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  


  


THE SHORTLIST  DK 


 


 


 


   


M


ost children’s publishers have increased the diversity of their output in recent years, but none has shown the way like the 2022 Children’s


Publisher of the Year. Knights Of has published a range of voices


PICTURED KNIGHTS OF CO-FOUNDER AND M.D. AIMÉE FELONE


across race, sexuality, gender and class for several years, and its ethos was richly rewarded in commercial terms in 2021. A transformative year saw it quadruple its total book sales and triple its rights turnover—a remarkable perfor- mance even by the high standards of the nine other publishers on this shortlist. It increased its staffing as well, and excelled in marketing and publicity, securing impactful media coverage and reaching children who might not otherwise encounter books. A partnership with BookTrust and CLPE gave away thousands of copies of its uplifting and important anthology celebrating Black British authors, Happy Here.


Knights Of also punched way above its weight


in critical terms. Elle McNicoll’s A Kind of Spark scooped both the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Blue Peter Best Story Book Award, while Jason Reynolds took the CILIP Carnegie Medal for Look Both Ways. Its reputation is such that the bestselling Candice Carty-Williams chose it as home for her first young adult book, Empress & Aniya, and authors across the list are bursting with praise. “At the very least it’s a respite from the static and traditional publishing system, and at best it’s a miracle,” said one. “Knights Of is small but mighty, and full


of integrity and purpose,” agreed the judges. “Diversity sometimes feels like window dressing, but Knights Of is showing everyone what needs to be done and how to go about it.” They added: “Three big prize wins in a year would be amazing for any children’s publisher—for one of this size it’s truly phenomenal.”


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