How to use this Page

Watertown, MA, July 7, 2010—Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc. today announced the acquisition of Imagine Publishing of New York, a publisher of unique and eclectic books for children and adults.

Imagine was founded in 2009 by the father/son team of Charles and Jeremy Nurnberg. The co-founders will both join Charlesbridge, effective immediately. Charles, a 40 year industry veteran and former CEO of Sterling Publishing, will become Vice President & Publisher of the Imagine imprint. Jeremy, former Vice President Trade & Institutional Sales at Sterling, brings his 15 years of publishing experience to Charlesbridge as Vice President of Sales.

Imagine’s list includes the Peter Yarrow Books imprint in partnership with legendary singer/songwriter and bestselling author Peter Yarrow of the iconic trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Books in this imprint include the current New York Times picture book bestseller Over the Rainbow, with a CD performance by Judy Collins, and the upcoming October 2010 release of The Night Before Christmas, with a CD by Peter, Paul and Mary.

“Our growing success motivated us to seek a publisher that could handle the needs of our expanding list,” said Charles Nurnberg. “Charlesbridge has the full range of promotional and distribution capabilities that Imagine needs. Their publishing strategy reinforces our own philosophy to publish books that stand the test of time.”

Charlesbridge—an independent publisher of children’s fiction and nonfiction—has grown steadily over its twenty-year history. It currently enjoys critical and commercial successes with books such as Sibert Award Honor The Day-Glo Brothers, by Chris Barton; ALA Notable Global Babies, one of many books published in partnership with The Global Fund for Children; and the newly released Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins, named to the Indie Next List.

“Imagine adds an exciting new dimension to our list,” said Charlesbridge Vice President and Associate Publisher Mary Ann Sabia, “while also leading us in a new strategic direction with our first general trade books, including Delicious Diabetic Recipes, the important new Curiosity Guides series, with titles on the human genome and global climate change, and for kids, Neil Sedaka’s Waking Up Is Hard To Do.”

Charlesbridge President Brent Farmer stated, “With the addition of Imagine we significantly increase our list and range. We look forward to enhancing the enduring relationships established over the years with children’s booksellers, wholesalers, librarians, and teachers, and creating new relationships in the general trade arena.”

Charlesbridge begins shipping Imagine Publishing titles immediately from their Massachusetts warehouse. Imagine customers may call Charlesbridge at (800) 225-3214 for questions pertaining to their orders.

Display Comments Add a Comment

"After the war Bob and Joe's colors made them rich. Day-Glo began to brighten everyday life back home. The colors made their way onto gas station signs and detergent boxes, traffic cones and magazine covers--including Joe's old favorite, Popular Science." - The Day-Glo Brothers, Chris Barton

I owe a debt of gratitude to authors like Chris Barton, who write cool non-fiction picture books. It makes my job as mom to two curious boys that much easier when I can answer their questions by picking a book off a shelf. Oh, I have my specialties, but when my boys' lines of questioning turn to how things work I turn to a book.

I knew Chris Barton's The Day-Glo Brothers, with its true story of how brothers Bob and Joe Switzer invented Day-Glo colors, would appeal to my boys' inquisitive natures. My kids frequently scour our libraries' shelves for books about outer space, bridges and automobiles (a current favorite is Car Science)--so I knew The Day-Glo Brothers wouldn't be a hard sell. And as soon as they saw Tony Persiani's cool, Day-Glo infused illustrations they were hooked.

Author Barton drew on primary sources to write this biography of how two brothers invented something that most of us take for granted. It's strange for me, a child of the 80s and 90s, to think that there was a time when Day-Glo colors didn't exist. However, until the Switzer brothers began experimenting with fluorescence to enhance Joe's magic acts, nobody had ever developed glow-in-the dark paints--never mind paint that glowed in the daylight. Tony Persiani's illustrations literally (and gradually) light up the pages so readers know exactly what is meant by the term Day-Glo.

We read this book at the perfect time, just before a trip to Disneyland, so the boys were able to put their newfound knowledge of fluorescence and Day-Glo to use and point out rides and attr

Display Comments Add a Comment

Sorry if you came here on Saturday looking for this post. I had a busy weekend and didn’t get to my computer much.

But here is day six of my reports from the Austin SCBWI conference. First, a quick recap of my other reports: agent Mark McVeigh on publishing, agent Andrea Cascardi on getting and working with an agent, editor Cheryl Klein on writing a great book, agent Nathan Bransford on finding the right agent for you and author/former editor Lisa Graff on writing and revising.

Today I’m featuring three of this year’s ALA award winners, all of whom show that success comes from perserverance.

Jacqueline Kelly, author of the 2010 Newbery Honor book The Evolution of Capurnia Tate, said the inspiration for her book came after she fell in love with a really old house that’s falling down. As she sat on its porch one day, she could hear the main character come alive in her head and recite the book’s first paragraph to her.

She first wrote about the characters in a short story, and it was her critique group members that encouraged her to expand it into a novel.

Capurnia Tate was rejected by 12 publishers before it was picked up.

If it wasn’t for Jacqueline’s critique group and her perserverance, we would not have Capurnia Tate to enjoy today.

Acclaimed illustrator Marla Frazee, whose picture book All the World is a 2010 Caldecott Honor book, has had similar perserverance during her career. She said it took 12 years to get her first book, then another five years before her second.

She said picture books are a collaboration between words and pictures, with the two working together to tell the story. Sometimes the pictures will illustrate the words completely, and other times the pictures will add new meaning to the words. For example, she showed a picture from her book A Couple of Boys Have The Best Week Ever, in which the words say the character is sad to leave his parents but the picture shows him excited and happy.

Marla said

Display Comments Add a Comment

If there was a theme in what the many published writers said at the Austin SCBWI conference a couple weeks ago, it was that perseverance is an important part of their success.

Three of this year’s ALA winners were there — Jacqueline Kelly (The Evolution of Capurnia Tate), Marla Frazee and Liz Garton Scanlon (All the World illustrator and author) and Chris Barton (The Day-Glo Brothers) — and they all told tales of facing many rejections before publication and of pursuing their dreams of being published for years before making them a reality.

Kirby Larson, author of the 2007 Newbery Honor book Hattie Big Sky, said she received piles of rejection letters before her publishing career began. Finally, after many years of trying and taking a 10-day course that happened over her daughter’s birthday — what a sacrifice — she sold her first picture books. A few more followed, but then she didn’t sell anything for seven years. That’s when she tried a different type of writing and Hattie Big Sky was born.

Former editor and now full-time author Lisa Graff explained that for her last book, Umbrella Summer, she wrote 18 complete drafts.

Yesterday, this theme was reinforced in an article in the Los Angeles Times about non-fiction author Rebecca Skloot, whose The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks appeared on Amazon’s bestseller list immediately after the book debuted on Feb. 2. This was all after Skloot spent 10 years working on the book and went through three publishing houses, four editors and two agents.

All these writers shared something in common: They didn’t give up.

So, the motto for today: Never give up.

Write On!

Add a Comment

It's hard not to notice The Day-Glo Brothers--that bio/science book about the two brothers who invented Day-Glo colors and changed the world. So, naturally, the bloggers of the kidlitosphere--an intelligent and talented bunch of writers--noticed not just how the colors pop, but how human this story really is: two brothers, a couple of dreams diverted, and an accident and what you get? A Cybils Nonfiction Picture Book Award.

Add a Comment