When Can I Go Back to School? Self-published lockdown story lands major publisher

‘Gentle, honest’ book, written by Anna Friend in response to her seven-year-old son’s worries, wins five-figure deal with Scholastic

A self-published children’s picture book that was written to help the author’s son deal with being kept home from school during lockdown has been snapped up by a major publisher for a five-figure sum.

Like many parents, theatre director Anna Friend found her son Billy, then seven, was struggling during the first lockdown, with his behaviour deteriorating rapidly. She and her husband had pulled Billy out of school just before the first lockdown in March 2020, because he had a cough. Then schools shut and he couldn’t return.

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