Akala – Announces children’s book series
13th April 2018
Akala’s voyage into publishing continues with the announcement of a 3 book series with Big Picture Press, an imprint of Templar Publishing.
We are delighted to have secured a World All Language rights deal with Kings Road Publishing, which will see the release of Akala’s first non-fiction children’s book.
The book will be an illustrated history of human brilliance and achievement, particularly bringing to light a truly global context to untold or neglected stories onto a level playing field with traditional curriculum topics. It is to be illustrated by Tom Clohosy Cole of The Wall and The Red Prince, both published by Templar.
Akala had this to say on the series:
“Growing up I was lucky enough to be a beneficiary of the Pan-African ‘Saturday school’ movement where I learned very early that there were countless examples of human brilliance and achievement that fell outside of mainstream historiography, thus I am extremely excited to be working on a collection of books for young people that focus on lesser known examples of human achievement from all around the world throughout all of history.”
Lisa Edwards, Head of Children’s Publishing, Kings Road Publishing, commented:
“After twelve years of publishing Horrible Histories, and knowing the power of arming children with facts that they are not taught via a traditional education, I think this book is hugely important and timely. I walked home after meeting Akala feeling hugely inspired – I think this is the book that I’ve been waiting to publish for all of my career.”
The first book in the series is planned for publication in 2020.
Akala is a musician, poet, historian, social entrepreneur and an incredibly captivating speaker on topics including arts, culture, race, literature, politics, youth engagement and social justice issues. Please get in touch for more information.
