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Nosy Crow

Nosy Crow
Nosy Crow
Founded2010
Founders
  • Kate Wilson (Managing Director)
  • Adrian Soar (Commercial Director)
  • Camilla Reid (Editorial Director)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Headquarters locationLondon
DistributionGrantham Book Services (UK)[1]
Allen & Unwin (Australia)[2]
Publication typesChildren's Books
Fiction genresChildren's Books
RevenueIncrease£22 million (2020)
Official websitewww.nosycrow.com

Nosy Crow is an independent children's publisher, based in London. The company was founded in 2010 by Kate Wilson, formerly MD of Macmillan Children’s Books and Group MD of Scholastic UK Ltd,[3] Adrian Soar, formerly Book Publishing CEO of Macmillan Publishers,[4] and Camilla Reid, formerly Editorial Director of Campbell Books.[5] In 2020, the company was named Independent Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards.[6] As of 2021, Nosy Crow is the UK's 11th largest children's publisher, according to Nielsen BookScan data.[7]

History

[edit]

Nosy Crow was founded in 2010,[8] and published its first book in January 2011.[9] In its first year of publishing, it released 23 books and 3 apps in total, and invoiced one million pounds.[10] The company has a strong background in rights-selling. Wilson began her career selling rights at Faber and Faber,[11] and in its first year, foreign rights to Nosy Crow titles were sold in 16 languages.[10] By September 2014, Nosy Crow had grown to become the 16th largest children’s publisher in the UK, according to Nielsen Bookscan data,[12] and by 2019, the company had grown to become the 12th largest children’s publisher in the UK.[13] The company has been noted on multiple occasions for its rapid growth in an industry experiencing shrinking revenue elsewhere.[14][15] In May 2023, Nosy Crow launched a United States company, Nosy Crow Inc.[16]

Books

[edit]

Nosy Crow publishes commercial fiction and non-fiction books for children aged from 0 to 14.[17] Its most successful series to date include the Bizzy Bear books, written by Camilla Reid and illustrated by Benji Davies, and the Pip and Posy books, written by Camilla Reid and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, each of which have sold several million copies worldwide. The Pip and Posy books were credited with producing healthier than expected sales in the industry overall for 2011. Wilson had previously collaborated with Scheffler at Macmillan, where she published The Gruffalo and initiated the long-running collaboration between the artist and former Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson.[18]

Other successful titles and series include Open Very Carefully, winner of the 2014 Waterstones Children's Book Prize,[19] the My Brother is a Superhero series, written by David Solomons, which has sold in over 20 languages worldwide and been awarded the 2016 Waterstones Children's Book Prize[20] and the 2016 British Book Industry Award Children's Book of the Year Prize,[21] Pamela Butchart's Baby Aliens series, which has won a Blue Peter Book Award[22] and a Children's Book Award,[23] the Felt Flaps series by Ingela P. Arrhenius, winner of the Sainsbury's Children's Book of the Year Award,[24] There's a Bear on My Chair by Ross Collins, winner of the inaugural Amnesty CILIP Greenaway Honour in 2016[25] and a UKLA Book Award in 2017,[26] and I Am The Seed That Grew The Tree: A Nature Poem For Every Day Of The Year, winner of the inaugural Waterstones Children’s Gift of the Year Award in 2018.[27]

Apps

[edit]

Nosy Crow was particularly notable for its original apps for the iOS platform.,[28] which it developed in-house. Between 2011 and 2018, Nosy Crow released over 25 apps, which won numerous awards and received critical acclaim, earning the company recognition as a leader in the field.[28] In April 2018, the company announced that it would cease its in-house app development programme and close its app department, citing the challenging commercial environment for children's reading apps.[29]

Partnerships

[edit]

Nosy Crow has become well known for its partnerships,[30] with international publishers,[31] charities,[32] and other organisations.[30] In North America, many of the company's illustrated book titles were published under an imprint of the same name by Candlewick Press,[31] and in Australia, Nosy Crow books are distributed by Allen & Unwin.[2] In November 2012, the company made headlines[30] by creating an instant picture book edition of the John Lewis Christmas television advert, in partnership with John Lewis. The company has since produced picture book editions of several further John Lewis Christmas television adverts, in 2013,[33] 2014,[34] 2016[35] and 2017.[36] In September 2014, the company announced[37] a partnership with The National Trust, to publish a jointly-branded children's book list, and in October 2015, Nosy Crow announced[38] a second partnership with The British Museum for another jointly-branded children's book list. In June 2023, Nosy Crow announced[39] their third partnership with Cambridge University for another jointly-branded children's book list.

