SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: The Little Lost Kitten
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.holly-webb.com/
CITY: Reading, England
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: English
LAST VOLUME: SATA 387
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1976, in London, England; married; husband’s name Jon; children: Ash, Robin, William.
EDUCATION:Graduated from Cambridge University; Courtauld Institute of Art, M.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Scholastic Children’s Books, London, England, children’s fiction editor, worked until 2005.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Holly Webb is a prolific author of children’s books. The British writer has released numerous stand-alone volumes as well as series. Her series “Animal Stories,” which includes works such as The Rescued Kitten, “Animal Magic,” “Magic Molly” and “My Naughty Little Puppy” are all chapter book series for younger readers, while the “Rose” and “Lily” series are in the fantasy genre and are geared toward elementary-level readers. She has published more than 150 books across her career.
The Rescued Puppy is one of the tales in Webb’s “Animal Stories” series. It focuses on Becky and Alex, twins who are the new owners of a cocker spaniel named Cooper. The twins care for Cooper fastidiously. However, when they are distracted by arguing with one another, Cooper falls off a cliff. Becky and Alex get help from the Coast Guard to save him. In 2018 Webb added The Forgotten Puppy to the series.
In 2013 Webb released The Case of the Stolen Sixpence, the first installment in the “Mysteries of Maisie Hitchins” series. Other books in the series have included The Case of the Vanishing Emerald, The Case of the Secret Tunnel, The Case of the Feathered Mask, and The Case of the Phantom Cat. The books are set around the turn of the twentieth century. In an interview with a contributor to the London Guardian website, Webb explained why she chose to set the series at that point in time. She stated: “I really love the Sherlock Holmes stories, which are set in the 1890s-1900s. I’d wanted for ages to write something that reminded me of Holmes. Also, it would be hard for Maisie to be as adventurous if I set the books now—she’d have to be at school, for a start!” Web added: “One of my favourite things reading the Sherlock Holmes stories was the way that London felt dark and scary and foggy and dangerous. I wanted to have that same feeling in my books.”
A Little Princess Finds Her Voice is a stand-alone volume by Webb. It draws inspiration from the 1905 book A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The protagonist of Webb’s book is Lottie Leigh, the child of a wealthy but cold single father. In an effort to provoke her father, she patronizes a suffragette shop. Lottie eventually becomes a suffragette herself. A Kirkus Reviews critic suggested: “Readers who enjoy melodramatic narratives will appreciate learning about these events.” The same critic described the book as “a well-paced, mostly easy-to-read glimpse into one aspect of women’s history.”
Rose starts off the “Rose” series of books set in Victorian England featuring orphan Rose who takes a job as a housemaid for the alchemist Mr. Aloysius Fountain. His grand mansion is so full of sparkling magic that the stairs move and the cat talks. The magician’s apprentice Freddy knows that Rose has magical ability too. Freddy and Rose work together to find the other children from the orphanage who have gone missing. Sada Mozer in School Library Journal noted, “Fans of light fantasy and mystery will devour this intriguing story and eagerly await the sequel.”
In book two, Rose and the Lost Princess, after Rose begins her magical training as apprentice to the King’s chief magician, she helps find the missing Princess Jade who is the victim of dark magic. Rose and the Magician’s Mask finds Rose working with apprentice Bill as they travel to Venice to stop the evil magician Gossamer who has stolen the king’s Magician’s Mask that gives the wearer enormous power. “The suspense, and the tension of the story easily draw readers into Rose’s unique world,” according to Kira Moody in School Library Journal. In the last book, Rose and the Silver Ghost, Rose suspects that Miss Fell, who is staying at the mansion, may know secrets of Rose’s past and her family.
The “Winter Animal Stories” series begins with The Snow Bear, about Sara who visits her Grandpa at Christmas and listens to his account of studying the Inuit people in the Canadian Arctic. So she can have her own winter adventure, Sara makes a snow bear and Grandpa builds her own igloo. A Kirkus Reviews writer felt “the story—especially in its generic portrait of Inuit culture—feels stale, the characters bland,” and the plot never gets going.
