News and Events

Peter Lantos at Westminster City School and interviewed on BBC Breakfast

Westminster City School welcomed Peter Lantos to speak to students who are members of the Debate Club about his experiences surviving the Holocaust.

https://www.wcsch.com/538/latest-news/post/622/bbc-breakfast-broadcast-holocaust-survivor-peter-lantos-bem

This session was filmed by crew members from BBC Breakfast and aired on Tuesday 7 January 2025.

Launch of graphic memoir in London, January 2025

The graphic memoir edition of The Boy Who Didn’t Want to Die illustrated by the artist Victoria Stebleva and published in a graphic format by Scholastic Books was launched on 7 January 2025 at Daunt Books Marylebone, in London.

Copies of the book were on sale and Peter Lantos signed them and spoke to his readers.

Copies of the book were on sale and Peter Lantos signed them and spoke to his readers. Photo: Richard Bates

Peter Lantos spoke briefly about the book to those gathered in the bookshop, with his editor at his side.

Peter Lantos spoke briefly about the book to those gathered in the bookshop, with his editor at his side. Photo: Christopher Sherwood

NEW BOOK TO BE PUBLISHED on 7 January 2025

The award-winning book The Boy Who Didn’t Want to Die will be published in a graphic format by Scholastic at the beginning of the New Year. Illustrated by the artist Victoria Stebleva, the graphic version is of a larger format and beautifully produced.

The book will be launched on January 7th 2025 at Daunt Books, 84 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4QW from 6:30–8:00 p.m.

More information from hlove@scholastic.co.uk

Graphic novel

After the success of the book, the publisher, Scholastic decided to publish it as a graphic memoir to be published on 2 January. 2025. The book launch is on 7 January from 6:30–8:00 p.m.

The Boy Who Didn’t Want To Die

Peter’s latest book is an extraordinary true story of his childhood. As a boy of five he was deported from a small provincial town in Hungary to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during the fateful summer of 1944. His father died there of starvation, but he and his mother survived. This is a story of love, hope and survival.

This book (see Books) published at the beginning of 2023 has enjoyed a remarkable success: it has not only sold over 22,000 copies during the first year, but also was translated into several European languages. It had been shortlisted for two literary prizes: the 2024 British Book Awards and the 2024 UK Literacy Association Awards. It won the second, in the category of Information Books.

The prestige of this award is that it is the only children’s book award in which books are selected and judged exclusively by teachers.