I am so happy that it’s finally here – the first EVER publication day for Rocket Bird Books! We kick off with the hardback of Can I Come Too? by Owen Davey and the paperback of Professor Goose Debunks by Paulette Bourgeois and Alex G. Griffiths.
Can I Come Too? might look like it has been a year or so in the making, but actually its journey onto the Rocket Bird list started over fourteen years ago, when I read Owen Davey’s graduation project Foxly’s Feast. I was hugely impressed with the visual storytelling, especially because it was all visual. The book was completely wordless, which was very brave. And it was also brilliant. I was honoured to be involved in publishing it.
Since then Owen’s career has taken off with incredible highs, including his internationally successful non-fiction series About Animals for Flying Eye Books and a plethora of projects with the likes of Pottermore, WWF, Facebook, Sony and Lego.
What brought us together again was a story that kept pushing its way to the top of Owen’s thoughts, inspired by his daughters Lyra and Emi. Wherever Emi went, Lyra followed, always asking the same thing: can I come too? Sibling relationships can change a child dramatically – we often assume that the older children influence the younger ones, but the effect can be just as strong the other way around. Owen has captured that here. Combining great storytelling with his ability to explore slapstick comedy using minimalist geometric artwork (I have no idea how he does it!) this has turned out to be a dream book to publish. I am very proud that it is the very first book on the Rocket Bird Books list.
Libby Hamilton, Publisher
