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It's out!  Here is the wonderful new cover for How (Not) to Make Bad Children Good.

Ever since Martha bit Father Christmas when she was only six months old, she has been the despair of everyone that knows her.  Then Guardian Agent Fred arrives on the scene.  Surely with his Interstellar Powers he can sort out one troublesome child.  Or can he? More...

Here is the fantastic new cover for the new edition of Jessica Haggerthwaite: Witch Dispatcher. By covers are by Emma Chichester Clark, creator of Blue Kangaroo and many other well-loved and classic children's books.  She has also done the illustrations for How (Not) To Make Bad Children Good.

Some of the reviews for Jessica Haggerthwaite:

"A thoughtful and entertaining story about human gullibility and pigheadedness, the fact that magic and science each contain a little of the other, and the way two people can be right and wrong at the same time" Guardian

"Emma Barnes tells a lively, spellbinding story"  Daily Mail

"Witty, fast-moving story"  Financial Times

Media Star

Since the release of my new books I have been pursued night and day by the paparazzi.  Well, err, not really.  But here is a video interview from the recent Wigtown Festival, and here is a radio interview about the release of How (not) and whether parents get too anxious about their naughty children.

Out and About

Lately I have been having lots of fun meeting readers and telling them all about the new books.  Highlights have been Wigtown Festival, Saltaire and lots of school visits...(read more)

And if you want to know more about my first Waterstone's book signing, read this piece It's A Child Eat Dog Food World.  (By the way, we sold out of books!  Hooray!)

Upcoming Events

With my new book How (Not) To Make Bad Children Good out now, I will be doing several events in the Autumn.  Definite dates include:

I am planning school visits now, so please get in touch if you would like to organise an event. 

Emma Online

Check out the ABBA Online Literary Festival, where I am chatting with one of my child readers  - and advisers - about my new book How (Not) To Make Bad Children Good.

I have recently done this blog post for ABBA and Vulpes Libris on the pit-falls of writing stories about naughty children!  Let me know your thoughts.

Other blog posts have included:

• a piece about bad boy Just William
• Disabled Characters in Children's Fiction
• Siblings and Sorcerors - a tribute I co-wrote with my sister to the fantastic children's writer Diana Wynne Jones
• And Down With Spelling - for anybody who, like me, still struggles to remember whether occassionally (?) has one s or two...

Foundling Project

I am delighted to be involved with an exciting project at the Foundling Museum, led by Cbeebies presenter and Foundling Fellow Cerrie Burnell.  It involves writing with and about children with disabilities, and I hope to post some of the writing here in the future.  Read more...

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