It’s been an incredible year here at Swapna Haddow HQ – I had a whopper ELEVEN books published this year, with everything from fiction to non-fiction to picturebooks to my first in a brand new graphic novel series. Thank you so much for all the love and support of my books this year. I am so grateful. I’ve been working …
Granny made the School Reading List’s Children’s Books of the Year 2025 shortlist!
How to Save your Granny from a Runaway Train has been shortlisted for the School Reading List’s Children’s Books of the Year 2025! I’m absolutely chuffed to bits for Team Granny who all worked so hard on this book. There are heaps of incredible books on the list so get voting for your favourites, and if you’ve enjoyed How to …
Salon Reading Series with NZSA
It was so fantastic to share a platform with Gillian Torckler, Kath Beattie and Sam Montgomerie and talk to members of the New Zealand Society of Authors Otago Southland about our journeys into writing for children. There was a wealth of experience ranging from educational books to fiction to non fiction to poetry and more and it was great to …
Why Not? and The Terrible Trio Story Workshops
Today, I visited Halfway Bush School to meet all the pupils from Year 1 to Year 6. First up were Year 1 and 2 and I got to share Why Not? with the pupils and surprise them with all the interesting library facts I had been collecting whilst researching the book. After a delicious morning tea of cheese and choccie …
Happy Diwali!
Happy Diwali to all of you! I hope your year is full of light, love and stories. It’s made my day to hear about so many of you sharing The Night Before Diwali with your loved ones and in your classrooms. Keep up the awesome reading! And those of you doing the activities from All About Diwali do share your …
BookTrust: Great Books Guide 2025 to 2026
I’m so pleased that BookTrust has selected Reggie Rabbit: The Great Carrot Heist to be part of their Great Books Guide 2025-2026. The selection of 100 books is a fabulous guide to help stock your libraries or even your Christmas stockings. Explore the full collection here.
The Serious Business of Funny Books
Scholastic invited me to share my thoughts on funny books. You can have a read of the post here.
Diwali fun with Scholastic Book Club Live
Thank you to everyone who joined Darshika, Rosie and I for a Diwali storytime today. I had such a blast reading The Night Before Diwali with you all and I can’t wait to see your Diwali-inspired pictures from Darshika’s drawalong. Do send them to Swapna Haddow HQ so I can add them to my awesome online gallery. Happy reading and …
Double publication day!
We’re having all the celebrations today at Swapna Haddow HQ because it is double publication day with Scholastic UK! First up, The Night Before Diwali is out today and just in time for Diwali next month: Join a little boy and his grandmother as they plan for the BEST DIWALI EVER! There are diyas to light, laddoos to roll and …
Little Myths: Rama and Sita
I was invited to write the Rama and Sita story for Hachette’s ‘Little Myths’ series and today it is officially out in the world! Gorgeously illustrated by Darshika Varma, this is a must-have if you are collecting the ‘Little Myths’ series. Most people know Rama and Sita as the good guys and VIP guests at Diwali. But once upon a time, Rama …