Battle of the Books
By Melanie Ellsworth
In this competition to be chosen as bedtime story, may the best book win!
In Josh’s bedroom, tension mounts as each of his books battle over who will be chosen for story time. It’s every book for itself-until Pirate Book needs rescuing, and the books must use their unique talents to save him. But when story time arrives, the battle resumes.
This energetic picture book celebrates the magic of stories and the joy of choosing your favorite books.
Battle of the Books was my second book with The Bright Agency, back when I was represented by James Burns. James found me a wonderful team and an amazing story from a kind author, Melanie Ellsworth, and the whole team was fantastic to work with from start to finish.
The title lettering was a true collaboration. The design team and I bounced ideas back and forth through a couple of rounds, and what they came back with blew me away. It’s the moment I realized how beautiful a title can be, and it’s a big part of why I fell in love with typography.
I designed the whole book: every character and the world they live in, including Pop-Up Book’s staircase, which Kirkus called “spectacularly designed.” And of course, I hid a few of my own favorite books on the bookshelf for sharp-eyed readers to find.
Battle of the Books was published by Little Bee Books on August 23, 2022, followed by editions in the UK and Korea. When the Korean edition arrived in the mail, I was floored. Seeing my work in a completely different language felt like a dream, and I was so proud that one of my very first books made that jump.