Book two of the series, The Reindeer Girl, illustrated by Artful Doodlers, finds Lotta visiting her grandparents in Norway for Christmas and listening to their stories of herding reindeer. Lotta is transported back in time where she meets her great-grandmother Erika. Learning about the Sami people, Lotta travels by sled, relocates the reindeer herd, and helps a reindeer named Flower reunite with her lost calf. In School Library Journal, Sarah Polace remarked: “An engaging animal story featuring the Sami culture.”
Another book in the series, The Winter Wolf, features nervous Amelia visiting her cousin’s mansion for Christmas but she’s afraid of their big dog Freddie. When Amelia reads a hidden diary of ancestors in Wisconsin in 1873, she’s transported back in time where she helps a boy rescue a wolf cub. When Amelia wakes up in the present, she no longer fears Freddie. Clare Morpuro declared in School Librarian, “Highly imaginative, this is a strangely compelling story that will appeal to a wide readership.”
The standalone novel, Return to the Secret Garden invokes Francis Hodgson Burnett’s popular 1911 book but a generation later. Difficult and argumentative Emmie is expelled from an orphanage in London and sent to live at Misselthwaite Manor where she finds a key to a secret garden that gives her comfort. Although Webb’s version would mean more to those who read the original book, this is an absorbing continuation of “the mysteries of Misselthwaite Manor and the garden where the settings are vividly drawn and atmospheric,” according to School Librarian reviewer Jane Loder. Webb told Deborah Kalb in an interview: “I really hope that my book will encourage readers to go back to the original.”
In The Water Horse, book one of the “Magical Venice” series, magical princess Olivia, who can control the sea, loses all her wealth and privilege because of her evil scheming aunt. Now Olivia sees how the common people of Venice really live. She enlists the help of a magical water horse named Lucien to get her kingdom back. School Librarian critic Sue Bresline called the book “a story full of risk, adventure and danger, of street children, earthquakes and of course, magic.”
The Midnight Panda, a standalone story illustrated by Sharon Rentta, depicts how children learn to overcome their fears and become more socialized in situations away from their families. Young James is afraid of the dark and the “bear” he sees in his bedroom at night. He learns that there are other fears he needs to overcome to be a big boy. “The story presents plenty of food for thought which, in turn, offers a rich source of discussion,” according to Prue Goodwin in School Librarian.
The Midnight Visitor kicks off the “Museum Kittens” series that finds a family of cats—siblings Bianca, Boris, and Tasha, along with mother Smokey and Grandpa Ivan—guarding history’s greatest treasures in a museum. In the first book, Grandpa Ivan welcomes Peter, a black kitten, into the family. In The Mummy’s Curse, Tasha is skeptical that the new mummy exhibit is cursed, until disaster strikes. Olivia Gorecke said in School Library Journal, “Kindness, empathy, and teamwork are all themes explored in this adventurous new chapter book series.”
The “The Hounds of Penhallow Hall” series begins with The Moon Statue, illustrated by Jason Cockcroft, in which Polly moves with her mother to Penhallow Hall after the death of her father. Polly learns that she can bring to life statues of dogs that have once lived on the property. She wakes up and becomes friends with Rex, a hundred-year-old Irish Wolfhound, and helps him learn what happened to his teenage master, William Penhallow, who died in World War I. In The Lost Treasure, Polly, William, and Rex meet Li-Mei, a Pekinese woken up from a porcelain Fu Dog, who wants to find her companion Han who disappeared while chasing smugglers on the property. In The Secrets Tree, Polly wakes the terrier Patch in the stables. In a tree they find a coded message that will help Patch learn what happened to his master Jake. Webb provides “a perfectly pitched combination of animal based adventures combined with magic, mystery and a touch of history,” noted School Librarian critic Jayne Gould.
(open new)In The Story of Greenriver, the animals that live in Greenriver are in danger of rising water levels. Sedge the otter is set to be the head of his holt of otters. He realizes that something is off with the rising waters. He travels downstream in search of help, where he meets Silken, a beaver who is also looking for answers.
