A joint venture between Bayard Group and Trustbridge Global Media was launched at the fifth China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair, which ran from November 17–19.
Bayard Bridge, the newly formed children’s book publishing company, is focused on the two to 12 age group, and is set to publish around 40 titles by the end of this month. The first batch of titles will include Hervé Tullet’s new picture book Oh! Le -livre des sons. A digital app is set for launch in December. TGM will work closely with Bayard, Milan, and Tourbillon publishers to adapt existing titles, such as those by authors Xavier Deneux and Serge Bloch, for the Chinese market. The plan is to publish a total of 80 titles within the first year, and between 100 and 150 for the following years.
For Paris-based Pascal Ruffenach, president of the Bayard Group, the joint venture marks “an important development in our international expansion. We share essential values with the teams of TGM. We want to bring high-quality educational and leisure content to Chinese children and families.” Their shared conviction, Ruffenach added, is that “family lies in the heart of society, today and tomorrow.”
The Bayard brand is familiar to Chinese parents and children, for its having been in the market for almost 40 years with brands such as Pomme d’Api, J’aime lire, Okapi, and Phosphore. But the launch of Bayard Bridge marks its first joint venture in the Chinese publishing industry.
