Publishing A Most Amazing Zoo

How we came to publish this one

We have published Linda Flynn regularly and for a few years now. She is a teacher and she has published several educational resources as well as some fiction for young people. We were confident that we could work well with her and this was indeed the case. Linda worked with illustrator Linda Laurie and they submitted the book as a ready-made package. We did edit but there was not much to worry about. And how beautifully symmetrical; two Lindas created the text        

The title

This was entirely the idea of Linda and Linda. There is some nice alliteration and assonance going on here: A Most Amazing Zoo.      

The cover

This was provided by Linda Laurie and offers a taste of what is in the book. We’re pleased with how the cover and the illustrations came out. It’s always a bit of a worry. What you see on a computer screen isn’t always what you can print. We have our screens pretty well tuned to show what the print version will look like. But not everyone does. Fortunately Linda and Linda were pleased with the book.    

Some notes about style

The story is of the Queen visiting the animals in the zoo. Her Royal Highness remains professional throughout. All of the animals tell her something about themselves. The pictures are amusing, bordering on quirky. There are educational messages for the reader in what each of the animals says. Each picture offers additional story from what we find in the text alone.    

Who we think the reader is

Despite the number of pictures this isn’t really a picture book for pre-schoolers. This subject matter lends itself to the infant school child and the text is probably simple enough for the emergent reader. It also works as a book that a teacher, parent or other involved adult might read to the younger child. There is also enough humour and quirkiness in it for it to appeal to the older child, perhaps to the reader who would enjoy stories by Roald Dahl.   

Finances

This book is already in the black though we have yet to provide copies to the British Library and the Legal Deposit libraries. However, we have taken more than enough money to cover that once the libraries are open again. Linda and Linda have been proactive in promoting the book and I believe a copy has been sent to the Cambridges!

What else

We have made a video and an audio book of this.     

Reviews welcome, as always.