New York, NY (November 17, 2003) -- Scholastic US and Scholastic UK announced today that the company has acquired the worldwide English language publishing rights for the first three novels of P.B. Kerr's planned book series, Children of the Lamp in a seven-figure deal. Scholastic is the publisher of the bestselling Harry Potter books by J.K.Rowling in the US, and of the highly successful series, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman in the UK.
 
The negotiations were conducted separately by Kerr's agent, Caradoc King of A.P. Watt. A two-week UK auction between five publishers ended recently with a winning bid from Richard Scrivener, Publisher of Scholastic UK, after meetings between the author, Scholastic and the two other publishers in the final round of the auction. A swift and pre-emptive offer from Jean Feiwel, Publisher of Scholastic US, before the manuscript had been formally submitted in the States, secured the books for Scholastic worldwide. The hardcover books are scheduled to be published fall '04, '05 and '06.
 
Although this is P.B. Kerr's first children's novel, he is well known as the thriller-writer Philip Kerr, author of the Berlin Noir trilogy, A Philosophical Investigation, Gridiron, The Shot and several other acclaimed thrillers.
 
In announcing the deal for Scholastic, Richard Scrivener and Jean Feiwel said: “P.B. Kerr is tremendously talented. We believe he has created an exceptional series, which will have a compelling attraction for millions of children worldwide. Scholastic looks forward to publishing the books as a global event selling through all its channels of distribution.”
 
Film rights for The Children of the Lamp have been acquired by DreamWorks' top producer team, Lorrie MacDonald and Walter Parkes, whose recent credits include Catch Me If You Can, Men in Black and Road to Perdition. They bought the rights after an exclusive submission from Robert Bookman of CAA, several meetings with P.B. Kerr and before the manuscript had been shown to publishers.
 
The first novel in the series is The Akhenaten Adventure. John and Philippa Gaunt are the twelve-year-old twins of an affluent New York couple. Only when their wisdom teeth appear do they develop an extraordinary gift for making other people's wishes magically come true.
 
In a wonderfully imaginative and hilarious adventure story, John and Philippa come to London to meet their wildly eccentric genie-uncle, Nimrod. Before you can say 'Akhenaten,' the twins are pitting their fledgling Djinn skills against Iblis, the most wicked Djinn of all, which takes them to Egypt, the British Museum and finally to the North Pole.
 
The second novel will be The Blue Djinn of Babylon. The third will probably be set in Casablanca.
 
About Scholastic
Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, and school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries, and television networks; and the Company's Internet Site, www.scholastic.com .

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