New Owner for North-South Books

by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 9/13/2004

Struggling Swiss children's book publisher NordSud Verlag, parent company of North-South Books, has been acquired by a group of Swiss and German private investors.

The new owners have promoted MaryChris Bradley, formerly v-p, director of sales and marketing at North-South, to publisher. Bradley will run the American office in tandem with Matthew Navarro, who continues as managing director. The sale brings an end to a series of downsizings that began at North-South in early 2003 and continued through the end of last year when the publisher sold its SeaStar imprint to Chronicle Books. In a joint statement, Bradley and Navarro said, "our priority is to refocus the company on a path of stabilization while laying the groundwork for growing healthy."

North-South's spring list will feature 13 titles, a slight reduction from the 18 titles the company is publishing this fall. Among the spring titles are Wiggles, the newest in the Hugs and Kisses series; a new addition to the Rainbow Fish line, Rainbow Fish Opposites; and The Basghetti Spaghetti by Susanne Vettiger and illustrated by Marie-Anne Raber, both of whom are new to N-S. For the present, the North-South office will remain at six people.