Unicorn is confident that he is about to write the most fabulous story in the world. He settles down in his special writing house with his fluffy pen, fancy notebook and a cup of moonberry tea, waiting for inspiration to strike. Alas, he has no idea where to start. The ending? I loved that despite every grumble and complaint his friends tried to help out the grumpycorn. That they still tried to make him happy. I had tears in my eyes. And then our unicorn made its appearance and I was even happier with the events. Kate Winslet, Anthony Joshua, Richard E. Grant and Justin Fletcher read CBeebies Bedtime Stories at Christmas Sarah is immensely proud of Britain's amazing illustrators and how well their pictures tell stories. In 2015, she set up the #PicturesMeanBusiness campaign, calling for people to credit illustrators for their work.

Grumpycorn by Sarah McIntyre | Waterstones

Kate Winslet leads a stellar line-up of stars who will read stories on CBeebies over Christmas and the New Year.

The art was just amazingly fun, but then again, I had high hopes given that this is Sarah McIntyre and she makes some amazing gorgeous illustrations. I spend quite some time finding all the little details in the illustrations and soak up all the gorgeous colours.

Grumpycorn by Sarah McIntyre | Goodreads

Unicorn's trying to write the "most fabulous story in the world," but he hasn't written a word. Too bad his friends keep bothering him with ideas for things to write about. Why can't they just leave him alone so he can NOT write? I was so happy when I learned that Sarah McIntyre would be having a brand-new picture book, this time about a unicorn, no, a grumpycorn! Sporting superstar Anthony Joshua is also appearing on the much-loved children’s show in the run up to Christmas.A deadline - those are wonderfully inspiring! I had a picture book due and I was on a plane ride to visit my family in Alaska. I didn’t have an idea right then, so I just started poking a story into my phone, about someone who didn’t have an idea for a story. And then I thought it would be much funnier if I was a unicorn. Unicorn sets out to write the best story in the world. Problem - he doesn't have an idea. He is rude to friends and chases them off. He gives up but they save the day by writing the story together. Unicorn realizes what happened and apologizes. Illustrator and writer Sarah McIntyre is easy to spot in her pointy glasses and hats. Her books include the comic Vern and Lettuce, four books with Philip Reeve, including Pugs of the Frozen North and Jinks & O'Hare Funfair Repair, and her picture books include There's a Shark in the Bath and Dinosaur Police. She loves creating books and comics with friends and getting inspired by batting around ideas and drawings with them. Instead we see our grumpycorn continue his grumpy ways towards all his friends. They all try to help him and all he does is act angry with them. Which saddened me. I was hoping he would see that they were just trying to help.

Grumpycorn | Jabberworks Grumpycorn | Jabberworks

NOT the ideas of the friends - Narwhal, Mermaid and Jellyfish - who curiously arrive to find out about this fabulous story and beg to have starring roles… no, not THOSE ideas. Just GO AWAY, everyone! I was travelling to Seldovia, a small fishing town with houses on stilts, and it seemed a perfect place to set up an imaginary writer and artist retreat cottage. While I was there, I got to know children’s book artist Valisa Higman and see the amazing floating cottage her dad built, and where she works. She gets to row to work every morning! And she has sea otters popping by for visits. It’s pure magic. So I dedicated the story to Valisa and the people of Seldovia, who were incredibly welcoming and let me take part in their summer arts festival. Just start writing or drawing, get something down on paper, no matter how boring or silly it is at first. A blank piece of paper can be scary - fill it up so it’s no longer blank, and then you may be surprised where your thoughts take you as you write and draw; you may do something better than you expected, or there may be a nugget of goodness in there that you can take out and refine later. And the more you write and draw, the better you’ll get at it; it’s all about practice. In the book, I show Unicorn’s friends helping him, and that might be helpful for you; often I create much better stories when I work with friends and we can bat ideas around together. Other times I just need space and quiet to get on with things, but some of the best thing I’ve written have been in awkward situations, like on a plane with only a phone and no notebook to hand, or in a noisy cafe. Don’t faff around too much with creating a perfect setup, just do it. That’s my best advice.All in all, a fun book I would recommend to all. About writing, about inspiration, about friendship. We spoke to Sue H. Cunningham, the author behind Totally Deceased – the brand-new, hilarious, high-stakes YA murder mystery! What will it take for Unicorn to write the most fabulous story in the world? Will he simply have a diva meltdown and alienate all his friends?