Atheneum Books

Atheneum Books was a publishing house and adult publisher created by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr. in 1959. He recruited editor Jean E. Karl personally, to come and establish a Children's Book Department in 1961.[1][2]

In the 2000s Atheneum is a children's-book imprint of Simon & Schuster. They have published the popular May Bird series, which includes May Bird and the Ever After. Other bestsellers include Olivia and the Newbery Medal winner The Higher Power of Lucky.

History

Created by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr. in 1959,[3] it became the publisher of Pulitzer Prize winners Edward Albee, Charles Johnson, and Theodore H. White. In 1961, Jean Karl created a children's division.

Atheneum merged with Charles Scribner's Sons to become The Scribner Book Company in 1978. The acquisition included Rawson Associates. Scribner was acquired by Macmillan in 1984. Macmillan was purchased by Simon & Schuster in 1994.[4]

References

  1. ^ Karl, Jean (Edna). Summer 2006. Alan Jalowitz. Pennsylvania Center for the Book. Penn State University. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  2. ^ Birthday Bios: Jean E. Karl. No date. Vicki Palmquist. Children's literature network. (c) 2002–2008. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  3. ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (February 16, 2009). "Alfred A. Knopf Jr., Influential Publisher, Dies at 90". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/books/16knopf.html. Retrieved 2009-02-22. "Alfred A. Knopf Jr., who left the noted publishing house run by his parents to become one of the founders of Atheneum Publishers in 1959, died on Saturday. He was 90, the last of the surviving founders, and lived in New York City." 
  4. ^ "History". Simon & Schuster. http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=427728&agid=13. Retrieved 2009-02-22. "In 1978 Scribner acquired Atheneum, publishers of Edward Albee, Charles Johnson, and Theodore H. White. The Atheneum acquisition also brought with it the Rawson Associates imprint. And in 1984, the Scribner Book Companies, which by then included a great children's division and a distinguished reference division, merged with Macmillan."