NOT the ideas of the friends - Narwhal, Mermaid and Jellyfish - who curiously arrive to find out about this fabulous story and beg to have starring roles… no, not THOSE ideas. Just GO AWAY, everyone! Just start writing or drawing, get something down on paper, no matter how boring or silly it is at first. A blank piece of paper can be scary - fill it up so it’s no longer blank, and then you may be surprised where your thoughts take you as you write and draw; you may do something better than you expected, or there may be a nugget of goodness in there that you can take out and refine later. And the more you write and draw, the better you’ll get at it; it’s all about practice. In the book, I show Unicorn’s friends helping him, and that might be helpful for you; often I create much better stories when I work with friends and we can bat ideas around together. Other times I just need space and quiet to get on with things, but some of the best thing I’ve written have been in awkward situations, like on a plane with only a phone and no notebook to hand, or in a noisy cafe. Don’t faff around too much with creating a perfect setup, just do it. That’s my best advice.

Grumpycorn: McIntyre, Sarah, McIntyre, Sarah: 9781338617993

Kate Winslet, Anthony Joshua, Richard E. Grant and Justin Fletcher read CBeebies Bedtime Stories at Christmas Grumpycorn" is about a grumpy unicorn who wants to write the most fabulous story in the whole world but can't seem to find any inspiration to start writing. His beloved friends, Narwhal, Mermaid, and Jellyfish, to try to help inspire him but still nothing seems to work. After Unicorn quits, his friends find inspiration themselves. The stories ends with all of the silly friends writing the most fabulous story in the world all together. I was travelling to Seldovia, a small fishing town with houses on stilts, and it seemed a perfect place to set up an imaginary writer and artist retreat cottage. While I was there, I got to know children’s book artist Valisa Higman and see the amazing floating cottage her dad built, and where she works. She gets to row to work every morning! And she has sea otters popping by for visits. It’s pure magic. So I dedicated the story to Valisa and the people of Seldovia, who were incredibly welcoming and let me take part in their summer arts festival.

Illustrator and writer Sarah McIntyre is easy to spot in her pointy glasses and hats. Her books include the comic Vern and Lettuce, four books with Philip Reeve, including Pugs of the Frozen North and Jinks & O'Hare Funfair Repair, and her picture books include There's a Shark in the Bath and Dinosaur Police. She loves creating books and comics with friends and getting inspired by batting around ideas and drawings with them.

Grumpycorn | BookTrust

Unicorn wants to write the best book ever. He gets out his favorite pen, but has no idea what to write. That doesn't stop him from telling everybody that he's going to write the best book ever. His animal friends are impressed and ask if they can be in it, but unicorn snobbishly refuses. But he can't come up with anything better. Mrs Bibi and her pet elephant love going for walks, playing with the local children, having afternoon tea and reading stories - but the money-obsessed townspeople don’t like this at all and want Mrs Bibi's elephant to be put in a zoo. A stunning, colourful work about the importance of happiness, animals, and friendship. I thought this book was not that great. It felt very flat and not very climactic. As someone who loves picture books, very much, and always gives them a 4-5 star rating, I am disappointed that this book didn't reach the level of expectation I had.

Unicorn sets out to write the best story in the world. Problem - he doesn't have an idea. He is rude to friends and chases them off. He gives up but they save the day by writing the story together. Unicorn realizes what happened and apologizes. I was so happy when I learned that Sarah McIntyre would be having a brand-new picture book, this time about a unicorn, no, a grumpycorn! Sporting superstar Anthony Joshua is also appearing on the much-loved children’s show in the run up to Christmas.

Grumpycorn by Sarah McIntyre | Waterstones

Hear from the creators of our superbly silly titles in the Picture Books Shortlist for the Laugh Out Loud Awards 2023!The art was just amazingly fun, but then again, I had high hopes given that this is Sarah McIntyre and she makes some amazing gorgeous illustrations. I spend quite some time finding all the little details in the illustrations and soak up all the gorgeous colours.

Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve - Nottingham

We spoke to Sue H. Cunningham, the author behind Totally Deceased – the brand-new, hilarious, high-stakes YA murder mystery!

What will it take for Unicorn to write the most fabulous story in the world? Will he simply have a diva meltdown and alienate all his friends? The ending? I loved that despite every grumble and complaint his friends tried to help out the grumpycorn. That they still tried to make him happy. I had tears in my eyes. And then our unicorn made its appearance and I was even happier with the events. Unicorn is confident that he is about to write the most fabulous story in the world. He settles down in his special writing house with his fluffy pen, fancy notebook and a cup of moonberry tea, waiting for inspiration to strike. Alas, he has no idea where to start. Unicorn is all ready to write the best story in the world. After all, he has his most special fluffy pen and a cup of his special moonberry tea. But...unicorn doesn't have any inspiration. His friends try to help, but unicorn just gets more and more grumpy. Unicorn's trying to write the "most fabulous story in the world," but he hasn't written a word. Too bad his friends keep bothering him with ideas for things to write about. Why can't they just leave him alone so he can NOT write?