The news of our the new series Susan Van Metre and Charlie Kochman acquired by bestselling author Jon Scieszka broke over the holiday week. Our official statement is below. Publishers Weekly ran an exclusive in the 12/24 print magazine, which is attached for you to forward to your accounts that can use the news. Please note that the series will not be published until fall 2014. We needed to release the news now as there were other publishers who bid on the series so waiting too long would allow the news to be broken by another source as people were speculating. It’s very exciting to have Jon on board.
AMULET BOOKS WINS NEW MIDDLE GRADE BOOK SERIES FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR JON SCIESZKA IN A HEATED 6-WAY AUCTION
Senior Vice President and Publisher Susan Van Metre and Editorial Director Charles Kochman at ABRAMS Amulet Books imprint beat out five other children’s publishers for the first six books in a new illustrated middle grade series by bestselling author Jon Scieszka, the nation’s first National Ambassador of Children’s literature. Titled Frank Einstein, Kid Scientist and illustrated by Brian Biggs, the series is about a budding scientist who battles an evil genius with the help of two well-meaning but imperfect robots that he invents. The first book will appear in fall 2014. Scieszka’s longtime agent Steven Malk at Writers House orchestrated the deal. Amulet Books plans an extensive marketing and publicity campaign for the launch.
Jon Scieszka always wanted to be a kid science genius. The closest he got was winning a green "Participant" ribbon at his fourth grade Science Fair and dressing up one Halloween as a bloody Albert Einstein. Scieszka studied pre-med in college. He taught elementary school, including second grade science, in New York City for ten years. For over twenty years, he has been a children's book writer, and is the author of The True Story of 3 Little Pigs!, The Stinky Cheese Man, the Time Warp Trio series, Math Curse, Science Verse, the Trucktown series, the Spaceheadz series, and more. In 2008, Scieszka was named the nation's first National Ambassador of Young People's Literature by the Library of Congress and the Children's Book Council. He is also the founder of the web-based literacy initiative for boys called Guys Read, and is the editor of the Guys Read Library of Great Reading series.
Founded by Harry N. Abrams in 1949, ABRAMS was the first company in the United States to specialize in the creation and distribution of art and illustrated books. Now a subsidiary of La Martinière Groupe, the company publishes visually stunning illustrated books in the areas of art, photography, cooking, interior and garden design, craft, architecture, entertainment, fashion, sports, pop culture, as well as children's books and general interest titles. The company's imprints include Abrams, Abrams ComicArts, Abrams Image, Abrams Books for Young Readers, Amulet Books, Abrams Appleseed, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, and STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books. Abrams also distributes books for The Vendome Press, Victoria & Albert Museum, Tate, Royal Academy of Arts, Booth-Clibborn Editions, Five Continents and others.
www.abramsbooks.com