Books / Children's Books
Award-winning author signs multi-book deal with HarperCollins Children’s Books
A Bristol-based author and animator will soon have to his credit four additional books, as part of a deal with HarperCollins Children’s Books.
In 2024, Mikey Please published his first picture book The Cafe at the Edge of Woods, which went on to bag the Waterstones’ Children’s Book of the Year prize and became a stepping stone for Please’s success in the world of books.
While a sequel, The Cave Downwind of the Cafe, is set to release in September, a new deal between Please and HarperCollins Children’s Books means there are several other books in the works.
is needed now More than ever
Please is currently busy illustrating pages of the third picture book which releases in September 2026 – photo: Mikey Please
In the first book, characters Rene and Glumfoot put in their all to keep their cafe at the edge of the woods running, despite outrageous requests from an ogre. Both Rene and Glumfoot, characters inspired by Please’s wife and son, will reappear in the book’s sequel, playing prominent parts in the story.
The new deal includes two new picture books and two debut middle-grade novels, all featuring illustrations in the author’s signature style.
Please is currently working on the first of the picture books, which will be released in September 2026, followed by the novels in 2027.
Speaking about his future as an author, the BAFTA-award-winning animator said: “The response to The Café at The Edge of the Woods has shattered all my expectations. To see these characters embraced so wholeheartedly has softened even these iron-clad eyes to the point of tears on more than one occasion.
In the Cafe at the Edge of the Woods, Glumfoot saves the day and the cafe by tricking the hungry ogre – photo: Mikey Please
“There’s something in Rene and Glumfoot’s dynamic — the spark of their contrasts, the warmth of their camaraderie – that makes them a great joy to write. I’m once again extremely grateful to the incomparable Alice and the stellar team at HCCB.
“With these new stories, I hope Rene and Glumfoot can continue to grow alongside their readers, as we venture together deeper into the dark, wild and wondrous Woods.”
Picture books publishing director at HarperCollins Children’s Books, Alice Blacker, called Please the “most extraordinary talent”, adding that he was one of the “most brilliant things to happen to the book world for a long time”.
She continued: “His rhyme, his artwork with its incredible detail, and his remarkable storytelling come together to create something so original and so unique.
“We’re thrilled to be building on the success of Rene and Glumfoot with more picture books – and to be expanding the world of these characters into middle grade fiction.”
A special launch event for Please’s second book will be held on September 9 at the Waterstones within the Galleries. Tickets for the launch can be purchased here: http://waterstones.com/events/mikey-please-presents-the-cave-downwind-of-the-cafe/bristol-galleries
Read more about Mikey Please’s journey as an author and his upcoming book in the September-October Bristol24/7 magazine
Main photo: Karni Aierli
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
