Callaway Rolls Out Extravagant Children's Titles

by Rachel Deahl, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 12/14/2006

Eye-popping, oversized and collectible are a few of the words publisher Nicholas Callaway uses to describe his house's unusual new line. Callaway Classics, published by Callaway Arts & Entertainment in partnership with Penguin Books for Young Readers, feature a hefty trim size (13.5" x 17") and an equally hefty price tag: $85. Officially launched last week when the first two titles in the series arrived in stores—The Little Engine That Could, illustrated by Loren Long, and The Ugly Ducking, illustrated by Henri Galeron—the line is intended, according to Callaway, to feature "the world's most beautiful, and largest, children's books."

The limited edition series—only 10,000 copies of each book will be printed—is something Callaway thinks will fulfill "a new luxury niche in the children's book market." The books, which are packaged in individual boxes and feature a high-end paper known as Mohawk Superfine, will all be classic children's tales, with artwork by both new and original illustrators.

The next two announced titles, Winnie-the-Pooh and Treasure Island, will feature the art by those works' original illustrators: E.H. Shepard and N.C. Wyeth, respectively. While both books will appear in the oversized trim, Callaway said he doesn't envision the line being limited to that size, noting that it will "vary according to market demand."