Tuesday, 17 June 2025 Books+Publishing @booksandpublishing
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to the picture book Make Them Say Poo by Steve MinOn under the pen name Stephen, via literary agent Martin Shaw of Shaw Literacy.
‘Designed as a read aloud, Make Them Say Poo uses phonics and sounding words as the basis of the concept,’ said the publisher, which will encourage young readers to ‘break words into syllables and to anticipate rhymes’.
MinOn was the 2023 winner of the Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer in the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards for First Name Second Name (UQP 2025). Hi work has appeared in SBS Voices, Mamamia, and more.
Discussing the book, MinOn said: ‘Stephen is the name my mother used whenever I was naughty and Make Them Say Poo is definitely the work of my naughty alter-ego. But it’s not written for mischief. I wrote it to give children agency over their reading time and to encourage them to have fun with words’.
Simon & Schuster Australia and Affirm Press children’s publishing director, Tash Besliev said: ‘I know I once vowed never to publish a ‘fart book’, but luckily, this one’s about poo. Technically. It’s clever, pun-packed, and delightfully self-aware. Think sophisticated toilet humour meets literary wordplay. Steve is elevating this genre in a most delightful way.’
Affirm Press plans to release Make Them Say Poo in April 2026.
Photo credit: Chris Crawford.
Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions