Margaret Anastas will join Viking Children’s Books next month, where she will launch an as-yet-unnamed imprint dedicated to publishing commercial picture books and picture book franchises. Anastas, who comes from HarperCollins Children’s Books, where she was an editorial director, will report to Viking Children’s Books and Philomel Books president and publisher Ken Wright.
"I have always admired Viking and Penguin Random House, and am thrilled to be able to join such a creative and dynamic team and to bring new voices to a beloved and iconic children’s brand," Anastas said.
Over the past 17 years with HarperCollins, Anastas has acquired and published numerous commercial books and publishing franchises, focusing mainly on picture books, among them the series Fancy Nancy and Pete the Cat. She has also acquired bestselling picture books including Not a Box by Antoinette Portis, Dear Girl by Amy K. Rosenthal, The Bad Seed and The Good Egg by Jory John, and I’ve Loved You Since Forever and You Are My Happy by Today show anchor Hoda Kotb. Before joining Harper, Anastas worked as a book buyer at Barnes & Noble, a national accounts manager at William Morrow, and editorial director for Grosset & Dunlap at Penguin.
“I could not be more delighted to have Margaret join our team here at Penguin," Jen Loja, president of Penguin Young Readers, said in a statement. "As publishers and parents, so many of us here have admired the books she creates, and it is an added treat to have Margaret return home to Penguin to work on many more terrific books for some of the youngest readers.”
