A Rare View Into 3 Top Publishers' Personal Imprints
Penguin/Nancy Paulsen + Macmillan/Christy Ottaviano + Random House/Wendy Lamb

Nancy Paulsen is the president and publisher of Nancy Paulsen Books/A Division of Penguin Young Readers

Nancy Paulsen Books launched its first hardcover list in Fall 2011. The imprint publishes approximately fifteen books a year and focuses on picture books that are eye-opening and often funny, and fiction from diverse and distinct voices, especially stories that are inventive and emotionally satisfying. These are the kinds of books that are adopted by book clubs and that appear on state lists, generated by the votes of children.

Recent picture books include Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, Looking at Lincoln by Maira Kalman, Strega Nona’s Gift by Laura Ingalls Wilder Award winner Tomie dePaola, and Ol Mama Squirrel by Caldecott Honor winner David Ezra Stein. Fiction includes Beneath a Meth Moon by three-time Newbery Honor winner Jacqueline Woodson, the highly praised Saint Louis Armstrong Beach by Brenda Woods and One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt.

Nancy Paulsen has been with Penguin her entire career, starting as an assistant at Viking Children’s Books, where many of the books she edited are still in print, including Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London, I Like Me by Nancy Carlson, and Horrible Harry by Suzy Kline. As publisher of Puffin Books, she published authors Roald Dahl, Gary Paulsen, and Mildred Taylor. As publisher of Putnam, she expanded the list of fiction and edited three Newbery Honor winners by Jacqueline Woodson, Show Way, Feathers and After Tupac and D Foster; Newbery Honor–winning Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer; Coretta Scott King Honor–winning The Road To Paris by Nikki Grimes; and National Book Award nominee Where I Want to Be by Adele Griffin. She also edited a number of classic picture books, including The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson and E. B. Lewis, Fireboat by Maira Kalman, and Leaves by David Ezra Stein.

Christy Ottaviano, Editorial Director Christy Ottaviano Books, an imprint of Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, part of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. The line’s broad scope features author-illustrators and encompasses literary and commercial picture books and fiction for all ages with a focus on the middle-grade market. Books that encourage imagination and free-thinking, foster a sense of family and community, target the feelings of children, and speak directly to young people’s interests as they explore various milestones -- contemporary classics that both challenge and entertain inquisitive readers.

Wendy Lamb is Editorial Director of Wendy Lamb Books. The first eponymous imprint at Random House, Wendy Lamb Books (WLB) was established in 2002. Focused on middle grade and young adult fiction, WLB publishes a diverse array of literature, from debut to veteran authors. Some of the wonderfully talented authors WLB has published include: Christopher Paul Curtis, Patricia Reilly Giff, Gary Paulsen, Graham Salisbury, Eoin McNamee, and last year’s Newbery Award winner, Rebecca Stead.