Awards

[edit]

Since being established, Nosy Crow has won a number of awards, both for its books and apps, and as a company. These include:

Business Awards

[edit]

Book Awards

[edit]

App Awards

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Orders and distribution enquiries
  2. ^ a b "Round the world in 11 days". 29 November 2010.
  3. ^ "Kate Wilson - Managing Director :: About Nosy Crow :: Nosy Crow". nosycrow.com. Archived from the original on 3 April 2010.
  4. ^ Adrian Soar
  5. ^ Camilla Reid
  6. ^ a b "Pan Mac and Waterstones triumph at British Book Awards 2020", The Bookseller, London, 29 June 2020. Retrieved on 30 June 2020
  7. ^ "Looking back on 2020", Nosy Crow, London, 15 January 2021. Retrieved on 19 January 2021
  8. ^ Horn, Caroline "Kate Wilson sets up children's publisher, Nosy Crow", The Bookseller, London, 22 February 2010. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  9. ^ "Nosy Crow publishes its first book!". 13 January 2011.
  10. ^ a b "Looking back at 2011, our first year of publishing". 31 December 2011.
  11. ^ http://www.debretts.co.uk/people/biographies/browse/w/21311/Kate+WILSON.aspx [dead link‍]
  12. ^ Wilson, Kate "Nosy Crow has won Nectar Business's Small Business of the Year award", Nosy Crow, London, 8 September 2014. Retrieved on 18 September 2014
  13. ^ Nosy Crow has been shortlisted for three 2019 British Book Awards, Nosy Crow, London, 22 March 2019. Retrieved on 22 March 2019
  14. ^ a b c Cowdrey, Katherine. "Pan Macmillan and Waterstones take top prizes at the British Book Awards", The Bookseller, London, 8 May 2017. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  15. ^ a b "IPG Home".
  16. ^ Kate (14 September 2022). "Press Release: Nosy Crow takes flight in North America!". Nosy Crow. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  17. ^ "Nosy Crow: About us". nosycrow.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2010.
  18. ^ Rustin, Susanna "Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson tells why she vetoed ebook", The Guardian, London, 25 March 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  19. ^ a b "Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2014 winners announced", Waterstones, London, 3 April 2014. Retrieved on 6 September 2014.
  20. ^ Pauli, Michelle "David Solomons wins Waterstones prize with superhero story", The Guardian, London, 17 March 2016. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  21. ^ a b Shand-Baptiste, Kuba "My Brother is a Superhero wins best children's book award", The Guardian, London, 10 May 2016. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  22. ^ a b Pauli, Michelle "Funny and silly books win the Blue Peter awards", The Guardian, London, 5 March 2015. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  23. ^ a b Erizanu, Paula "My Headteacher is a Vampire Rat wins Children’s Book Award 2016", The Guardian, London, 28 May 2016. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  24. ^ a b Wilson, Kate "Where’s Mr Lion has won the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award!", Nosy Crow, 24 August 2017. Retrieved on 7 February 2019
  25. ^ a b Parker, Nicky "The Amnesty CILIP Honour winners 2016", Amnesty International, 20 June 2016. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  26. ^ a b "UKLA Book Awards 2017 Winners Announced", UKLA, 30 June 2017. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  27. ^ a b "I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree is the Waterstones Children's Gift of the Year". 29 November 2018.
  28. ^ a b Thomson, Liz "Shelf life in hard times: The book folk who wrote glorious chapters in 2011", The Independent, London, 23 December 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  29. ^ Eyre, Charlotte "Nosy Crow closes app department, makes three redundant", The Bookseller, London, 26 April 2018. Retrieved on 27 April 2018
