Kids Can Press
Kids Can Press is a Canadian-owned publisher of children's books, with a catalogue of nearly 1,000 picture books and 500 e-books, nonfiction, and fiction titles for toddlers to young adults.[3] The Kids Can Press list includes well-known characters such as Franklin the Turtle.
Parent company
1973
Frieda Forman[1]
The press was chosen as the principal distributor of the Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada.[4]
Kids Can Press started in 1973 as an initiative from the Ontario College of Art to take advantage of growing nationalism within Canada during the 1970s to provide locally relevant children's material. In 1986, the publisher became a privately owned business ran by Valerie Hussey and Ricky Englander.[1] In 1998, the company was purchased by Canadian animation firm Nelvana for $6.1 million.[5] Englander left that same year.[1] In 2000, Corus Entertainment acquired Nelvana and they have operated Kids Can Press ever since.[6] Hussey remained at the company until 2006, when she stepped down and Lisa Lyons assumed leadership.[1][7]
Kids Can Press has published in partnership with Canadian public institutions such as the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario Science Centre, the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, the National Museum, the Museum of Nature, World Wildlife, and the National Hockey League.
Kids Can Press books have received critical acclaim and numerous nominations and awards. Some highlights include: