Christian publisher InterVarsity Press is launching a new imprint, IVP Kids, with its first titles set to be released in October. Publisher Jeff Crosby said in a release, “We seek to share with children content regarding things that matter deeply to God.”
IVP associate publisher and editorial director Cindy Bunch said that IVP Kids, with five or six titles per year planned, will bring out “books that help children begin to live their lives with Christ, learning spiritual practices [and] books that help us all experience the reality Christ is with us in all of the events of our lives—big and small.”
The timing was right for the new imprint, Bunch said, citing both the strong sales climate for children’s titles and IVP’s “particular strength in the areas of spiritual formation and justice. These seem to be good areas to fill out the Christian children’s market.” IVP Kids editor Elissa Schauer, an associate trade editor and IVP managing editor, has a mandate to build an inclusive slate of authors offering “creative and fun expressions of scriptural themes such as mercy, peace, and justice.”
First up, releasing on October 12, will be author-illustrator Ned Bustard's St. Nicholas the Giftgiver, a look at the devout bishop whose generosity gave birth to the Santa Claus legend.
It will be followed on October 26 by The Celebration Place by Dorena Williamson, author and co-founder of a multiracial church. She described the title as a vision for the church intended to remind believers of all ages that “the unity and diversity of God’s kingdom is not only a heavenly manifestation but something to be joyfully lived out in the here and now."
IVP Kids won’t shy away from difficult topics, however. Among the editorial commitments the company announced is "child-appropriate honesty about the complexities and broken parts of our lives." Bunch gives an example from another title in the works: Ruth Goring’s book Isaiah and the Worry Pack (Nov.) is about a boy who is experiencing anxiety. "His mother helps him create a spiritual practice to set aside his worries,” she said.
Luci Shaw’s book, The O in Hope, illustrated by Bustard, will also be published in November. Authors set for 2022 include Lacy Finn Borgo, Esau McCaulley, Flo Paris Oakes, Katy Hutson, and Tish Harrison Warren. IVPress Kids plans to release 5-6 titles per year.
