CANDY GOURLAY - Ferdinand Magellan

Author Candy Gourlay tells the story of Ferdinand Magellan the explorer. Do you eat potatoes? How about tomatoes? Do you love chocolate? Well none of those things existed in Europe when Ferdinand was growing up so it's no surprise that explorers became the rock stars of the 15th and 16th centuries. Candy tells the thrilling story of Magellan's quest to discover a new route to the other side of the world, how he discovered many lands and peoples, whether they liked it or not, and how he became known as the first man to circumnavigate the globe ... even though he didn't

Candy Gourlay was born in the Philippines, grew up under a dictatorship and met her husband during a revolution. Growing up, she wondered why books only featured pink-skinned children who lived in worlds that didn’t resemble her tropical home in Manila. It took her years to learn that Filipino stories too, belong in the pages of books. Her novel Bone Talk was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Costa Prize in 2019 – it is set in the moment when headhunting tribes in the Philippines come face to face with American invaders. Her picture book, Is It a Mermaid, lushly illustrated by Francesca Chessa, was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Her novels have also been listed for the Waterstones, the Blue Peter and the Guardian Children’s Book Prize. She lives in London with her family, where she wages war on the snails in her garden.