with Sophie Blackall’s irresistible renderings of an endearing bear, the book is also woven through with entries from Captain Harry Colebourn’s real wartime diaries and contains a selection of artifacts from the Colebourn Family Archives. The result is a one-of-a-kind exploration into the realities of war, the meaning of courage, and the indelible power of friendship, all told through the historic adventures of one extraordinary bear.

But wait! There’s more!

That Sophie art I alluded to? Here’s just the slightest of tastes. No more than a dollop. Just enough to keep you interested, really.

Many thanks to Victoria Stapleton and the team at Little, Brown for the reveal.

See you in September, folks!

Filed under: Cover Reveal