Chef Jamie Oliver and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner have become the latest celebrities to announce new children’s books, with experts saying there is no sign the celebrity-authored children’s book trend will slow down.
Oliver’s book is titled Billy and the Giant Adventure and is based on a story he used to tell his children. It follows the title character and his friends, who decide to explore the out of bounds Waterfall Woods. Billy and the Giant Adventure will be published in April by Penguin Random House UK, which also publishes Oliver’s cookbooks, with a sequel already scheduled for spring 2024.
Oliver said that “growing up with dyslexia meant reading and writing didn’t come easily”, but required him to “look at things differently, which has meant an overactive imagination – brilliant for being creative and coming up with great stories for the kids at bedtime”.
Halliwell-Horner, who shot to fame alongside her fellow girl band members as Ginger Spice in 1996, has signed a two-book deal with Scholastic UK. Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen, due in autumn 2023, is described as an adventure story about an orphaned girl who is sent to the mysterious Bloodstone Island – home not only to a school for extraordinary teens, but also a sanctuary for endangered species. The book follows the former pop star’s previous children’s book series, about the adventures of nine-year-old Ugenia Lavender.
Oliver and Halliwell-Horner are among a string of well-known figures who have written children’s books, including David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Lenny Henry, Tom Fletcher, Marcus Rashford and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Literary agent Alice Sutherland-Hawes, who represents Rashford’s co-writer Alex Falase-Koya, said the celebrity-authored children’s book trend would continue as it’s “generally seen as an easy sell because of big social media followings and nostalgia”.
According to the Bookseller’s chart, Spaceboy by David Walliams and Adam Stower is the No 1 bestselling book in the UK this week, for the second week running.
Publishers have previously argued that money made from celebrity-authored books can then be used to acquire and publicise books by non-celebrity writers. But there has been scepticism about this claim, with author Piers Torday telling the Guardian: “If publishers are profitable, then, of course, they can perhaps take more risks on new authors and developing careers, but I don’t know if the role celebrity acquisitions play in this is significant.”
Sutherland-Hawes said there was also a question about time and opportunity: “The time the team put into [celebrity-authored books] takes away from non-celeb books. You can’t get away from the time suck, unless you hire someone to solely do those projects and the same goes for the marketing/publicity. It is very frustrating seeing celebrities rolled on to TV shows to talk about their books while actual children’s writers aren’t given those slots.”
But caution is needed, Sutherland-Hawes added. “I think there is a place for celebrity publishing but only if it’s done carefully and with someone who actively engages with the community,” she said. “I think we are reaching saturation and publishers should have a good think about what some of these books are adding (if anything) to shelves.”
Torday said that for “stars of a certain profile, a children’s book can expand and extend their reach in the same way a beauty range or product endorsement can, and while publishers remain ready to shell out for such deals, there will be more and more”.
