[PRESS RELEASE – 25 MAY 2021]

Sweet Cherry, recently awarded Small Press of the Year 2021, has acquired worldwide rights to publish Steve Smallman’s new Maggie Sparks series in all languages. The series follows the fun adventures of the title character, a mischievous young witch who’s tackling growing up and starting school in a human world.

Cecilia Bennett, Sweet Cherry’s Managing Editor, said: “We love the humour Steve brings to Maggie’s magical adventures, which happen in the real world and involve everyday situations that readers will be very familiar with. Like Maggie, children around the age of 5-7 experience a lot of emotions that they haven’t worked out how to express yet so they’re sure to relate to Maggie, who always uses her magic as a shortcut to try and fix things!”

Through Maggie’s naughty spells and her pet chameleon whose colour changes to reflect Maggie’s mood, the magical tales of the little witch encourage 5-7-year olds to understand and talk about their emotions. The series also aims to bridge the gap between the Isadora Moon and Amelia Fang series.

Steve Smallman, the Staffordshire-based award-winning author of Poo in the Zoo and proud grandfather of eight, said: “I can’t wait to introduce the world to Maggie Sparks! She’s a little witch with a big personality, a slightly strange best friend, a pet chameleon and an annoyingly cute baby brother. I’ve had such fun writing about Maggie’s magical misadventures, and I hope my readers enjoy them, too!”

The first book in the series, Maggie Sparks and the Monster Baby, will be published in September 2021 and sees Maggie overcome her jealousy following the arrival of a new sibling.

ENDS
For more information please contact:
Divia Kainth – Head of Sales and Marketing
divia@sweetcherrypublishing.com

Sweet Cherry Publishing is an independent children’s book publisher based in Leicester. We believe that all children should have access to great stories and aim to make reading fun for children aged between 0 and 14.