Amazon.com Buys Children's Book Titles From Publisher Marshall Cavendish

Posted on December 7, 2011

In a press release today, Amazon.com, Inc. announced that it has inked a deal with educational and consumer book publisher Marshall Cavendish in which Amazon will acquire more than 450 titles from Marshall Cavendish Children's Books (MCCB). It's an impressive list, which has been nominated for more than 150 industry awards.

The titles include The Night Before Christmas illustrated by Gennady Spirin, Three Little Tamales by Eric A. Kimmel, Chalk by Bill Thomson and Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy, as well as the National Book Award finalist My Name is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson. Amazon Publishing says the move will be the company's foundation to further expand into picture books, chapter books and Young Adult novels.

"Under the guidance of Margery Cuyler, the Marshall Cavendish Children's Books team has done an incredible job of building a contemporary and beautifully presented list of books," said Laurence Kirshbaum, Vice President and Publisher, Amazon Publishing, East Coast Group. "We look forward to working with these respected authors and illustrators. We will continue to publish these books in their handsome print editions and we think customers will love reading these books -- most of them never available before digitally -- with their families, using the brilliant color touchscreen on the Kindle Fire."

The news has been met with distaste by independent bookstores, many of which have said they will not carry Cavendish books now that Amazon.com owns them. Publisher's Weekly spoke with a number of independent bookstore owners who are extremely unhappy with the news.