The Great Big Book of Families

Mary Hoffman Illustrated by  Ros Asquith

1^st April 2010      9781845079994      £11.99

What is a family? The stereotypical image shown in children’s books was of a father, mother, boy, girl, cat and dog living in a house with a garden. But as times have changed, families have changed too. Families comes in all shapes and sizes  - from a mum and dad or single parent to two mums or two dads, from a mixed-race family to children with different parents.  

Bestselling author Mary Hoffman takes a look through children's eyes at the wide varieties of family life: from homes, food, ways of celebrating, schools and holidays to getting around, jobs and housework, from extended families, languages and hobbies to pets and family trees – and lots more

With Ros Asquith's delightful pictures, this book takes a fresh, contemporary look at families of today.

On publication 40,000 copies of The Great Book of Families have already been sold across ten different languages. The countries involved include: Spain (Spanish, Castilian & Catalan translation rights sold), Germany, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Faroe Islands, Korea, Slovenia and the US. There is also interest from others, including China and Taiwan. This international interest clearly illustrates that families, in all their different varieties, matter all over the world.

Mary Hoffman has written over 90 books for children that range from picture books to novels. Amazing Grace, commended for the Kate Greenaway medal, has together with its sequels sold over 1.5 million copies. The most recent title, Princess Grace (2008) has been very enthusiastically received. The Colour of Home, which is ideal for teachers to raise the asylum issue with younger children, was recommended in Reading our World (a Book Trust/Arts Council) as a book that should be in every primary school classroom. Mary has also written the highly successful teenage fantasy sequence Stravaganza, for Bloomsbury, which is set in an alternative Renaissance Italy.    Her novel The Falconer's Knot, (Blooomsbury)  a murder mystery set in the  Middle Ages, was  short-listed for the Guardian Children's Fiction  Award and the historical novel Troubadour ( 2009) was shortlisted for the Costa Award.  In 1998 Mary was made an Honorary Fellow of the Library Association for services to children and libraries.  For some years Mary has been living in rural Oxfordshire with her husband and three Burmese cats. She has three adult daughters who all work in the arts. To find out more, visit Mary’s website at: www.maryhoffman.co.uk.   

Ros Asquith has been a Guardian cartoonist for 20 years and has written and illustrated over 60 books for young people including the best-selling Teenage Worrier series for Random House. She graduated from Camberwell School of Art, working as a photographer, designer and teacher before becoming theatre critic for Time Out magazine, Co-Theatre Editor of City Limits, deputy Theatre critic of the Observer and diary writer for TV Times. Ros has two sons and lives in North London with her partner, a jazz critic.

For Further information contact:

Nicky Potter, Publicity, email: nicpot@dircon.co.uk or tel: 020 8889 9735

Fran Higgins, Frances Lincoln, franh@frances-lincoln.com or tel: 020 7284 4009

Or visit our website at www.franceslincoln.com