IN DEPTH
SCHOOLCHILDREN ENGAGE WITH THE SUPERQUESTERS
Feature STEM publishing
A
s a new children’s publisher launches with a focus on science, technology, engineering and math- ematics (STEM) subjects, existing presses and
writers within the space report a growing interest in this strand of publishing across both non-fiction and fiction. QuestFriendz was founded by husband-and-wife team
STEM topics infuse children’s titles after recent popularity surge
As a husband and wife duo launch a new publisher, QuestFriendz, a number of lists in the children’s books sphere reflect on the rise in popularity of titles with STEM themes, across fiction and non-fiction
Caroline Carpenter @carolinec1988 20 23rd March 2022
computer scientist Dr Thomas Bernard and children’s author Lisa Moss aſter they struggled to find books for their young children that would help them develop foundational STEM skills. According to Moss, most titles they came across “depicted stereotpical lead characters such as young boys in white lab coats”, though The Questioneers series (writen by Andrea Beat and illustrated by David Roberts) and the Izzy Gizmo books (writen by Pip Jones and illustrated by Sara Ogilvie) were notable exceptions. The pair’s first title, SuperQuesters: The Case of the Stolen Sun, illustrated by Amy Willcox (to be published on 3rd May), marks the start of a young fiction adventure series. Moss believes this genre is “a great way to immerse children, especially younger children and reluctant readers, fully in the book and spark their interest in STEM learning… with the child engaging in learning without necessarily realising they are doing so”. Another ambition is to “help change children’s perceptions about science and engineering”. The titles feature ethnically diverse characters, with both male and female characters taking leading roles. QuestFriendz plans to include disabled and neurodivergent characters in future and to expand into non-fiction. Children’s indie b small has a well-established series of STEM Starters for Kids activit books. Publisher Sam Hutchinson says of its origins: “STEM was a term that adults were using a lot and given that that’s our audience, we thought we would brand some science activit books as STEM.” Aſter doing so, these titles “found their audience really quickly”, with the series now having sold in 24 languages. Hutchinson says: “Some countries instantly ‘get’ STEM and then other countries just don’t get it at all. It’s mostly Asia, Eastern Europe, America and Australia where STEM seems to be an acronym that’s used. But the markets where we would traditionally sell—like France and Spain and Scandinavia—have been the last ones to pick up on it. Some of them don’t actually include the STEM acronym on the books.”
A vital cog
STEM is a “really important strand” of fellow small press Magic Cat’s output, according to publisher Jenny Broom. It tries to differentiate its STEM offering from the rest of the market by showing how it “plugs into the real world and everyday family life, from a more nuanced perspec- tive”. Broom cites Magic Cat’s latest title, Grow, as a good example of this as it presents key STEM ideas such as pollination and evolution through the lens of gardening. She explains: “Many parents buy books on these topics because they aren’t confident navigating these subject areas themselves, but their children are learning about them at school. There are fantastic publishers already doing an amazing job of unpacking the curriculum; for us the opportunit lies in reaching out to families who may Continues overleaf
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