Phaidon, a worldwide writer of the artistic arts that commemorated its a hundredth anniversary in 2023, is now gearing as much as mark one other milestone as its youngsters’s ebook imprint turns 20. Primarily based in London and New York Metropolis, the corporate launched Phaidon Children in 2005 with The Artwork E-book for Youngsters, written by its editorial workforce, a information to 30 grasp artists and their most well-known works.
Over the previous twenty years, Phaidon Children, which presently releases between eight and 12 titles yearly, acquired a profitable catalogue of different books within the artwork class. These embody the four-volume First Ideas with Effective Artists collection, image books that includes the artwork of Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. Initially launched between 2016 and 2018, the books have been reprinted in February.
The imprint additionally revealed 5 volumes within the My Artwork Books collection of board books by Sharon Gozansky, which debuted in 2018 and was named an Oprah’s Favourite Issues choice; and the My First Insurgent Artists collection of six biographies of latest artists who “unapologetically made artwork,” which kicked off in 2019 with Jackson Pollock Splashed Paint and Wasn’t Sorry by Fausto Gilberti.
Deb Aaronson, VP and group writer for 14 years, chronicled Phaidon Children’ enlargement of its editorial scope because the imprint’s debut. “Whereas artwork stays an vital class for us,” she instructed PW, “the kids’s record has grown to embody meals, with such titles as The Story of Pasta by Steven Guarnaccia and the Cook dinner in a E-book collection of interactive recipe books by Lotta Nieminen; science, together with The E-book of Dinosaurs by Gabrielle Balkan and What A Shell Can Inform by Helen Scales; and nature books reminiscent of Rainbows in Bloom by Taylor and Michael Putnam.”
The imprint’s worldwide attain has additionally grown, with gross sales in additional than 50 international locations exceeding three million copies.
A Custom of Creativity and High quality
As is true of Phaidon’s grownup record, high-design parts and complicated manufacturing values are hallmarks of Phaidon Children’ titles. Examples embody two 2024 releases that includes modern codecs. A Household of Timber: My First E-book of Forests by Peggy Thomas, illustrated by Cookie Moon, is an eight-foot lengthy, fold-out board ebook; and Our Galaxy: A First Journey in House by Sue Lowell Gallion, illustrated by Lisk Feng, is an image ebook that transforms right into a freestanding globe. The latter title is a part of the creators’ four-book Our World Assortment, which was additionally on Oprah’s Favourite Issues record, final Christmas.
In anticipation of its Twentieth anniversary, Phaidon Children issued new editions of out-of-print backlist standouts final November. These embody Tomi Ungerer’s The Three Robbers, Moon Man, and Fog Island, and Hervé Tullet’s five-volume Let’s Play Sequence, all of which have been final accessible in 2019.
Unique titles highlighting this spring’s Twentieth-anniversary record are April releases Superpowered Vegetation and The Secret Powers of Animals, written by Soledad Mariño Romero and illustrated by Sonia Pulido; and Ben Lerwill’s Nature’s Tiny Champions, illustrated by Nic Jones, which introduces small creatures that maintain Earth’s ecosystem collectively. And due in Might, Get Dressed! by Katy Canales, illustrated by Erin Vanessa, breaks new floor exploring trend historical past for kids.
The writer will roll out a promotional marketing campaign in April. Every week throughout that month, Aaronson stated, “We’ll supply a social media-themed giveaway, every associated to a special class, together with cooking, nature, artwork, and magnificence and tradition. Every giveaway will include a curated mini library of Phaidon Children books along with a youngsters’s product reminiscent of clothes, crafts, toys, and furnishings.”
Moreover, 200 booksellers worldwide will obtain a limited-edition, customized poster by French graphic design artist Jean Jullien, creator of This Is Not a E-book, This Is Nonetheless Not a E-book, Earlier than & After, and Why the Face? The posters will probably be accessible whereas provides final; booksellers can attain out to their Phaidon rep or contact.
And 25 influencers from throughout varied parenting and youngsters’s ebook areas will probably be chosen by the writer to obtain a Phaidon Children Present Field containing copies of the Twentieth anniversary season frontlist, a 20-page exercise equipment impressed by choose backlist titles, and a set of Phaidon-branded coloured pencils.
Aaronson famous that the imprint will proceed to enhance its publishing program because it enters its third decade. “Phaidon Children has developed considerably over the previous 20 years,” she stated, “and we sit up for asserting formidable plans for increasing the record within the coming 12 months. We stay dedicated to publishing modern books that permit younger readers to interact with significant content material throughout classes in irresistible packages.”
