Jen Campbell

A John Cleese Twitter question ("What is your pet peeve?"), first sparked the "Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops" blog, which grew over three years into one bookseller's collection of ridiculous conversations on the shop floor. From "Did Beatrix Potter ever write a book about dinosaurs?" to the hunt for a paperback which could forecast the next year's weather; and from "I've forgotten my glasses, please read me the first chapter" to "Excuse me... is this book edible?", here is a book for heroic booksellers and booklovers everywhere. This full-length collection illustrated by the Brothers McLeod also includes top "Weird Things" from bookshops around the world.

Every bookshop has a story. We’re not talking about rooms that are just full of books. We’re talking about bookshops in barns, disused factories, converted churches and underground car parks. Bookshops on boats, on buses, and in old run-down train stations. Fold-out bookshops, undercover bookshops, this-is-the-best-place-I’ve-ever-been-to-bookshops. Meet Sarah and her Book Barge sailing across the sea to France; meet Sebastien, in Mongolia, who sells books to herders of the Altai mountains; meet the bookshop in Canada that’s invented the world’s first antiquarian book vending machine. And that’s just the beginning. From the oldest bookshop in the world, to the smallest you could imagine, The Bookshop Book examines the history of books, talks to authors about their favourite places, and looks at over three hundred weirdly wonderful bookshops across six continents (sadly, we’ve yet to build a bookshop down in the South Pole). The Bookshop Book is a love letter to bookshops all around the world.

'These days, you can find anything you need at the click of a button. That's why I bought her heart online.' Spirits in jam jars, mini-apocalypses, animal hearts and side shows. A girl runs a coffin hotel on a remote island. A boy is worried his sister has two souls. A couple are rewriting the history of the world. And mermaids are on display at the local aquarium. The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a collection of twelve haunting stories; modern fairy tales brimming with magic, outsiders and lost souls. Animals Jacob Plum pie. Zombie green. Yellow bee. Purple monster In the dark Little deaths The beginning of the world in the middle of the night Pebbles Aunt Libby's coffin hotel Sea devils Human satellites Bright white hearts

'Customer (holding up a book): "What’s this? The Secret Garden? Well, it’s not so secret now, is it, since they bloody well wrote a book about it!'" From "Did Harry Potter kill Hitler?" to "Can we play cricket in your bookshop?", a selection of the most ridiculous conversations from the shop floor. Bewildering, hilarious and slightly alarming, this is a book for dedicated booksellers and booklovers everywhere. Illustrated by the Brothers McLeod, this collection includes queries and incidents from bookshops (and libraries) around the world, and even a section of Weird Things Customers Say at 'Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops Book Signings.'

Please Do Not Touch This Exhibit explores disability, storytelling, and the process of mythologising trauma. Jen Campbell writes of Victorian circus and folklore, deep seas and dark forests, discussing her own relationship with hospitals — both as a disabled person, and as an adult reflecting on childhood while going through IVF.  Please, Do Not Touch This Exhibit is Jen Campbell's second collection. Her first book-length collection, The Girl Aquarium (Bloodaxe Books, 2019), was shortlisted for the poetry category of the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 2019 and was a semifinalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards 2019 (Best Poetry category).

In this collection, fourteen of fairy tales from around the world are retold for young readers, restored to their original, grisly versions. Do you dare read this collection of terrifyingly gruesome tales? In this gripping volume, author Jen Campbell offers young readers an edgy, contemporary, and inclusive take on classic fairy tales, taking them back to their gory beginnings while updating them for a modern audience with queer and disabled characters and positive representation of disfigurement. Featuring fourteen short stories from China, India, Ireland, and across the globe, The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers is an international collection of the creepiest folk tales. Illustrated with Adam de Souza’s brooding art, this book’s style is a totally original blend of nineteenth-century Gothic engravings meets moody film noir graphic novels. Headlined by the Korean tale of a carnivorous child, The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers is a truly thrilling gift for brave young readers. Illustrated in color throughout

Franklin the dragon loves stories and loves reading stories to people too, but everyone is too scared to even talk to him. One day, he meets a girl named Luna who, rather than being afraid, is fascinated to meet Franklin, having recently read all about dragons in one of her books. They instantly become friends and talk nonstop about what they’ve read: books about roller-skating, King Arthur, spiders, and how to do kung fu. Together they hatch a plan to share their love of books with others by opening a bookshop―a flying bookshop, that is―right on Franklin’s back! Franklin, a well-read and peace-loving dragon, and Luna, a young girl with an independent spirit and an insatiable love of reading, make fantastic role models for young children. Franklin’s Flying Bookshop brings the magic of classic fairy tales into the twenty-first century through exquisite illustrations, and will enchant children as well as anyone who loves books.

إلى زبائن متاجر الكتب، باعة الكتب، أمينات المكتبات، عاشقات الكتب، المغرمات بجمعها، المثقفات واللواتي يحببن القراءة في السرير.

