Charlesbridge publishes high-quality books for children, with a goal of creating lifelong readers and lifelong learners. Our books encourage reading and discovery in the classroom, library, and home. We believe that books for children should offer accurate information, promote a positive worldview, and embrace a child's innate sense of wonder and fun. To this end, we continually strive to seek new voices, new visions, and new directions in children's literature.
Meet Our Staff
Editorial and Design
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Alyssa Pusey |
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 Emily Mitchell Senior Editor |
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Yolanda LeRoy
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Connie Brown
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Randi Rivers
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Whitney Leader-Picone |
Brian Walker |
Marketing and Sales
Mary Ann Sabia |
Donna Spurlock |
Meg Bencivenni
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Taylor Rogers
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Jill Ash
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Customer Service and Administration
Tracy Pilla |
Jessica Russell |
Bob Sammartino |
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CHARLESBRIDGE AT A GLANCE
- An independent publisher of children’s fiction and nonfiction books for ages 0-14.
- Our offices are in Watertown, Massachusetts.
- Our warehouse is in Waltham, Massachusetts.
- We accept unsolicited manuscripts from authors.
- 80% of the books that we have published are still in print.
- We provide one-on-one customer service.
- We have generous terms for booksellers with returnable or non-returnable discounts.
- We publish two catalogs each year.
- We offer generous co-op opportunities. Click here for more information.
- Charlesbridge authors and illustrators live all over the world and visit schools, libraries, and bookstores extensively.
- Find us online at www.charlesbridge.com, on our blog at charlesbridge.blogspot.com, on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and Jacket Flap.
- We provide free and downloadable posters, discussion, and book group guides on our website, as well as story hour handouts such as coloring sheets, word finds, and more. Click here.
- Hi and Lo-res cover images and author and illustrator photos are available for download on our website. Click here.
- A quarterly newsletter provides information about new books, authors and illustrators, new downloadables, special offers, contests, and more. Click
here to sign up for our newsletters.
MILESTONES
2009 marks Charlesbridge’s twentieth anniversary as an independent children’s book publisher. Over the years, Charlesbridge has built a reputation for books with engaging, accurate text and bold, detailed illustrations. Charlesbridge’s diverse list provides interesting, informative, and imaginative books for young readers ages 0-14, encouraging a love of reading and a respect for the natural world and for one another. Since our beginning in 1989, our books have not only enhanced school curriculums, but have thrived in the marketplace providing excellent fiction and nonfiction that young readers crave. The five books on our first list were soon joined by an ever-increasing list of books about our natural world, outer space, people and cultures, biographies, math concepts, history, and more.
| 1989 | Charlesbridge began publishing nonfiction picture books with the release of five nature alphabet books by Jerry Pallotta (there are now twenty-two books in Jerry Pallotta’s alphabet book series and those first five books are still in print). Subsequent seasons included picture books by Sneed B. Collard III, Virginia Kroll, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Tony Johnston, and more. |
| 1993 | Charlesbridge began publishing Spanish translations as well as original bilingual books by Nancy María Grande Tabor, including Albertina anda arriba/Albertina Goes Up and Somos un arco iris/We Are a Rainbow. That list continues to grow and popular titles such as Lola en la biblioteca (Lola at the Library), Que nervios (First Day Jitters), and Ser vecinos (Be My Neighbor) are accessible to the growing Latin population in the United States. |
| 1997 | Charlesbridge began publishing fiction picture books, including the bestselling Alice and Greta by Steven J. Simmons. Alice and Greta made the Publishers Weekly bestseller list in December that year. We followed up Alice and Greta’s great success with more fiction books that focus on strong story, enduring characters, and a child’s curiosity. |
| 1997 | Charlesbridge partnered with The Global Fund for Children (GFC) to publish books with a global social consciousness beginning with Children from Australia to Zimbabwe: A Photographic Journey Around the World. Charlesbridge and GFC have since developed eighteen books that focus on childhood and growing up around the world. All photo-illustrated, these books introduce young readers to children in different cultures and expand their appreciation of the multicultural world in which they live. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these books helps support GFC’s grantmaking toward community-based projects benefiting children around the world. In 2006, The Global Fund for Children was honored by Oprah’s Angel Network—a public charity formed in 1998 to encourage volunteerism and community involvement—for their contribution to children and children’s literacy through their grantmaking practices, as well as for the books developed in partnership with Charlesbridge. |
