Barrington Stoke is a children's book publisher based in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. The company was founded in 1998 and publishes fiction and non-fiction adapted to different reading ages for reluctant, under-confident and
dyslexic children and teens. The books are printed on cream paper to reduce glare and language-edited to increase readability. The text is a specially-adapted dyslexia-friendly font, with a considered layout and numerous chapter breaks.
Barrington Stoke was awarded Publisher of the Year in 2007 by the Independent Publisher’s Guild. In 2020, Barrington Stoke had its first CILIP
Carnegie Medal winner with ''Lark'' by
Anthony McGowan
Anthony John McGowan (born January 1965) is an English author of books for children, teenagers and adults. He is the winner of the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal for ''Lark''.
In addition to his 2020 win, he has been twice longlisted (for ''The Kn ...
.
History
Barrington Stoke was founded by Patience Thomson and Lucy Juckes in 1998. Thomson was a principal of a specialist school for dyslexic students and Juckes had held a marketing role with
Bloomsbury Publishing. They identified children and young people excluded from books due to dyslexia or other reading issues. The pair then formed Barrington Stoke in Juckes’ living room, with an aim to produce books with a different design and editorial approach, along with a shorter format to support less able readers.
Authors
Barrington Stoke publishes well-known children's authors such as
Kevin Brooks,
Terry Deary
William Terence Deary (born 3 January 1946) is a British children's author of over 200 books, selling over 25 million copies in over 40 languages, best known as the writer of the ''Horrible Histories'' series. Since 1994 he has been one of Britai ...
,
Elizabeth Kay, Anthony McGowan,
Robert Swindells,
Lisa Thompson,
Onjali Q Raúf and
Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011) was a British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer. She principally wrote fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults. Although usually d ...
. The company also publishes previous
Children’s Laureates such as
Anne Fine
Anne Fine OBE FRSL (born 7 December 1947) is an English writer. Although best known for children's books, she also writes for adults. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and she was appointed an OBE in 2003.
Fine has written m ...
,
Michael Morpurgo
Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo ('' né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as ''War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytell ...
,
Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman is a British writer who held the position of Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015. She primarily writes literature and television drama for children and young adults. She has used science fiction to explore social and ethica ...
,
Michael Rosen
Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a British children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster and activist who has written 140 books. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009.
Early life
Michael Wayne Ro ...
,
Julia Donaldson
Julia Donaldson (born Julia Catherine Shields; born ) is an English writer and playwright, and the 2011–2013 Children's Laureate. She is best known for her popular rhyming stories for children, especially those illustrated by Axel Scheffler, ...
and
Laureate na nÓg Eoin Colfer
Eoin Colfer (; born 14 May 1965) is an Irish author of children's books. He worked as a primary school teacher before he became a full-time writer. He is best known for being the author of the ''Artemis Fowl'' series. In September 2008, Col ...
. Some authors better known for writing for adults also write for Barrington Stoke, including
Eric Brown,
Allan Guthrie,
James Lovegrove and
Gwyneth Jones writing as
Ann Halam
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
.
Imprints
Barrington Stoke launched its Picture Squirrel imprint in 2014 after a dyslexic father lamented the fact that he could not read to his daughter.
The Bookstart Michael Morpurgo
Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo ('' né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as ''War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytell ...
was the first children's author to join Barrington Stoke's picture book list.
In 2015 the company ventured into digital and launched Tints, a dyslexia-friendly reading app that allowed its specially-designed books to be accessed via tablets.
See also
* Scottish Publishers Association
References
External links
Barrington Stoke
Picture Squirrels
{{Authority control
Book publishing companies of Scotland
Companies based in Edinburgh
1997 establishments in Scotland
Publishing companies established in 1997