عندما قام الممثل والكاتب البريطاني الشهير جون كليز بطرح سؤال على حسابه في تويتر (ما هي الأشياء التي تثير غضبك؟)، كانت هذه أول لحظة خطر لي فيها أن أبدأ مدونة "أشياء غريبة يقولها الزبائن في متاجر الكتب"، والتي استمرت بالنمو خلال ثلاث سنوات لتصبح مجموعة من الكتب التي تحتوي على أغرب المحادثات التي مرت علي في متاجر الكتب. هل سبق للكاتبة الإنجليزية بياتريكس بوتر وأن كتبت عن الديناصورات؟ هل يوجد كتاب يتنبأ بطقس السنة القادمة؟ لقد نسيت نظاراتي في المنزل، هل بإمكانك قراءة الفصل الأول من هذا الكتاب لي؟ إلى، عفواً هل هذا الكتاب صالح للأكل؟ إلى كل الأبطال باعة الكتب حول العالم، مع الشكر للزبائن الأوفياء، والذين لم نكن لنبيع الكتب لولاهم... وإلى كل الأشخاص الذين اقتبست محادثاتهم في هذا الكتاب... الذين جعلوني أقف على أطراف أصابعي، جعلوني أبتسم، أضحك، وأصاب بالرعب... شكراً لكم.

Luna’s best friend, Franklin, is a dragon. They love to read stories about everything from trampolining to deep-sea diving. One day, they are reading about where werewolves live and Franklin begins to wonder where he is from. He is 605 years old and has no idea where to find other dragons! Luna suggests that they go on an adventure to find his family. They Google his family tree, they e-mail a princess, and along the way they find twenty yetis eating spaghetti, five vampires reading Shakespeare, not to mention disco-dancing unicorns . . . but no dragons! Where on earth could they be? Following the success of Franklin’s Flying Bookshop, Franklin and Luna Go to the Moon― a book about the joys of reading, exploring, and coming home― continues to bring the magic of classic fairy tales into the twenty-first century.

Jen Campbell’s first collection The Girl Aquarium explores the realm of rotten fairy tales, the possession of body and the definition of beauty. Weaving between whispered science and circus, she turns a cracked mirror on society and asks who gets to control the twisted tales hiding in the wings.  Semifinalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards 2019 (Best Poetry category)  Shortlisted for the poetry category of the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 2019

Everything from "Did Beatrix Potter ever write a book about dinosaurs?" to "Did Charles Dickens ever write anything fun?" Anyone who has ever worked in retail will nod knowingly at requests like "I’ve forgotten my glasses, can you read me the first chapter?" Or the absurdity of questions like "Excuse me . . . is this book edible?" Filled with fun and quirky illustrations by the award-winning Brothers McLeod and featuring contributions from booksellers across the United States and Canada, as well as the author's native UK, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores is a celebration of bookstores, large and small, and of the brilliant booksellers who toil in those literary fields, as well as the myriad of colorful characters that walk through the doors everyday. This irresistible collection is proof positive that booksellers everywhere are heroes.

The Hungry Ghost Festival concerns misremembered and strange things. It's about girls praying to The Angel of the North. It's about a mermaid born in the river Tyne. It's about Chinese lanterns, teenagers at the beach, and a family who run a sacred farm. ..You pick my arms up and spread them out so we are matching. Our woollen scarves touch our noses - catch our breath like cloth balloons. We dig our feet into the soil and stamp down into the very deep. Somewhere below, the river sleeps with a lady screeching. She has arms that could carry boulders to the edge of cliffs. We wait for her to throw us down...' (extract from 'angel metal') "This is an arresting collection from a writer fully in command of an unusual and significant voice.” Anna Woodford “These are poems full of wonder and surprise.. Jen Campbell tells us stories about growing up...; reimagining love, childhood and home in strange and magical ways.” Liz Berry “Jen Campbell opens the doors wide and takes you through to her own fierce world where nothing goes unquestioned. A mixture of strong filmic images and rich language mean that the poems always keep their sense of wonder and strength.” Sarah Salway "The writing is luminous, immediate, and (yes) magical. I imagine she fell in love with words early, spinning them into shining nets to save herself from a kind of drowning. She’s a real poet, in other words." - Marcia Menter

The definitive anthology on what it’s like to grow up disabled. With twenty-two autobiographical stories from the most celebrated writers in the disabled community. Growing up disabled can be an isolating experience. As much as you might be surrounded by loving and well-meaning friends and family, chances are no one close to you is going through this alongside you… until now! From navigating sports at school, to facing the confusion of getting given free stuff all the time, to juggling hospital trips alongside your social life, this anthology of firsthand experiences of childhood disability will be a welcome companion for disabled children. For non-disabled children it provides a welcome own-voice perspective and will help build empathy and understanding. A very powerful, much-needed book. Edited by James Catchpole, Lucy Catchpole and Jen Campbell. With contributions from Ali Abbas, Polly Atkin, Imani Barbarin, Jen Campbell, James Catchpole, Christina Couture, Carly Findlay, M. Leona Godin, Eugene Grant, Jan Grue, Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini, Ilya Kaminsky, Sora J. Kasuga, Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, Elle McNicoll, Daniel Sluman, Nina Tame, Rebekah Taussig, Steven Verdile, Alex Wegman, Ashley Harris Whaley and Kendra Winchester. Illustrated by Sophie Kamlish.