Signed Books for Christmas?

It's December already - where did the year go? It'll be Christmas before we know it!
If you're shopping for a book-lover and think they would like a signed and personally dedicated copy of any of my books (from young readers up to young adult), just email me at katiedaleauthor@hotmail.com

I will send anywhere in the world. (all books cost RRP + postage)

Merry Christmas!

For younger readers:
FAIRY TALE TWSTS! For readers aged 5+ illustrated by the amazing Matt Buckingham. Each rhyming story takes a familiar fairytale character and reveals their version of events - as you've never seen them before!  RRP £4.99 published by Orchard Books

Click here for more information about these books

EARLY READERS - for children learning to read
These books are specially written as part of a reading scheme to help and encourage children learning to read by engaging them with fun-filled satisfying, humorous accessible stories.
For more information on the books, click here; for more information on the reading scheme, click here.

For readers aged 9-12 

MUMNESIA!: Lucy's mum is so out of date she's practically mouldy! She's super-strict, overprotective and won't let Lucy go to the school ball! Lucy can't believe she was EVER a teenager . . . until the morning her mum wakes up with no memory of the last thirty years - and thinks she's a twelve year old time-travelling from the 1980s!  All Lucy wants is for her mum to go back to being her old self - but how?" 

RRP £6.99 published by Macmillan Children's Books

THE NEVER-ENDING BIRTHDAY Twins Max and Anni have had the worst birthday ever. Max has missed a vital goal in the football Cup Final and Anni has fallen out with her best friend. Feeling thoroughly miserable, Max and Anni sneak downstairs at midnight and light the candles on their untouched birthday cake and, as they blow them out, they make a wish . . . to redo the day! When they wake up, their wish has come true! And this time Max and Anni aren't going to mess things up. But little do they realize that they are going to have to relive their birthday again . . . and again . . . and again. 

RRP £6.99 published by Macmillan Children's Books

Young Adult Novels 
SOMEONE ELSE'S LIFE: 

Click here for more information about this book

When seventeen-year-old Rosie’s mother, Trudie, dies from Huntington’s Disease, her pain is intensified by the knowledge that she has a fifty-per-cent chance of inheriting the crippling disease herself.
Only when she tells her mum’s best friend, ‘Aunt Sarah’ that she is going to test for the disease does Sarah, a midwife, reveal that Trudie was not her biological mother after all...
Devastated, Rosie decides to trace her real mother, hitching along on her ex-boyfriend’s GAP year to follow her to LA.
But all does not go to plan, and as Rosie discovers yet more of her family's deeply-buried secrets and lies, she is left with an agonising decision of her own - one which will be the most heart-breaking and far-reaching of all... "
RRP £6.99 published by Simon & Schuster UK; Delacorte Press (US); Doubleday (Canada) 

LITTLE WHITE LIES

Click here for more information about this book

Lou Shepherd takes the opportunity of starting at university to reinvent herself – completely. She dyes her hair and changes her name in an attempt to hide her past – but then she meets a guy who's doing exactly the same thing, for very different reasons. Why does Christian clam up every time Lou asks about his past? Why doesn’t he have any family photos, and why does he dye his blond hair black?
Lou finds herself falling for Christian, so when his house goes up in flames, his tires are slashed, and he flees for his life, she insists on going with him. But as Christian’s secret is finally unveiled in front of the whole world, it seems everything he’s ever told Lou is a lie. Can what the media are saying about him really be true? Should Lou trust him? Or is she in grave danger? And was their chance encounter really an accident at all…?
As lie follows lie, nothing is as it seems, and soon Lou finds herself ensnared in a web of deceit, her loyalties torn, her emotions in tatters as she faces a heart-wrenching dilemma: should she shatter the lives of those she holds dearest, or betray the guy who, against all odds, she's fallen in love with?
RRP £6.99 published by Simon & Schuster UK; Delacorte Press (US); Doubleday (Canada) 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Confession: I'm a bit of a chicken. I don't really like scary things, but I do love lots of things about Halloween - I love carving pumpkins...

I love trick-or-treating and I ESPECIALLY love dressing up!

Actually, one of my favourite things about being a children's author is getting to visit schools in costume - especially on World Book Week when all the kids dress up too! It's such fun seeing everyone in all their different costumes! But even if it isn't World Book Week I often like to dress up as my characters! Whether it's The Wickedest Witch:

Or as Lucy from Mumnesia...

I love a good excuse to dress up - especially when other people dress up too!

Some people's costumes are so good you can't even tell who's underneath! In fact, that gave me an idea for a story...What if one of the people at a Halloween party wasn't wearing a ghost costume...but actually WAS a ghost?! This is exactly what happens in my spooky Halloween story SCARY SCOTT - though actually poor Scott is anything but scary...

He is a lonely ghost who's desperate for a friend...but everybody's scared of him.

Until one day he goes to a costume party. He has a great time, playing with everyone, making friends and having fun - until the moment comes when everybody takes off their costumes....