In an interview in Toppsta, Webb admitted that she loves writing about animals. She added that “the research is so interesting, and I love the way that finding out about the animals then slides me into the story.” Writing in the Bookseller, Fiona Noble stated: “Enhanced by Zanna Goldhawk’s beautiful cover and interior illustrations, The Story of Greenriver is a sweeping adventure with an epic feel and a wonderfully realised animal world, perfect for children with a love of the natural world, or those who have enjoyed Webb’s Animal Stories series when they were younger.”
With The Little Lost Kitten: Little Gems, Lucy and her father are both sad when their cat, Patch, passes away. A small grey kitten wanders into their garden, and Lucy tries to keep it hidden from her father so he doesn’t make her release it. Lucy names it Misty and bravely approaches her father about keeping her. In a review in School Librarian, Alison King acknowledged that “there is plenty here to engage young readers and build confidence in reading.”
In A Puppy’s First Christmas, Aria is thrilled to have puppy Jackson join her household. She is looking forward to walking him, playing in the snow, and having lots of fun. However, Jackson gets into trouble when he scares her younger cousin and chews up Grandma’s boots, leaving Aria worried her perfect Christmas will be ruined. A Children’s Bookwatch contributor found it to be both “delightful and original.”(close new)
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 15, 2009, Kay Weisman, review of Catmagic, p. 54; October 1, 2009, Kay Weisman, review of Dogmagic, p. 38.
Bookseller, January 13, 2023, Fiona Noble, review of The Story of Greenriver, p. 22.
Children’s Bookwatch, November 1, 2023, review of A Puppy’s First Christmas.
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2017, review of The Rescued Puppy; July 15, 2018, review of A Little Princess Finds Her Voice.
School Librarian, June 22, 2010, Marie Imeson, review of Rose and the Lost Princess, p. 103; June 22, 2011, Wendy Axford, review of Rose and the Silver Ghost, p. 108; March 22, 2012, Marry Crawford, review of A Cat Called Penguin, p. 40; March 22, 2015, Clare Morpurgo, review of The Winter Wolf, p. 45; March 22, 2016, Jane Loder, review of Return to the Secret Garden, p. 45; September 22, 2015, Sue Breslin, review of The Water Horse, p. 170; June 22, 2016, Prue Goodwin, review of The Midnight Panda, p. 107; December 22, 2018, Jayne Gould, review of The Secrets Tree, p. 240; June 22, 2023, Alison King, review of The Little Lost Kitten, p. 51.
School Library Journal, February 1, 2014, Sada Mozer, review of Rose; December 1, 2014, Kira Moody, review of Rose and the Magician’s Mask, p. 128; October 1, 2020, Sarah Polace, review of The Reindeer Girl, p. 71; October 1, 2021, Olivia Gorecke, review of The Midnight Visitor, p. 79.
ONLINE
A.M. Heath website, https://amheath.com/ (August 18, 2024), author profile.
Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, http://deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com/ (February 2, 2017), “Q&A with Holly Webb.”
Guardian (London, England), https://www.theguardian.com/ (May 20, 2014), author interview.
Holly Webb website, http://www.holly-webb.com (August 18, 2024).
Little Tiger website, http://www.littletiger.co.uk/ (March 15, 2013), “Holly Webb.”
Toppsta, https://toppsta.com/ (August 18, 2024), author interview.
All about me…
When I get letters from people who like my books, they always ask loads of really interesting (sometimes weird!) questions. So this page is meant to answer all the questions you can possibly think of. Or at least all the ones I can possibly think of.
You can always email me over on the Contact page if you have any more questions!
I was born in London in 1976, but now I live just outside Reading, with my husband Jon and my three children, Ash, Robin and William.
I haven’t always been a writer. I used to work as an editor at Scholastic Children’s Books…
Rosie, my first pet.
My first job…
I first went to work at Scholastic Children’s Books when I was 15 to do work experience (when you go and find out what different jobs are like, and mostly do photocopying). I went back every summer and begged and begged until they gave me a job after I left university. I loved being an editor.
But when I was much younger I wanted to be a librarian, because I thought that librarians got to spend the whole day reading all the books in the library. I was very disappointed when I found this wasn’t true. (After that I wanted to be an archaeologist, but I gave up on that idea after I discovered most archaeology was not about pyramids but meant getting wet, cold and muddy, and involved a lot of very complicated science.)
Becky's Terrible Term, my first book!
My first book…
I wrote my first book while I was still working at Scholastic. Editors sometimes come up with an idea for a book, which they suggest to an author, and that was the plan with the Triplets series. I came up with the idea of triplet sisters who looked exactly the same, but were totally different underneath. By the time I had named them Becky, Katie and Annabel, and given them a family and a school and thought about how they’d react if a rat ate their bridemaids’ dresses, I didn’t want to let anybody else write those books!
I wrote the first book, Becky’s Terrible Term, on a train – actually, lots of trains.
I lived in Reading by then, but the Scholastic offices are in London, so I had a half-hour train journey every morning and evening. I had a big spiral bound notebook, and I scribbled (my writing is very messy) all the way from Reading to Paddington, sometimes even if I was sitting on the floor of the train (those trains are extremely busy). The scary part was showing the other editors I worked with – none of them knew I was planning to write the book myself. Luckily, they liked it enough to tell me to keep going.
Often people want to know how old I was when I wrote my first book. I loved writing and making my own books when I was much younger, but Becky’s Terrible Term was the first actual whole book I wrote, and I was 28.
My cat, Star, loves coffee too!
Lots More Books
I stopped working as an editor when I had Ash, my daughter. I did go back, but only for six months, because I felt like I never saw her. So I decided to work from home, copy-editing (which is when you make sure the author doesn’t say someone has blue eyes in chapter one and brown eyes in chapter three) and writing. Eventually I gave up editing, and now I just write. And drink coffee.
Quite often people ask how many books I’ve written. At the moment, it’s 156!
Lots of people also want to know where I get my ideas from. I think this is probably the question most authors dread. It’s so hard because there isn’t really one simple answer, like, from under the bed. It’s a whole mixture of things. Sometimes someone will suggest an idea to you – for the Rose books, my editor Kirsty asked me if I could write something about becoming magical. But that was it! I had to take it from there, and in fact I went through two other ideas first, neither of which quite worked, although I have a secret fondness for one of them, and might go back to it sometime.
Milly, Star and Poppy.
Are any of the stories true
Lots of the things that happen in my books really did happen, but not to me (and none of the magic has happened to anyone, unfortunately, it’s all wishful thinking). Some of the animal stories are based on stories from newspapers, or stories about animals that belonged to friends, and lots of them are based on my own pets. My three cats, Milly, Poppy and Star, are doing their best to keep me supplied with cat-gets-into-trouble plots!
Some of the people are real, too, but disguised. Becky, from the Triplets books, is a not-very-well disguised version of what I was like at school. Except I probably read more books than she did, and I didn’t have two identical sisters. I was horribly shy though.
Also, practically every character I write is scared of spiders! I am stupidly terrified of them!
Holly Webb
Agent : Julia Churchill
holly-webb.com
Holly Webb is an internationally best-selling author of books for children. She was born in London and studied Classics at Cambridge University, followed by an MA in History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Her first job was as a children’s book editor. In fact, she wrote her first book while taking the train to and from the office. After having her first child, she gave up work as an editor to write full time.
Holly has written over 130 books, spanning picture books, chapter books and middle-grade fiction. Her work has been translated into over 30 languages, and in Russia she is the best-selling English language author, outselling JK Rowling.
Holly lives in Berkshire, with her husband and three children. Her pet cats are always nosying around when she is typing on her laptop, and they have inspired several of her stories with their adventurous antics!
READER Q&A WITH HOLLY WEBB
Test
Holly Webb is the much loved and bestselling author of over 100 books, including The Storm Dog, The Lost Treasure, The Midnight Visitor and more.
The Story of Greenriver is her latest book, and tells the epic story of two animals and their battle against the odds to find each other and save the animals from the rising waters of Greenriver.
We were lucky enough to get our hands on some review copies and our young readers LOVED this tale of family, friendship, bravery and the effects of climate change.