| 1999 | Charlesbridge acquired the independent publishing house Whispering Coyote Press. This addition substantially expanded the Charlesbridge list and included titles by best-selling author/illustrator Iza Trapani, such as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, I’m a Little Teapot, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider—which has sold over one million copies. With the inclusion of such authors as Iza Trapani and Julie Danneberg and her best-selling First Day Jitters, Whispering Coyote books have proven the perfect complement and addition to the Charlesbridge list. |
| 2000 | Charlesbridge partnered with non-profit organization Reach Out and Read (ROR) and Boston NPR station WBUR to raise book donations via WBUR’s fundraising efforts. This affiliation has continued year after year during WBUR’s fall fundraising drives and over 80,000 books have been distributed to ROR sites around Massachusetts and Rhode Island. |
| 2005 | Charlesbridge published The Storm compiled by Barbara Barbieri McGrath. This book is a collection of art, stories, and poetry by students from Biloxi, Mississippi, who were effected by Hurricane Katrina. Proceeds from the sale of this book benefitted Biloxi Public Schools. |
| 2006 | Charlesbridge began publishing early readers, chapter books, and middle-grade novels. Until this time, we had exclusively published picture books and board books for young readers, but felt it was time to follow our readers as they grew. With the release of the chapter book Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins, we began a commitment to publishing chapter and middle-grade books that introduced young readers to an exciting world of stories about growing up, life in different cultures, history, and learning, but with themes familiar to their own experiences. Other titles include Camel Rider, Aggie and Ben, The Mysteries of Beethoven’s Hair, and more. |
| 2006 | Charlesbridge acquired the publishing rights to the Lickle Publishing children’s book list, including the acclaimed “Come Look With Me” art appreciation series and the best-selling The Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle. |
| 2009 | Charlesbridge began a partnership with author Stuart J. Murphy to develop a series of books called “Stuart J. Murphy’s I See, I Learn”, the first four of which will be released in 2010, introducing social and emotional skills through visual learning. Stuart J. Murphy is best known for his MathStart series from HarperCollins, which has sold over four million copies. |
With a talented and committed staff dedicated to creating and sharing the very best in children’s literature, Charlesbridge continues to make inroads within the trade marketplace, as well as in the school and library markets, by listening and learning from the people who serve young readers directly.
LOOKING FORWARD
While Charlesbridge has expanded from its initial publishing plan of producing the best in children’s nonfiction to include story books, chapter books, middle-grade novels and nonfiction, our mission remains the same: to inform and fascinate.
With a talented staff behind every book, Charlesbridge has become a destination publisher for authors and illustrators. Through personal attention from the editorial and marketing processes, authors and illustrators find a house that offers a high degree of collaboration.
“We are fiercely independent, and the family business ‘we're all in this together’ mentality pervades every aspect of the company,” says Editorial Director Yolanda LeRoy.
In the last twenty years Charlesbridge has been the proud publishing house of first-time authors and illustrators like Jerry Pallotta, Ralph Masiello, Grace Lin, and Darrin Lunde, as well as long-time favorites such as Jane Yolen, Kathryn Lasky, Sandra Markle, and Caroline Arnold. As we enter the third decade of independent publishing, Charlesbridge hopes to encourage and inspire the love of reading, writing, and learning in children of all ages.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Charlesbridge created a virtual “wall” on its blogspot, Unabridged, and asked friends and partners to sign in and tell us what they think of us so far. Here’s what a few of them told us:
“You've been so fine to work with that I can't believe it's already been 20 years. And for some time now, I've heard from people in the industry, "If more publishers were run like Charlesbridge, the publishing industry would be in MUCH better shape. They're the model for how to do it right." Here's to your health and happiness and many more years of smart, beautiful books and good business practices.” -- Carol Chittenden, Eight Cousins, “I'm so proud to be a Charlesbridge author!” -- Mitali Perkins, author “Congratulations on 20 years of producing beautiful books! Love all your nonfiction!” -- Elaine Landau, author “Congrats to a publisher of some of the greatest books for children! May the past 20 only represent the title page of your literary work!” -- Kevin D. Washburn Ed. D., “Congratulations on a memorable milestone! Wishing you many more years of quality literature--you're a favorite of ours!” -- Make Way for Books, “It seems like only yesterday! Best wishes for at least another 20 years. Many great books... and many more to come.” -- Jeannette Larson, librarian “Has it already been 20 years? Congratulations on 20 years! Jerry Pallotta and I were there at the beginning, with The Icky Bug Alphabet and I plan on being there until my end. The people that have come and gone, the people who still remain, are some of the nicest people to work with. I especially want to thank Brent Farmer and Mary Ann Sabia for all their support for all these years. Charlesbridge is my home.” -- Ralph Masiello, author/illustrator |