The Kiss was always meant to follow The Hug, but then along came the pandemic and While We Can’t Hug, and so Hedgehog and Tortoise went off in their own direction. But here at last is Eoin and Polly‘s original sequel, ready for Valentine’s…

Tiger is very tired indeed. So is Crocodile. Will anyone give them a goodnight kiss? Spoiler alert: yes, but it’s not who you might be expecting! (And for anyone missing Hedgehog and Tortoise, not to worry – we’ll be seeing them again in time for Christmas.)

Sarah Tagholm has a brilliant second book (told you she’d be back), this time with Rocket Bird. Sam Francisco, King of the Disco is just the coolest. Generation Rave takes hold of the steering wheel!

Sean and Michelle both have such wonderfully-written books out in 2023. When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth has more false endings than a country-house maze (and all of them ‘sad and terrible’). And The Thunk might well be the book you delight most in reading out, next year – the verse trips off the tongue and dances in the air.

Leonie Lord‘s Grotti is such a gorgeous, grubby little goblin. Walker have done a beautiful job bringing him to life, just as they have David Gibb and his late father, in Two Wheels, a tender coming-of-age story (for those aged 4).

Sarah Edmonds – illustrator of Funny Bums and the popular Tits and Boobies homewares makes her author-illustrator debut with Sunshine Pie – a warm-hearted celebration of community and baking.

The King’s Hats is a very, very last-minute coronation crash-in. All of those hats doffed to Sheila Bird and Welbeck for flinging it together in such fine style. And Welbeck have a very different book in Karen George‘s Mr Mornington’s Favourite Things, about a forgetful saxophone player taking his last solo. It still makes me choke up, every time I read it out. Never can get to the last line! Karen’s gone and illustrated something else by us, too – see if you can spot it.

But for all that, 2023 will be our year of debuts. We’ve been trying not to take on any more clients for some time now, so I’m not quite sure how this happened, but take a bow Kathryn Simmonds, Catherine Cawthorne, Stephanie Taylor, Marcela Ferreira and Alessandra Requena. Wow. And don’t these titles feel full of promise?

Be My Sunflower
We Went to Find a Woolly Mammoth
I’m Going to be a Princess
The Queen Next Door
The Treasure
The Boy Who Cried Poo

Roll on, 2023!