  30. ^ a b c Flood, Alison. "John Lewis snowman remodelled as children's book", The Guardian, London, 28 November 2012. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  31. ^ a b Neill, Graeme. "Nosy Crow signs with US' Candlewick Press", The Bookseller, London, 11 March 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  32. ^ Eyre, Charlotte. "Unicef to distribute free board books in Scotland", The Bookseller, London, 17 July 2014. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  33. ^ Bonnick, Tom "Nosy Crow partners with John Lewis to create a picture book of the John Lewis Christmas television advert, The Bear and the Hare", Nosy Crow, London, 15 November 2013. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  34. ^ Eyre, Charlotte "Nosy Crow publishes third John Lewis ad book", The Bookseller, London, 26 March 2014. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  35. ^ Onwuemezi, Natasha "Nosy Crow publishes Buster's Christmas with John Lewis", The Bookseller, London, 10 November 2016. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  36. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine "Nosy Crow partners with John Lewis on fifth Christmas ad book", The Bookseller, London, 10 November 2017. Retrieved on 10 January 2018
  37. ^ Wilson, Kate "Nosy Crow will partner with the National Trust to create a children’s book list", Nosy Crow, London, 18 September 2014. Retrieved on 21 October 2015
  38. ^ Wilson, Kate "Nosy Crow partners with the British Museum", Nosy Crow, London, 7 October 2015. Retrieved on 21 October 2015
  39. ^ Murphy, Lisa (5 June 2023). "STE(A)Ming Ahead! Nosy Crow and the University of Cambridge". Nosy Crow. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  40. ^ "Penguin General and W H Smith Travel crowned in BBA trade awards", The Bookseller, London, 13 May 2019. Retrieved on 14 May 2019
  41. ^ Bonnick, Tom "Nosy Crow wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade", Nosy Crow, London, 21 April 2018. Retrieved on 27 April 2018
  42. ^ "2023 Winners". www.independentpublishersguild.com. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  43. ^ "2022 winners". www.independentpublishersguild.com. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  44. ^ Wilson, Kate "Nosy Crow has won the 2019 Independent Publishers Guild Marketing Award", Nosy Crow, London, 3 May 2019. Retrieved on 7 May 2019
  45. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine "Maths - No Problem! scoops IPG's Independent Publisher of the Year", The Bookseller, London, 08 March 2018. Retrieved on 19 March 2018
  46. ^ "IPG | Independent Publishing Awards". Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  47. ^ "IPG Home".
  48. ^ "IPG Home".
  49. ^ "IPG Home".
  50. ^ "IPG Home".
  51. ^ "Stationers’ Innovation Excellence Awards 2014", Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, London, 30 June 2014. Retrieved on 6 September 2014.
  52. ^ Carpenter, Caroline "Nosy Crow wins Nectar business award", The Bookseller, London, 4 September 2014.
  53. ^ Ruthven, Hunter "Xtrac's Peter Digby roars to success at the Growing Business Awards", Real Business, London, 25 November 2014. Retrieved on 26 November 2014
  54. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  55. ^ a b "Tir na n-Og awards Past Winners", Welsh Books Council, 1 June 2017. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  56. ^ "Sara Lloyd, PRH and Bloomsbury claim FutureBook Award gongs", The Bookseller, 2 December 2016. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  57. ^ "HarperCollins scoops two at FutureBook Awards", The Bookseller, 4 December 2015. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  58. ^ "Nosy Crow, Profile and PRH among FutureBook's innovation winners", The Bookseller, London, 14 November 2014. Retrieved on 17 November 2014
  59. ^ "Touch Press leads winners at FutureBook Innovation Awards", The Bookseller, London, 22 November 2013. Retrieved on 6 September 2014.
  60. ^ Jones, Philip. "FutureBook Innovation Awards: the winners", The Bookseller, London, 6 December 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  61. ^ "Goldilocks and Little Bear app by Nosy Crow wins UKLA Digital Book Award 2016", UKLA, 15 June 2016. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  62. ^ "Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Safari app by Nosy Crow wins the UKLA Best Digital Book Award 2015", UKLA, 8 July 2015. Retrieved on 1 August 2017
  63. ^ "Booktrust Best Book Awards: Winners announced!", Booktrust, London, 2 July 2014. Retrieved on 6 September 2014.
  64. ^ "2012 Winners of the Publishing Innovation Awards", Publishing Innovation Award. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  65. ^ Buckleitner, Warren. "Third Annual KAPi Award Winners Announced", Children's Technology Review, New Jersey, 8 December 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  66. ^ "Nosy Crow wins iPad Kids App of the Year from iLounge". 2 November 2011.