One reviewer, Jimmy aged 10, wrote this lovely review and we asked him if he'd like to ask Holly his burning questions.
"I loved this book! Holly Webb truly is a fantastic author. The story is set in winter and is about an otter and the spirit of the river. Once I received this, I sat and read the whole thing and refused to put it down. The whole story was amazing. I would recommend to ages 8+."
Here's their Q&A. Enjoy!
1. What inspired you to write the book?
A whole mixture of things! I've always loved otters, and I really wanted to write a fantasy adventure with animals that echoed the books I'd loved growing up (and still love!) - the Narnia books, Redwall, The Animals of Farthing Wood, Watership Down... The list goes on!
2. Do you enjoy writing about animals?
Yes, I love it. The research is so interesting, and I love the way that finding out about the animals then slides me into the story - it was finding out that otter cubs can drown if their holt is flooded that started off The Story of Greenriver for me.
3. How long did it take you to write the book?
About three months for the first draft, but then lots more work, with my agent and then with my fantastic editor Lena.
4. When did you first realise that you wanted to be an author?
Not for a long time - growing up I loved reading and drawing more than writing. It was while I was working as an editor that I realised I really wanted to write. I didn't write my first book until I was 28!
5. What is the most difficult part of being an author?
Starting a new book. I put it off for ages, and then I have to trick myself into it by telling myself that it doesn't matter if the beginning is awful, I can go back and change it.
6. What do you think of first when writing? The title or the characters?
The characters. The title usually comes last - I am very bad at thinking of titles and it often means lots of ideas going back and forth with the editorial team!
7. What part of the book "The Story of Greenriver" was the most fun to write?
I loved writing about Sedge and Silken, the two main characters, finally getting to meet each other.
8. Are any characters in your books similar to people you know?
I think I borrow lots of little bits of people, but not often a whole portrait.
9. How do you come up with a title for your book?
Usually after a lot of angst and arguing! I love that this title has Story in it - it feels a bit like a fairy tale.
10. If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them?
Oh, that's such a good question. I would want to tell them that everything is going to be OK! I spent a lot of this book making them very worried - and then loving the moments when they get to be happy, I do feel quite guilty...
Holly Webb
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with English field hockey player Hollie Webb.
Holly Webb
Webb in 2018
Webb at Pangbourne Library
Born 1976 (age 47–48)
London, England
Alma mater Newnham College, Cambridge
Genre children's literature
Website
holly-webb.com
Holly Webb (born 1976 in London)[1] is a British children's writer.[2] She studied Classics at Newnham College at Cambridge University, Byzantine and Medieval Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art, and then worked as an editor until 2005.[3] She lives outside Reading with her husband Jon and her three children, Ash, Robin and William.[4]
Her works have been translated into 31 different languages, including Russian and Polish. Her books are published by Scholastic, Stripes, Orchard and Nosy Crow.
According to Russia Beyond the Headlines, she was one of the 10 most popular children's writers in Russia in 2016. 97 books by her with a total print run of 595,000 copies were published there that year.[5]
In Kazakhstan, her book Maisie Hitchins and the Case of the Phantom Cat was the fifth best-selling book for teenagers of 2017.[6]
She is also very popular in Poland. It was estimated that her Animal Stories series, targeted at girls aged 6–10, sold over 500,000 copies in that country up to February 2013.[2]
Works
Holly has written 130 books, mostly aimed at children aged 5-10 years old.[7]
