Rainbow Fish Surfaces Once Again
This story originally appeared in Children's Bookshelf on August 3, 2006 Sign up now!
by Sally Lodge, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 8/3/2006
Marcus Pfister’s multicolored, shimmering Rainbow Fish first swam onto bookstore shelves in this country in 1992, when North-South Books published The Rainbow Fish, the inaugural title featuring this character. Since then this ABBY-winning picture book has been translated into more than 80 languages and has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. The original tale has spawned a number of sequels in various formats;this September North-South will issue Rainbow Fish Finds His Way, Pfister’s first new Rainbow Fish title in five years.
MaryChris Bradley, publisher of North-South, says that she realized soon after she joined the company seven years ago how strongly readers young and old react to the Rainbow Fish character. She notes, “All you have to do is spend 10 minutes in our booth at any show and you will hear at least three people say, ‘Oh, my (insert here: kids, students, librarian) love(s) the Fish!’ The books are the perfect combination of a simple but important message—sharing—combined with a great gimmick, holographic foil stamping. It may be the glitter that catches a child’s interest, but it is the story of the fish with silver scales with a heart of gold that hooks them.”
And continues to hook them. Last spring, the publisher released Hide-and-Seek, a Rainbow Fish cloth book-and-finger-puppet package, and Pfister is currently completing several Rainbow Fish pop-up books that will appear in 2007. At Quail Ridge Books and Music in Raleigh, N.C., bookseller Diana Carroll observes that the original The Rainbow Fish is a perennial favorite with customers. She attributes its success to its “glittery special effects, its subtle message about the importance of sharing and its appeal to both children and adults. It is a winner on all three levels.”
Founded in the U.S. 25 years ago, North-South Books is a division ofSwitzerland-based NordSüd Verlag, which is currently owned by a group of nine investors who purchased the parent company in 2004 from Davy Sidjanski, the son of NordSüd’s founders. This year, North-South formed publishing partnerships with two other European houses, NorthSouth Dressler and NorthSouth Annette Betz.In 2006, North-South’s list grew 55% over the prior year, offering 51 titles. The publisher aims to issue between 55 and 70 titles annually in the next two years. Bradley estimates that currently 30% of the North-South list consists of books published originally by NordSüd Verlag, 35% published by Dressler and Annette Betz and 35% are acquired through other channels, including original North-South acquisitions in this country. The imprint will also begin releasing books originating with a third publishing partner in 2007.
Recent and upcoming North-South titles, which are distributed in the U.S. by Chronicle, reflect the company’s international flavor. Among its 2006 releases are imports from the Netherlands (Little Donkey and the Baby-Sitter by Robert Kromhout, illustrated by Annemarie van Haeringen); Switzerland (Christine Kempter’s Dear Little Lamb, illus. by Frauke Weldin); India (My Mother’s Sari by Sandhya Rao, illustrated by Nina Sabnani), Austria (Heave Ho! by Heinze Janisch, with art by Carola Holland; the U.K. (Come Out and Play by Diane Law); and Germany (Paul Maar’s Gloria the Cow, illustrated by Tina Schulte; and Romeo and Juliet, retold by Barbara Kindermann, with art by Christa Unzner).
Bradley, who oversees the editorial and art direction of North South’s publishing program, works closely with editor Marianne Martens and with designer Michaela Gut, who is based in NordSüd Verlag’s Switzerland office. The extent to which the imports from other countries require editing or revising, Bradley says, varies from title to title. “We look at each book individually, evaluating what we like or don’t like, what works and what doesn’t work,” she notes. “When we work on the final text, we make whatever changes we think necessary to reflect the concerns and desires of the English-language marketplace, since we publish our books not only in the U.S. but in Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. We try to retain as much as possible of the original flavor of the book while at the same time making thoughtful changes, as necessary, for our markets.”
Rounding out the North-South team is Ellen Myrick, marketing and publicity director; Matthew Navarro, v-p and managing director; and general assistant Michele Aris. The latter two work in the company’s New York office and the rest of the staff works from their respective homes. “We have really mastered the art of the nearly virtual office,” Bradley remarks. And, clearly, also the art of keeping Rainbow Fish front and center on children’s bookshelves.
