Lerner Publishing Group, based in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

state of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

since its founding in 1959, is one of the largest independently owned

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

s in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. With more than 5,000 titles in print, Lerner Publishing Group offers nonfiction and fiction books for grades K-12.

History

Lerner was founded in 1959 by Harry Lerner. The company started as a one-room office in the old

Lumber Exchange Building The Lumber Exchange Building was the first skyscraper built in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, dating to 1885. It was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by Franklin B. Long and Frederick Kees and was billed as one of the fir ...

in downtown Minneapolis. Lerner's sister-in-law, Marguerite Rush Lerner, M.D., asked him to publish her stories about childhood diseases. These became the Medical Books for Children series (1959). The company has expanded to encompass four offices: the main Lerner building, Lerner Distribution Center, and Muscle Bound Bindery, all located in Minneapolis, and a New York office located in the Empire State Building. In 1963, Lerner was the first publisher to print original art featuring multi-racial children, and has continued a tradition of innovation.

Imprints

Lerner Publications

Lerner Publications is intended for K-5 students, publishing 130 books annually in photo-driven series for schools and libraries.

Millbrook Press

Millbrook was a

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

-based publisher founded in 1989 by the French publisher

Groupe de la Cite A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

. Millbrook was sold to a group led by management in 1994. Lerner acquired Millbrook Press in 2004. Millbrook publishes under three sub-imprints: Millbrook, Copper Beech, and Twenty-First Century. Millbrook prints books for both the

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

and school market

Millbrook's trade imprint, Roaring Brook Press, was sold separately to Macmillan Publishers, Holtzbrinck Publishers.

Carolrhoda Books

Carolrhoda Books was begun in 1969, named after Carolrhoda Locketz, a close friend of Sharon Lerner who died after serving in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

. Carolrhoda publishes about 20 titles annually:

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

s, fiction, and single-title nonfiction for trade and library editions.

Graphic Universe

Graphic Universe was launched in 2006 and prints books in

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

format. The imprint has two main series: Twisted Journeys and Graphic Myths and Legends. The imprint is notable for using well-known artists from the

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

genre.

Twenty-First Century Books

Twenty-First Century Books was acquired along with Millbrook Press in 2004. This imprint focuses on books for grades 6+, usually photo-driven.

Ediciones Lerner

Ediciones Lerner prints Spanish-language translations of popular nonfiction titles for elementary school students.

LernerClassroom

LernerClassroom, launched in 2000, is specifically geared towards educational titles, including resources for teachers. Some titles are from the Group's list, and others are specially developed. The imprint works mostly with nonfiction, but some fiction.

Kar-Ben Publishing

Kar-Ben Publishing was acquired in 2001, for artwork- and photo-driven fiction and nonfiction titles geared for the children's Judaica market.

Cloverleaf Books

Created for K-2 grades, they contain bright, eye-catching art and picture book designs to grab the attention young readers.

Searchlight Books

Designed for grades 3-5, these books are simple, straightforward nonfiction texts that build children's’ reading skills.

Darby Creek Publishing

Darby Creek Publishing, which will continue as an imprint, was acquired by the Lerner Publishing Group in 2010. Established in 2002, Darby Creek, is in Columbus, Ohio and publishes

K–12 K–12, from kindergarten to 12th grade, is an American English expression that indicates the range of years of publicly supported primary and secondary education found in the United States, which is similar to publicly supported school grades ...

fiction and nonfiction titles for the school and public library markets, and the trade bookstore market. Its authors include

Lurlene McDaniel Lurlene McDaniel (born 1944 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American author who has written more than 70 young adult books. She is well known for writing about young adults struggling with mortality and chronic illness, a career that began ...

David Lubar David Lubar (born March 16, 1954) is an author of numerous books for teens. He is also a video game programmer, who programmed ''Breakout (arcade game), Super Breakout'' for the Game Boy and ''Frogger'' for both the Super Nintendo Entertainment ...

, and

Joseph Bruchac Joseph Bruchac (born October 16, 1942) is an American writer and storyteller based in New York. He writes about Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a particular focus on northeastern Native American and Anglo-American lives and folklore. He ...

. Lerner had been distributing Darby Creek titles since 2003.

Zest Books

Zest Books, a young adult nonfiction publisher, was founded in 2006 and acquired by Lerner in 2018.https://lernerbooks.com/Pages/Our-Imprints#brands

The Sharon Lerner Scholarship

The Sharon Lerner Scholarship is a four-week scholarship, begun in 1983, to honor Sharon Lerner, art director and founder of Carolrhoda Books. The scholarship is intended to promote understanding and cooperation between international publishers of children's book

References

* * Business.com
"Millbrook Press Inc. (the) Information."
Business.com. Accessed on July 22, 2008. * Lerner Books
"Lerner Books."
Lerner Publishing Group. Accessed on July 22, 2008. {{Authority control Companies based in Minneapolis Book publishing companies based in Minnesota Privately held companies based in Minnesota Publishing companies established in 1959