Animal Stories
Lost in the Storm
Alfie All Alone
Sam the Stolen Puppy
Max the Missing Puppy
Sky the Unwanted Kitten
Timmy in Trouble
Ginger the Stray Kitten
Harry the Homeless Puppy
Buttons the Runaway Puppy
Alone in the Night
Ellie the Homesick Puppy
Jess the Lonely Puppy
Misty the Abandoned Kitten
Oscar’s Lonely Christmas
Lucy the Poorly Puppy
Smudge the Stolen Kitten
The Rescued Puppy
The Kitten Nobody Wanted
The Lost Puppy
The Frightened Kitten
The Secret Puppy
The Abandoned Puppy
The Missing Kitten
The Puppy Who Was Left Behind
The Kidnapped Kitten
The Scruffy Puppy
The Brave Kitten
The Forgotten Puppy
The Secret Kitten
A Home for Molly
Sammy the Shy Kitten
The Seaside Puppy
The Curious Kitten
Monty the Sad Puppy
The Homeless Kitten
A Kitten Called Tigger
The Unwanted Puppy
Lost in the Snow
The Rescued Kitten
Cookie the Deserted Puppy
Lucky the Rescued Puppy
The Shelter Puppy
The Perfect Kitten
The Puppy Who Couldn't Sleep
The Loneliest Kitten
The Mystery Kitten
Animal magic
Mouse magic
Bird magic
Pony magic
Rabbit magic
Hamster magic
Dog magic
Cat magic
Emily Feather
Emily Feather and the Enchanted Door
Emily Feather and the Secret Mirror
Emily Feather and the Chest of Charms
Emily Feather and the Starlit Staircase
Furry Friends
Sophie's Squeaky Surprise
Marshmallow Magic
Peril in Paris
Lily
Lily
Lily and the Shining Dragon
Lily and the Prisoner of Magic
Lily and the Traitor's Spell
Magic Molly
The Purple Butterfly (Early Readers)
The Clever Little Kitten
The Witch's Kitten
The Good Luck Duck
The Secret Pony
The Shy Piglet
The Wish Puppy
The Invisible Bunny
Magical Venice
The Water Horse
The Mermaid's Sister
The Mask maker's Daughter
The Girl of Glass
Maisie Hitchins
The Case of the Stolen Sixpence
The Case of the Vanishing Emerald
The Case of the Phantom Cat
The Case of the Feathered Mask
The Case of the Secret Tunnel
The Case of the Spilled Ink
The Case of the Blind Beetle
The Case of the Weeping Mermaid
Maya, Izzy, Poppy & Emily
Maya's Secret
Izzy's River
Poppy's Garden
Emily's Dream
My Naughty Little Puppy
New Tricks for Rascal
A Home for Rascal
Playtime for Rascal
Rascal's Sleepover Fun
Rascal's Seaside Adventure
Rascal's Festive Fun
Rascal the Star
Rascal and the Wedding
Rose
Rose
Rose and the Lost Princess
Rose and the Magician's Mask
Rose and the Silver Ghost
The Hounds of Penhallow Hall
The Moonlight Statue
The Lost Treasure
The Hidden Staircase
The Secrets Tree
Triplets
Becky's Terrible Term
Annabel's Perfect Party
Katie's Big Match
Becky's Problem Pet
Annabel's Starring Role
Katie's Secret Admirer
Becky's Dress Disaster
Wintry Tales
The Snow Bear
The Reindeer Girl
The Winter Wolf
The Storm Leopards
The Snow Cat
The Storm Dog
Frost
Shine (Reprint of Stage School under a different publisher)
Chloe Centre Stage
Standalone Books
A Cat Called Penguin
The Chocolate Dog
Looking for Bear
A Tiger Tale
The Truffle Mouse
Return to the Secret Garden
The Midnight Panda
The Pocket Dog
The Princess and the Suffragette
Evie's War
Picture Books
Little Puppy Lost
The Snow Princess
The Snow Princess and the Winter rescue
A Puppy's First Christmas
Holly Webb, author
Sophy Williams, illustrator
Tiger Tales
www.tigertalesbooks.com
9781664340596, $5.99, PB, 128pp
https://www.amazon.com/Puppys-First-Christmas-Rescue-Adventures/dp/1664340599
Synopsis: Aria is so excited to have a new puppy named Jackson. She is looking forward to taking him on long walks, building snowmen, and playing games. She even bought him a special present! But when her extended family comes to stay for the holiday, things don't go the way Aria had planned. Jackson scares Aria's younger cousin, and then he chews Grandma's fluffy boots! Will Aria and Jackson get their perfect Christmas?
Critique: A part of the 'Pet Rescue Adventures series, "A Puppy's First Christmas" by the team of author/storyteller Holly Webb and artist/illustrator Sophy Williams is a delightful and original holiday themed Christmas story that will prove to be a fun read for children ages 6-9 and an ideal pick for family, elementary school, and community library collections for young readers.
