Four saucepans and a sewing machine

I've long suspected that children's publishers are a breed apart. My own publisher is a fascinating man - who would have thought that a Bulgarian architect would become one of Canada's best producers of children's books?

And now I've been reading about Egmont Publishers and I have to say I'm intrigued.

This is from their website:

It was on 15 May 1878 that a 17-year-old Dane, Egmont Harald Petersen, opened a print shop in Copenhagen, financed by the sale of all his mother's worldly goods - a rocking chair, an oil lamp, four saucepans, and a sewing machine. Through the early years, Egmont remained a printing business, but its activities soon came to revolve around creating and telling stories.

Petersen's philosophy was that a company should make a positive contribution to the society to which it belongs, and in his will he expressed a wish that Egmont companies should support charitable causes. For 83 years, the activities of the Egmont Foundation have focused on supporting social, cultural, and scientific charities, as well as initiating projects to develop activities and programmes for children and young people. To date the Egmont Foundation has awarded grants of approximately EUR 200 million.

Very cool.

Current books on their list include the Mr. Gum series and The Charlie Bone series. They also have a series of Shaun the Sheep books. Didn't know there was such a thing but I suspect I need them.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I have just come into contact with Egmont, and as a Scandinavian I knew about it, without knowing about it. Have sent them a list of books I'm interested in, and they've been very nice.

Look out for the new Michelle Magorian in May!
Sara O'Leary said…
I think I must have come across their name on your site - as a newbie blogger I still have to get the hang of this crediting things back!

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