Houghton Mifflin introduced its list of books for young readers in 1937. In December of 2007 the company acquired Harcourt Education, making the combined company, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade and Reference Publishing Group the largest K-12 publisher in the world. An imprint of the company’s Children’s Book Group, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children currently publishes approximately 75-100 books a year. Ranging from picture book to young adult titles and everything in-between, its line-up of contemporary authors and illustrators includes Lois Lowry, Sy Montgomery, Claire A. Nivola, Allen Say, and more.
Kate O’Sullivan, Executive Editor at Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, answered our questions about James Rumford’s Rain School, one of the books selected for inclusion in the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set, and about the imprint Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and the children’s publishing industry in general.
Interview by Aline Pereira, former Managing Editor of PaperTigers and currently an independent writer, editor and editorial consultant specializing in multicultural children’s books.
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Please tell us a little bit about your path to becoming an editor.
A college course in mythology had me looking at ancillary interpretations of old texts; I came across illustrated versions of The Odyssey and Argonautica and was hooked by the merging of word and picture to relay narrative. I figured children’s books was where it’s at—not being a writer or artist myself, editor seemed like a good fit.
The publishing industry being as competitive as it is, I worked my first couple of years in college textbook publishing at St. Martin’s Press before getting through the door to children’s trade. That was thirteen years ago and I’ve never looked back!
What makes you passionate about the projects you acquire?
If I laugh, cry, or go goosebumpy, I’m sold. I’m always looking for convincing, authentic stories.
Rain School draws on the author’s experience of teaching in Chad, Africa to portray a village’s commitment to educating its children, against all odds. What first attracted you to Rain School when you first read it? Was the story already illustrated then?
Rain School is such a simple, spare story—but it packs an emotive punch. I love how it shows us that with hard work and determination, the rewards of an education can last a lifetime. And that it does this without ever feeling preachy or forced is no small feat. As with all of Jim’s projects, this one first arrived as a beautiful dummy with exuberant sketches.
Houghton Mifflin has published several of Rumford’s books. How long have you been working with James, and how is your relationship like?
I’ve worked with Jim since his longtime editor, Amy Flynn, left Houghton in 2003. Since then we’ve worked together on Dog-of-the-Sea-Waves, Sequoyah, Beowulf,
Chee-lin, and Rain School. Jim is one-of-a-kind an