First title out next Christmas

Ben Miller has become the latest comedian to turn children’s book author.

His first title, The Night I Met Father Christmas, will be out in November – part of a two-book deal he signed with publishers Simon & Schuster.

Jane Griffiths, the company’s editorial director for children’s fiction at S&S, told trade website The Bookseller: ‘I was transfixed by Ben’s writing immediately; it’s full of warmth, humour and magic and from the outset you know you’re in the hands of a great storyteller.

‘The Night I Met Father Christmas is the perfect story to share together in the lead-up to Christmas. We believe it has all the hallmarks of a Christmas classic in the making.’

A second title will follow in November 2019.

The world of children’s literature has become dominated by celebrity names, prompting complaints from other writers  that they are being pushed out of publishing deals.

Other comics to have turned to children’s fiction recently include Miranda Hart, David Baddiel, Julian Clary, Adrian Edmondson, and the phenomenally successful David Walliams.

Miller previously wrote the adult pop science book It's Not Rocket Science in 2014. He abandoned his Cambridge PhD in solid state physics in the early 1990s to follow a career in comedy with double-act partner Alexander Armstrong.

Published: 10 Jan 2018