Puffin Acquires Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being A Witch

Friday, 2nd June , 2023

Puffin acquires Tiffany Achings Guide To Being A Witch marking the 20th Anniversary of Terry Patchetts first Tiffany Aching novel The Wee Free Men.

Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch

Puffin is thrilled to announce the acquisition of Tiffany Achings Guide To Being A Witch by Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent. Puffin Publisher Jane Griffiths acquired World rights from Jon Wood at RCW, on behalf of the Pratchett Estate.

Tiffany Achings Guide To Being A Witch celebrates the 20th anniversary of the first in the Tiffany Aching series The Wee Free Men. This ultimate guide marks the first time Rhianna Pratchett has taken on the mantle of continuing her fathers body of work for children.

Set in Terry Pratchetts Discworld universe, Tiffany Achings Guide To Being A Witch is a must-have for any Pratchett fan with illustrations from Terrys artist of choice Paul Kidby.

To celebrate further, Puffin will also be re-issuing the Tiffany Aching series with new cover artwork from illustrator Leo Nickolls. Fan-favourite Indira Varma will be returning to narrate the audiobooks.

“They say you don’t find witchcraft, it finds you . . .”

An illustrated and practical guide to being a witch in Discworld, covering everything you’ve ever wanted to know from casting spells to setting cheese, from dealing with elves to making deals with demons, from tending flocks to fending off forces from other worlds. This beautiful and practical guide has been compiled by Tiffany Aching herself including snippets of remembered wisdom from Granny Aching and Granny Weatherwax alongside notes from Nanny Ogg, Miss Tick, and Rob Anybody.

With colourful illustrations from Paul Kidby throughout this brilliant in-world guide is the perfect addition to any Discworld collection.

Rhianna Pratchett says: When most fathers shuffle away to the great shed in the beyond, their kids inherit things like their LP collection, a carefully curated selection of humorous postcards or a dicky bladder. I inherited a world. Knowing what I could (and should) do with that world has been a constant internal debate. Growing up with a shepherdess grandmother, bottle-feeding lambs and being dressed in woolly jumpers so thick they could stand up by themselves made the Tiffany Aching series a natural starting place. I’ve always been particularly drawn to the witches books where some of Dad’s best loved and most colourful characters reside alongside shades of my own family members. Channelling the wit and wisdom of Discworld’s witches with Gabrielle has been a wonderful, life-affirming and occasionally tear-filled adventure. And definitely much better than the dicky bladder.

Gabrielle Kent says: I feel a part of me has lived on the Disc ever since a school-friend lent me my first Terry Pratchett book back in 1988. And when I discovered Granny Weatherwax and Esk in Equal Rites I knew that, in the witches, I had found my people. Back then I could never have dreamed that the girl who influenced Esk would become a huge part of my life and we would eventually go on to write a Discworld book together. The Disc and its inhabitants mean so much to so very many people and, in this guide, Rhianna and I hope to have captured the essence and voices of the characters we have all grown to love as we explore what it means to be a witch in their world.

Jane Griffiths, Puffin Publisher says: Puffin is incredibly proud to be the home of Terry Pratchett’s incredible children’s books and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have such an exciting new piece of Discworld publishing for the 20th anniversary year of Tiffany Aching. Tiffany Aching’s Guide To Being A Witch, is going to be a must-have for Terry Pratchett fans everywhere as Rhianna and Gabrielle take readers to the heart of Discworld and uncover the secrets of what it really takes to be a witch in this incredible world, all brought to life by full-colour illustrations from the amazingly talented Paul Kidby.

Puffin will publish TIFFANY ACHINGS GUIDE TO BEING A WITCH in October 2023 in hardback.

For publicity enquiries, please contact: Charlotte Winstone, cwinstone@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk

For Rights enquiries, please contact: Clare Braganza, cbraganza@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

RHIANNA PRATCHETT grew up on the chalk of Wiltshire. She worked as a journalist before moving into the video games industry, becoming an award-winning writer on titles such as Heavenly Sword, Mirror’s Edge, and Overlord, as well as the Tomb Raider reboot and its sequel. As well as having written for DC, Dark Horse and Marvel, she combined her love of novels and gaming by authoring the Fighting Fantasy novel Crystal of Storms. She also works as a screenwriter and producer for TV and film. Rhianna lives in London with her partner and ever-growing herd of cats.

GABRIELLE KENT worked as a graphic artist on videogames before becoming a senior lecturer in games development. Now a full-time author, her work includes Alfie Bloom – a series about a boy who inherits a castle and a whole load of magical problems, Knights and Bikes – a series based on the videogame of the same name, and Rani Reports, featuring a girl who wants to be an investigative journalist and her adventures with her rambunctious Mauritian nani. Gabrielle lives in the North East of England with her husband and daughter.

SIR TERRY PRATCHETT (yes, he’s a real-life knight!) is one of the world’s funniest and most popular writers. He has written over fifty brilliant books for children and adults and is perhaps best known for his Discworld® series – all about a world that happens to be carried on the back of a giant turtle floating through space. He is the winner of multipleprizes, including the Carnegie Medal for his young adult book The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. His books have been translated into thirty-eight languages and have sold more than eighty million copies worldwide (but who’s counting?). He died in March 2015.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATORS

PAUL KIDBY is best known for being the ‘artist of choice’ for Sir Terry Pratchett. Paul started working with Terry in 1993 and has designed the ‘Discworld’ book jackets since 2002 following the death of artist Josh Kirby.  He has illustrated many Discworld publications including The Art of Discworld, best-selling The Last Hero and the Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Imaginarium. In 2019 he illustrated Good Omens written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

ABOUT PUFFIN

PUFFIN is the biggest children’s publisher globally, and is a loud, proud voice for the power of stories to spark imaginations.

Since publishing a series of non-fiction in 1940, Puffin has grown to become one of the world’s most iconic children’s entertainment brands. Publishing stories for children from 0-12, Puffin is home to famous authors, illustrators and children’s brands, including Roald Dahl, Jacqueline Wilson, Malorie Blackman, Nathan Bryon & Dapo Adeola, Tom Fletcher, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Snowman and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Many of these stories live beyond the book and have inspired TV, films, music and games.

Puffin is always on the look-out for new talent and is committed to giving children access to stories, through innovative formats and partnerships; ensuring that the magic of imagination passes from one generation to the next.

Puffin is an imprint of Penguin Random House, the world’s number one publisher representing a vibrant community of publishing houses marked by unparalleled success.

Puffin: Stories to Spark Imaginations

For more information, please visit www.puffin.co.uk

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