New Russell Hoban children's book due out in October

This just in from Dave Awl at the Head of Orpheus:

Earlier this week, I got an email from Maria Tunney — assistant editor at Walker Books, who has been working for the past couple of years on Russ's forthcoming illustrated book Soonchild along with David Lloyd and previous editor Lucy Ingrams.

Maria wanted to pass along the terrific news that following Soonchild (which is due out in March), Walker Books will be publishing a brand-new picture book by Russ this October, entitled Rosie's Magic Horse, and illustrated by Quentin Blake. In her words:

"It's Russell to the core: discarded lollipop sticks, wishing for a better life, dream themselves into a horse named Stickerino!"

At the moment there's a skeletal listing up on Amazon UK with no release date, but a longer description:

This story begins with an ice-lolly stick. Its sweetness gone, it lies discarded and lonely ... until a little girl called Rosie comes along. She places it carefully in her cigar box, full of other sticks. "Without our ice-lollies we are nothing," says an old stick. But new stick wants to BE something and into the minds of all the old sticks, he plants dreams ... maybe they can be something, too. What about Rosie and her dreams that night? She dreams of helping her parents pay the bills. And so, at the stroke of midnight, magic and dreams collide and a HORSE gallops out of the cigar box! His name is Stickerino. "Where to?" he asks Rosie. "Anywhere with treasure!" she answers and hops on its back. Then begins an adventure like no other ... ice-lolly mountains by the sea, caskets of gold, and pirates foiled by a stickling ice-cream van...

UPDATE 16 August 2012: The Amazon listing now features a wonderful image of the book cover (above).

Dave's latest news update also contains three stunning pieces of artwork from Soonchild by Alexis Deacon, which he has been given permission to share ahead of the book's publication in March.

UPDATE 29 September 2012: There is now an entry for this title on this site at www.russellhoban.org/title/rosies-magic-horse

Further information

Amazon listing for Rosie's Magic Horse

Dave Awl's original news item (with Soonchild artwork)