IN DEPTH
Company Spotlight Bloomsbury Children's Books
E
ven those who work within picture books might concede that the sector has not been the trendiest part of the children’s market for some time—at least in the Anglophone world. Oh, it has been crucial, in a solid, dependable and ticking along quite nicely, thank you sort of way. But it is fair to say that the deals buzz of Bolognas in the Twilight Noughties was very Young Adult-centric, while the 2010s had a distinct middle-grade flavour.
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Hancock outlines vision for Bloomsbury Children's as picture book sales soar
After moving across from Puffin last autumn, Lara Hancock is setting her stall out with a range of illustrated titles at Bloomsbury Children's Books— and is excited by the list's potential
Tom Tivnan @tomtivnan 16 23rd March 2022 £141m
But the 2020s might just be the decade of the picture book, as it has become arguably one of the busiest sectors for rights trading—and with a corresponding spike in sales to boot. UK picture books in 2021 hit an all-time high (£141.2m through Nielsen BookScan) and betered children’s and YA fiction through the tills for the first time since accurate records began. This is undoubtedly part of the reason Bloomsbury Children’s Books decided to ramp up its picture books division last autumn by luring Lara Hancock over from Puffin to a newly created role of head of illustrated publish- ing, a move which saw the publisher combine its picture books and non-fiction teams. Hancock says she was drawn to move to a company that “was already very successful, but at the same time shiſting up a gear. It was hugely appeal- ing to work with [publishing director] Rebecca [McNally] and also to bring picture books and illustrated non-fiction together to forge a complementary, dynamic list. And it is a hugely creative team with oodles of ambition. It was a dream offer, really.” That she arrived at the new post when picture books have been surging has been a boost. She says: “I’ve been working in picture books for 20 years, so to see this growth is really exciting; it is an interesting time to think about forward planning. Obviously, we would love the hard work of all our authors, illustra- tors and teams to be rewarded by lots of bestsellers. Digging deeper, we want to be rich, vibrant and diverse, a real desti-
Picture books are issued a year by Bloomsbury Children's, with a further 10-12 new books coming from its non-fiction arm annually
Sum earned through Nielsen BookScan by picture books in 2021, a figure which saw the sector surpass Children's & YA Fiction in value terms for the first time
nation for talent, whether that’s new or more established talent. And ultimately we want to be a home for a really brilliant collection of joyful, inspiring books—the kind of books that get so loved that they fall apart.” Why does she think picture books are spiking? “Well, all children’s categories have been growing as well. But for picture books there has been a huge variet of factors, not least that we have had two years of people inside the house with their young ones who needed to be entertained, educated and distracted.
“On a more direct level ,in the UK I think we should acknowledge the great work of [reading promotion organi- sations] Booktrust and the CLPE [Centre for Literacy in Primary Education], and the huge strides forward
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