One of the UK’s top children’s authors called into Waterstones bookshop in Southport to sign copies of his new book, The Wonder Brothers.
Frank-Cottrell-Boyce was delighted to spend time in the shop on Chapel Street as he met fans and chatted about his amazing work over the years.
The author is famous for scripting the spectacular opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics.
He is also well-known for writing sequels to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car, a children’s classic by Ian Fleming.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce has won two major British awards for children’s books, the 2004 Carnegie Medal for Millions, which originated as a film script, and the 2012 Guardian Prize for The Unforgotten Coat.
At Waterstones bookshop in Southport, the first customer in the queue to meet the author was Jackie Cairns, a school librarian from Bolton.
She said: “I am a big fan of Frank Cottrell-Boyce and the books he’s written.
“It always makes your day when you get the chance to meet a great author like him.
“It’s a great opportunity for people, adults and children, to come in and chat to him about his books and ask him about his inspiration for them.
“For children especially it is fantastic for them to be able to meet one of the UK’s best authors and to see him drop into one of their local bookshops.”
Frank-Cottrell-Boyce called into Waterstones bookshop in Southport to sign copies of his new book, The Wonder Brothers. Photo by Andrew Brown Frank with Jackie Cairns. Stand Up For Southport
Dad-of-seven Frank, who was born in Bootle, has used Blackpool as the inspiration behind The Wonder Brothers.
The book, published by Pan Macmillan, tells the story of two diminutive magicians who set out to retrieve the vanished Blackpool Tower.
They wind up in Las Vegas with a world-famous illusionist in this hilarious and heartwarming story.
‘Maybe you don’t believe me. Maybe you don’t believe in magic. I bet you will by the time you’ve heard what happened to us.’
Cousins Middy and Nathan love magic. The on-stage, cape-swirling, bunny-out-of-a-hat kind.
For Middy, it’s all about patience and practice. She uses magic skills to help her out of tricky situations.
Nathan is a show-off and a total danger magnet, he is drawn to the sensation, spectacle and audience.
So when the famous Blackpool Tower dramatically vanishes the night of the Grand Lights Switch-On, showman Nathan announces live on TV that they will magic it back home.
With a stick of rock, a spangly cape, and a bit of misdirection, they end up lost in Las Vegas, home to the grand master of illusion, Perplexion, ‘Legend of Magic’.
Frank-Cottrell-Boyce called into Waterstones bookshop in Southport to sign copies of his new book, The Wonder Brothers. Frank with Steve Pritchard. Photo by Andrew Brown Stand Up For Southport
Full of tricks, twists and deceptions, the delightful Nathan and Middy will keep you guessing until the very end.
As a successful screenwriter as well as novelist, there has always been lively interplay between the page and the screen in the work of Frank Cottrell-Boyce.
Cutting his teeth on staff writing jobs on Coronation Street and Brookside, he moved into writing for film with a productive working relationship with the director Michael Winterbottom.
His debut children’s novel, Millions, was adapted from his screenplay of the same name for the Danny Boyle-directed movie and scooped the 2004 Carnegie Medal.
In 2012 he won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize for The Unforgotten Coat, a critically acclaimed novel about two Mongolian refugee children trying to fit in at their Liverpool school. Frank Cottrell-Boyce was also commissioned by Ian Fleming’s estate to write a series of sequels to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the first of which came out in 2011.
He is an advocate for reading aloud and patron of The Reader Organisation, a charity that works through volunteers to bring literature to everyone, through reading aloud in prisons, care homes and other community spaces.
- Waterstones is at 59 Chapel Street, Southport town centre, PR8 1AL. Phone: 01704501088.
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