Editorial Note: Pet Rescue Adventures is a series of heartwarming animal tales. Each book focuses on one kitten or puppy and their unique journey to find their new "forever home." A wonderful collection of heartwarming tales, perfect for animal lovers!
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/index.htm
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"A Puppy's First Christmas." Children's Bookwatch, Nov. 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A776858166/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6ee35737. Accessed 28 June 2024.
Webb, Holly
The Little Lost Kitten: Little Gems
Illustrated by Abigail Hookham
Barrington Stoke
2023, pp.88, [pounds sterling]6.99
9781800901445
Animals. Grief. Family
Lucy and her dad had to say goodbye to their cat, Patch, and Lucy isn't sure which of them misses him the most. When a tiny grey kitten appears in her garden, she desperately wants it to stay. Worried that Dad might be upset and send the kitten away, Lucy tries to keep it a secret. But the kitten can't stay in the garden forever; she needs a place to live, so Lucy must find a way to tell Dad the truth and give Misty the home she deserves.
This moving tale tugs at the heartstrings, navigating sensitive topics like the loss of a pet with a sure but gentle touch. As the story of Lucy and the kitten winds its way to a satisfying conclusion, young cat lovers will find themselves thoroughly invested in their flourishing friendship, and in Lucy's Dad-dilemma.
With full-colour illustrations, a super readable format, and fun activities inside the jacket, there is plenty here to engage young readers and build confidence in reading.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 The School Library Association
http://www.sla.org.uk/school-librarian.php
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
King, Alison. "Webb, Holly The Little Lost Kitten: Little Gems." School Librarian, vol. 71, no. 2, summer 2023, p. 51. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A766804591/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a98458c3. Accessed 28 June 2024.
The Animals of Farthing Wood, Watership Down, Redwall, all of those were animal worlds that I absolutely adored growing up." Holly Webb is speaking to me over video call from her home near Reading about her new book, The Story of Greenriver, which came out in hardback in autumn 2022 and will be published in paperback this April by Orion Children's Books. Inspired by these childhood favourites, she had long wanted to write her own animal fantasy novel. Otters had always fascinated her and during lockdown walks in search of the local Thames otters, an idea began to form.
The book follows the creatures of Greenriver, who are in danger from rising water levels. A young otter, Sedge, is growing up in what Webb calls a "very established holt with firmly held ideas about how otters should behave". The heir to the holt, Sedge knows something isn't quite right, but he can't remember what. Sedge believes he can save his holt from flooding and travels downstream in search of help.
Meanwhile, at the Greenriver beaver lodge, Silken is confronting her feeling of difference and the sense that something is calling to her from up-river. The two young animals unknowingly swim towards each other in their search for answers and discover a shared past. "The book is about them finding each other again," explains Webb, "and trying to build a relationship, but it's also about the river and the world they are part of." Enhanced by Zanna Goldhawk's beautiful cover and interior illustrations, The Story of Greenriver is a sweeping adventure with an epic feel and a wonderfully realised animal world, perfect for children with a love of the natural world, or those who have enjoyed Webb's Animal Stories series when they were younger. Although not explicitly a climate change book, weaving ecological themes into the story was vital for the author. "I did want children to think about the way the river world was changing due to extremes of weather, and to make a direct parallel to our world."
Returning themes
Most of Webb's books focus on the relationship between an animal and a child. The Story of Greenriver is one of the first to exist in a fully realised animal world with no human characters, and Webb clearly relished the opportunity for world-building. The intricate descriptions of the animals' food, daily lives and traditions recall Wind in the Willows or Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge books. "It was incredibly lovely creating a completely new society," Webb admits.
Were there particular challenges? "It did feel very different not to have a human element, but that made it really exciting." She felt that the animals should not have a human view of time, so days, months and years were all replaced by seasons. "It was so difficult!" she laughs. "So much of our language is framed by time constructs. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me I missed one." Real information about otter behaviour became key to the plot, particularly their communication (through singing or vocalisation) and the fact that baby otters need to be taught how to swim. "If a river rises very suddenly and washes otter cubs out of a holt, they can drown," Webb explains. "That was the beginning of the story: that they were vulnerable to the river while also seeming so incredibly at one with their environment."
