“Raw emotion, courage, determination and resilience,” said Sue Wiltshire in her review of what to expect in Stephen Lightbown’s “remarkable and fantastic” debut poetry collection for children. And I Climbed And I Climbed charts the experiences of Cosmo, a young boy whose life is forever changed when he falls out of the tree he loves to climb. Now, Cosmo is disabled and uses a wheelchair. And now, Cosmo wants to have a conversation with the tree – which he does, through the poems in the book. Stephen Lightbown draws on his own personal experiences as a wheelchair user, while creating a ..read more

Troika is delighted to be participating once again in Empathy Lab’s ‘Read for Empathy’ campaign this year! Shauna Darling Robertson’s poetry collection, You Are Not Alone, has been selected for the Read for Empathy Book Collection 2024. The annual Read for Empathy Collection features 65 books for 3-16 year olds, chosen by a panel of judges for their empathy-building power. The books will be used by parents, carers, teachers and librarians nationwide to help boost young peoples’ empathy skills year-round and particularly in the run-up to Empathy Day. Empathy Day is on Thursday 6th June this ye ..read more

Launching now this September, And I Climbed, And I Climbed is an outstanding debut children’s collection by Bristol-based poet Stephen Lightbown. The book is written in the voice of Cosmo, a young boy whose life has been changed forever after falling out of the tree he loved to climb. It’s been an absolute privilege to work with Stephen on this book, which is wonderfully illustrated by Shih-Yu Lin. Here, Stephen shares some thoughts about how and why he came to create the character of Cosmo, and his hopes for the book going forward.   STOP PRESS: Join us for a very special launch event o ..read more

  We’re incredibly excited to be publishing Rachel Delahaye’s new teen novel Electric Life. Like Rachel’s 2022 novel Day of the Whale, it’s an absolute page-turner that will have you binge-reading at a pace, while at the same time making you really stop and think. Check out the trailer and you’ll see what we mean!    As publication day gets closer – 6th July is the launch date for your diary – we sat down for a chat with Rachel in her hometown of Bath, where she took us behind the scenes into the ‘making of’ the book, revealing where her ideas came from and how she feels about t ..read more

New out this month, The Moon’s Gorgonzola is Debra Bertulis’ second book of poems for children. It’s a vibrant and bouncy collection aimed at younger readers from 5-6 years, or around Key Stage 1. Helping to bring Debra’s poems to life are a series of playful illustrations by Zoe Williams. While putting the finishing touches to the book, we caught up with Debra for a quick chat and a peek behind the scenes into ‘the making of’….   Can you sum up The Moon’s Gorgonzola in one sentence? Oof, that’s a tough starter question! Okay, here goes: The Moon’s Gorgonzola is a cheese platter of hila ..read more

  We’re delighted to announce that Coral Rumble’s Things That Should Be in A Poem, a poetry collection aimed at younger readers aged from 5 years, has won one of four Spark! School Book Awards 2022/23. Coral says, “I’m thrilled - from the top of my head to my tiniest toe! I love this award because it listens to children." Indeed, the Award’s winners were chosen by children, who are arguably the most discerning of all readers! Complementing Coral’s fantastic poems in the book are Shih-Yu Lin’s wonderfully playful and imaginative illustrations. Our heartiest congratulations to Coral and to ..read more

  We’re absolutely thrilled that two brilliant poetry books by Coral Rumble, both published by Troika, have been shortlisted in two national children’s book awards. Things That Should Be in A Poem, a poetry collection aimed at younger readers aged from 5 years, has been shortlisted in the Spark! School Book Awards 2022/23. The shortlist was chosen by a panel of teachers, booksellers and librarians, while the final award-winners will be decided by children. The winners will be announced at an award ceremony in June. In Little Light, Coral’s verse novel for readers aged around 10+, Ava is ..read more

It’s Children’s Mental Health Week (6-12 February 2023), an annual event organised by the national charity Place2Be. This year’s theme is Let’s Connect, which is something we’ve been thinking about a lot here at Troika since this is also the week we launch a brand new poetry collection on that very topic! You Are Not Alone by Shauna Darling Robertson is aimed at teen and young adult readers and it’s all about young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. Fans of Shauna’s first children’s collection, Saturdays at the Imaginarium (written with ages 7+ in mind) will recognise her highly ..read more

The thriller The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan was published in October, and we’re delighted to have Savita here ‘on the blog’ to talk about the book. “The Long Weekend is about two boys, Sam and Lloyd, who get into the wrong car after school and don’t realise their mistake until it’s too late. They are taken to a mansion in the middle of nowhere by a man who means to harm them. Do they get out alive? The answer to that question has had many readers reading late into the night. “The book was inspired by a flyer that was sent to parents from local schools warning that a large flash silver car ..read more

Published this month is Sue Klauber’s exciting middle-grade novel, Zinc. This is Sue’s first book for children and it’s set in the Second World War. “It’s very much a family story, in every way,” says Sue. How so? Well, the story is based on the extraordinary experiences of the author’s father, uncle and aunt, each of whom played key roles in the war. What’s more, Sue’s decision to write the story was motivated by a desire to share it with her son, to show him the active and heroic participation of their North London Jewish family in the wartime struggle against tyranny. “Zinc is an adventure ..read more