Illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini
Published by Walker Books
21 November 2024
Hardback | £14.99 | 9781529504286 | Age 5+
From Maggie O’Farrell, the multi-award-winning author of Hamnet, and the stunning imagination of Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini, comes a hopeful and powerful new book, based on Maggie’s own experience of living with a stammer.
Maggie O’Farrell returns with her third book for children, beautifully visualised by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini, with a story that celebrates differences and explores the resilience of children as they learn to navigate new and seemingly frightful challenges.
Based on Maggie’s own personal experience living with a stammer, When the Stammer Came to Stay is a moving and empowering reminder of how acceptance – from your family, community and importantly, yourself – can make all the difference.
Sisters Bea and Min couldn’t be any more different – Bea is neat and tidy; Min is messy and mucky. Together, they are a perfect pair because Min loves to chat and Bea loves to listen. And in their happy differences, they share the attic room at the top of their very tall, narrow house. Then, one day, as Min is chatting, her tongue feels suddenly locked. The words forming in her mouth never make it out. Some days later, still struggling to speak, she sees the most extraordinary thing at her shoulder in a mirror … a creature, a thing, seizing the words as they rise to her lips, and cramming them into its mouth.
Min continues to struggle with her stammer – how can she truly be herself, when she cannot do what she loves most: chat! Bea is the only one who truly sees, and understands, her. Together, they go on a journey of discovery – what IS this creature? – and they find not quite a solution, but a way to make peace with themselves and to love and embrace what makes each of them different.
Praise for Maggie O’Farrell’s second children’s book The Boy Who Lost His Spark, illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini:
“an autumnal balm for anyone in need of a little magic in their lives.”
The Times, ‘Children’s book of the week’
“Expert storytelling conjures up an unhappy boy whose little sister believes in naughty magical creatures. It suggests that a bit of wild behaviour can be cheering.”
The Sunday Times, ‘Watch Out For’ children’s fiction
“Traditional in its style, this beautiful book will tug at the heart of any reader regardless of age. […] No one would be unhappy after seeing the stunning illustrations that accompany this extraordinary story.”
The Sunday Times, ‘The 60 children’s books you should buy this Christmas as chosen by the booksellers of Ireland’
“a tender story […] Jaglenka Terrazzini’s illustrations sit at the book’s intersection of mythical intrigue and emotional turmoil.”
Financial Times, ‘The next chapter in children’s picture books’
“A gentle, empowering tale with entrancing illustrations.”
Daily Mail
For all publicity enquiries, please contact Midas:
Jane Lau, Jane.Lau@midaspr.co.uk
Georgina Moore, Georgina.moore@midaspr.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
Maggie O’Farrell, FRSOL, is a multi-award-winning author. Her books for adults include Hamnet, winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020 and Waterstones Book of the Year, and the memoir I Am I Am I Am, both Sunday Times no. 1 bestsellers. Her other novels include After You’d Gone, My Lover’s Lover, The Distance Between Us, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, The Hand That First Held Mine, which won the 2010 Costa Novel Award, Instructions for a Heatwave, This Must Be The Place, and The Marriage Portrait. She is also the author of two books for children, Where Snow Angels Go and The Boy Who Lost His Spark, which won the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Honour Award for Fiction. She lives in Edinburgh.
Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini studied Fine Art in Milan and moved to London to study Photography at the London College of Printing. She is now an illustrator of both detailed paintings and graphic surface patterns. She has illustrated Where Snow Angels Go and The Boy Who Lost His Spark by Maggie O’Farrell, The Night I Met Father Christmas by Ben Miller and The Seeing Stitch by Jane Yolan. Daniela lives in southeast London. Follow her on Twitter as @DJTerrazzini and Instagram as @danielajterrazzini.
About Walker Books
Home to books for all ages, Walker Books publishes many award-winning authors, illustrators, and literary franchises including Anthony Horowitz, Angie Thomas, Cassandra Clare, Lucy Cousins, Anthony Browne, Patrick Ness, Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, and Where’s Wally? by Martin Handford. Walker Books is part of the vibrant international Walker Books Group that includes Walker Books Australia; Candlewick Press in America and its new division, Walker Books US; and Walker Productions.
