Enjoying books is what children’s publishers aim to do whenever they publish a children’s book. The Complete Works, a specialist in publishing and packaging children’s fiction and non-fiction, have this aim at the heart of our every creation.
Phonics is one of the best ways of teaching children how to read, and our My First Big Book of Phonics does just that. With die-cut lines enabling children to feel how a letter is shaped, and flaps and sliders to reveal surprise elements, this book is guaranteed to make learning fun.
My First Big Book of Phonics was the first of many Big Books with subjects such as baby animals, pirates and Egypt – this was a range that The Complete Works loved creating.
Using well-known artists like Sue Hendra, every spread of these delightful books is full of marvellous drawings, with four or five novelty elements, like sliders, pull-tabs, embossing and die-cuts on every spread. There’s even a huge pop-up ship with sails to surprise and delight in the Big Book of Pirates.
The Complete Works are creators of both children’s fiction and non-fiction books. With umpteen novelty titles under our belts, we are always excited when taking on anything out of the ordinary and we are in our element working with cutter guides, nesting sheets, glue spots and any other novelty element. And, unlike many book packagers, The Complete Works are also happy to work with printers.
The novelty jigsaw book, Cinderella, based on Charles Perrault’s classic tale, beloved by children of all ages, is one of a range of classic fairy tale jigsaws The Complete Works created.
The illustrations are superb, with lots of fun “hidden” details for children to discover, such as the mice wearing fancy dress while Cinderella helps an ugly sister get ready for the ball. This is the sort of extra detail that The Complete Works loves to think up, as it adds to the enjoyment and interactivity for the children reading and playing with the book.
The Cinderella Jigsaw book contains five actual jigsaws with 12 pieces per jigsaw.
Designed for one of the major publishers of children’s novelty books, Quarto, this project was worked up as a sample for presentation purposes for the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Created by The Complete Works to entertain and educate, the idea is that children will select the correct animal counter and fit it over an exactly matching hole. Then, once an entire spread has been completed, an element embedded in the back cover can be moved to allow the counters to drop through. Keen to educate and entertain, each spread will depict a different continent.
Plasticine Make & Play
Another of The Complete Works’ innovative ideas, created for Flair Leisure Products and part of a range of Plasticine titles, is a book for children that comes with six strips of plasticine and simple step-by-step directions, instructing them how to make dinosaurs – and what dinosaurs – T-Rex, Stegosaurus and Pterodactyl – everybody’s favourites!
With so many varied and ingenious creations and products, it is no wonder that we, The Complete Works, are an innovative children’s packager.
Scruffy Teddy was a creation of The Complete Works with a view to having a lovable, idiosyncratic character capable of moving across multiple formats. Cute, funny and endearing, Scruffy Teddy is a character adored by children and adults!
This is one of the strengths of working with a publisher and packager like The Complete Works – we have the knowledge, and the team, to put everything in place to create a winning format.
Scruffy Teddy went on to appear in many different book categories – early learning, die-cuts, story, touch ‘n’ feel and flap books.
Scruffy Teddy Looks for a Friend Flap Book is one of the titles from the extensive range that The Complete Works put together. It shows some of the interactivity The Complete Works wanted children to enjoy, with two flaps on each spread.
The final files included cutter guides, glue areas and a precise nesting sheet to ensure the flaps were the biggest and best that could be obtained from a highly efficient, cost-effective printed sheet. That is the expertise The Complete Works brings to the highly competitive area of children’s publishing.
The Complete Works has established a reputation for creating high-quality products, while at the same time keeping an eye on the costs. We have gained the trust and respect of some of the biggest publishers and retailers in the country. We offer a service which includes the complete production of a book, from an idea to the design, text, artwork, layouts, cutter lines and nesting sheets.
The Cuddly Kittens’ First Number Fun book, created by The Complete Works for Marks and Spencer, was a brilliant success. Loved by children and parents, it teaches reading and mathematical skills while, at the same time, being hugely enjoyable.
This title uses simple subtraction and asks the reader to mimic the rhyme and move the abacus counters accordingly.
