When talking to The Bookseller about his new adventure, George said “I’m so privileged to be joining the fantastic Scholastic company to produce these books with such talented colleagues.”"It’s very important to represent people with a disability in books and the wider media. I hope This is Me and its successors will prove that our stories need to be told for all the children and families in the world.”
The picture book has been written in collaboration with Claire Taylor, and world rights for 2 were acquired by Scholastic’s Editorial Director Fiz Osborne from Alex Priestly at Alex Priestly talent. World rights for the illustrations were acquired from our Lead Agent Chloe Morgan.
This Is Me will be George’s debut picture book. Described as a “heartfelt and uplifting’, the story follows a little boy called George who tells the reader about himself and the world around him. George was the first CBeebies presenter with Down Syndrome, and in this book he explores his condition, talking about how it is an important part of him but it doesn’t define him.
Our talented Plum Tim Budgen has illustrated a number of titles with Scholastic including Twenty Dinosaurs At Bedtime and Twenty Unicorns at Bedtime, as well The Magic Pet Shop series with Hodder Children's Books and the Lizzie and Lucky series with Puffin Books.
Tim told The Bookseller:
"I am absolutely thrilled to be working alongside George, Claire and the Scholastic team on this fantastic project."
"George and Claire have written a wonderful story that reflects the importance of representation for all and I can’t wait to get started.”