Webb has written dozens of books about animals. I ask her why, even in our modern times, animal stories have such enduring popularity? "Sometimes it's easier to identify your own fears, preoccupations and worries if they are not so obviously presented as a human concern. You can identify with the animal characters and that feels less threatening, perhaps. Plus, there is a mystery about them. As a child I really wanted to be able to understand what the animals around me were saying. There's a sense of wanting to be part of that secret world."
Webb worked in the publishing industry and began her literary career in editorial, following regular work experience at Scholastic Children's Books from the age of 16. "It was wonderful," she recalls, with "so many brilliant people to work with." The writing career started almost accidentally. In 2004, Scholastic was developing a new series called Triplets, and it was when Webb was pitching the idea to potential authors that her love of writing was ignited. "I fell in love with the characters--I named them all, I gave them pets. I couldn't imagine giving this book to anyone else and I realised I wanted to try and write it myself."
Her writing really took off with the launch of the Animal Stories series in 2006. Published by Stripes, the books follow a gentle eight-chapter formula of an animal in peril and their relationship with a child, perfectly captured in Sophy Williams' sweet baby animal artwork. The first, Lost in the Snow, has been followed by more than 50 titles, with Webb still writing two a year. "It was entirely not intended to be a series," she confesses, "or we would have come up with a much better series name." She wrote in tandem with editorial work for several years before becoming a full-time writer.
Over her 19-year writing career, Webb has been astonishingly prolific: her published book count is currently 157 titles, with Nielsen Bookscan TCM sales of 1.63 million books sold in the UK, for a value of just over 7m [pounds sterling]. It's worth noting too her significant success in the school clubs and fairs market, which isn't tracked by BookScan. Other career highlights include the series of seasonal time-slip adventures which began in The Snow Bear, again for Stripes, recalling Webb's childhood love of Alison Uttley's A Traveller in Time, and for older readers the Rose and Lily magical fantasy series for Orchard Books.
More recently, Webb has worked with Scholastic again on sequels to classics including A Little Princess and The Secret Garden.
The Greenriver series will continue in September 2023 with The Swan's Warning, which will feature the same characters but expands the world and environmental theme to include a clan of foxes displaced by a landslide. Further books are yet to be signed, but Webb envisages other stories, encompassing more animals, from the wider universe of Greenriver.
What does she hope children take from reading the books? "I would love it if the books made children want to find out more about the animal characters and to go away with a sense of how beautiful and fascinating those landscapes and animals are, but also that they are fragile and ought to be something that we are desperately working to protect."
Metadata
Imprint Orion Children's Books
Publication 13.04.23 Format PB (799 [pounds sterling]),
ISBN 9781510109636
Editor Lena McCauley
Agent Julia Churchill, AM Heath
Literary Agents
Webb's top three
The Clever Little Kitten Scholastic, 1[pounds sterling], 9781407131764
A 2012 World Book Day 1 [pounds sterling] title from the Magic Molly series, about a girl who can talk to animals.
106,189 copies
Lost in the Snow Stripes Publishing, 5.99 [pounds sterling], 97818471S0103
Published in 2006, the first in Webb's hugely popular Animal Stories series for young readers, which now totals more than 50 titles.
65,343 copies
Rose Orchard Books, 6.99 [pounds sterling], 9781408304471
For readers aged nine-plus, the first in a darkly magical series about an orphaned girl who discovers she has magical talents.
61,061 copies
Data: Nielsen UK
Fiona Noble @fionanoblebooks
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 The Stage Media Limited
http://www.thebookseller.com
Source Citation
Source Citation
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Noble, Fiona. "Holly Webb pays homage to classic animal-centric children's books with a beautiful illustrated title." The Bookseller, no. 6002, 13 Jan. 2023, pp. 22+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A734318415/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5dbfbee2. Accessed 28 June 2024.