Will Scott's new friends still like him when they discover he really is a ghost?
Find out more at http://www.maverickearlyreaders.com/books/scary-scott/

I hope you all have fun dressing up, and have a very Happy Halloween!

Un Anniversaire Sans Fin!

Whew! It's been a very exciting few weeks, capped off with some very VERY exciting news!
Hot on the heels of being nominated for the Lancashire Fantastic Book Award, The Never-Ending Birthday is going to be published in French!

Sacre Bleu!

It's always so exciting to see one of my books in another language - especially when they re-design the whole cover! It's like seeing the finished book for the very first time all over again! 

I LOVED the original cover (designed by Lilly Lazuli) with its towering toppling birthday cake, but I equally love the madcap French cover with all its little clues as to what's going to happen in the story! The story follow twins Max and Anni (or Mila and Max in the French version) as they have the worst birthday ever. As they gloomily blow out their birthday candles they simultaneously wish to redo their birthday - and they do! Over and over again! 

I think both covers perfectly capture the chaos and fun of the story - Which do you prefer?

Ooh, I wonder if I'll go to France for any school visits? I love visiting schools, and last year this time I was visiting a school in Uzbekistan! That was an adventure and a half - especially when I nearly missed my flight home (accidentally of course 😉) 

This year I was visiting schools in the UK for World Book week and - apart from getting some funny looks on the train (no idea why!) - I had a wonderful time! 

I love World Book Week - as an author I spend most of my time on my own with just my laptop for company, so it's always a lot of fun to get out and actually meet lots of readers and make up stories together. The children's imagination, inventiveness and enthusiasm never fail to blow me away, and to see their love of reading is truly heartening. Thank you so much to all the children, teachers and librarians who made me feel so welcome! (And if you'd like me to visit your school, check out my school visit info by clicking here!)

Then hot on the heels of World Book Week was the London Book Fair! It's such an exciting place to be - the moment you walk in the door you feel the buzz of thousands of book-lovers and book-creators of all different kinds gathered in one building. They'd even created a lovely fake farm area complete with swings, hay-bale bean-bags, a river, and even a tractor! 

There were fascinating industry talks, very interesting meetings with lovely publishers, and one of the best things was hanging out with my Mum (Elizabeth Dale) and sister (Jenny Jinks) who are both also children's authors! It was so exciting spotting our books on the different stands. Jenny and I even found a Bedtime Treasury we'd written together!

And I was thrilled to spot so many of my books on the Maverick Books spinner! 

 (though I was rather less thrilled to discover I'd dressed to match the carpet! 😆)

To top it all off, we were invited to the wonderful Maverick Books' 10 year anniversary party, where we mingled with even more lovely authors, illustrators, publishers and agents. 

Children's publishing really is such a lovely friendly world that I feel very lucky to be a part of.

Happy reading! x

Pancake Day Quiz Question!

Yum! It's Pancake Day!

What's your favourite topping? Sweet or savoury? I love both, and you can never go wrong with the classic lemon and sugar, but I think my all-time favourite is bananas and cream and toffee sauce!

But in my story BIG PANCAKE TO THE RESCUE the world's biggest pancake doesn't want any topping at all - he wants to be free! He escapes from his baker and runs away, and gets into a LOT of trouble!

He's pretty big! Big enough to sit on and float down the river!

But do you know how heavy the World's Biggest Pancake really was?
a) 1 tonne
b) 2 tonnes
c) 3 tonnes

Have a guess! 😊 (answer at the bottom of the page)



















































































c) 3 tonnes! That's one ENORMOUS pancake!!

National Tell A Fairy Tale Day!

Happy National Tell a Fairy Tale Day!

I couldn't let such a fantastic day pass without...telling a fairy tale!

 (with a twist, of course 😃)
Have you ever wondered if the baddies are REALLY so bad? Maybe they have their own tale to tell - like The Big Bad Werewolf!

If your like fairy tales with a twist you might like these too...

For more information click here

Cheeky Scarlet takes buns and cakes to her Gran’s house, but she always eats them before she gets there! Maybe the Big Bad Wolf will pay her a visit…

Prince Rupert longs to play with the other village children, but his mother, the Queen, wants to find a real princess to be his playmate. She has a clever plan to find a real princess for her son...but Rupert has a plan all of his own.

Thumbelina dreams of being a model on the catwalk. She has big dreams of stardom...but not very much luck at being noticed! When a local fashion show comes to town, is this her big chance? 

International Book Giving Day - GIVEAWAY!

It may be Valentine's Day, but more importantly it's also

#InternationalBookGivingDay! 📚💕

To celebrate I'm doing a special giveaway - with a difference!

To enter, simply contact me at katiedaleauthor@hotmail.co.uk

to say which of my books pictured below

you'd like to give someone, and why!

Happy Book Giving Day!

Cambridge Central Library Mega Author Event - Sat 9th Feb!

If you live in the Cambridge area, do come along and join me and fifteen author local children's authors at this fab fun FREE event on Saturday 9th February!