Abrams Children’s Books has announced an exclusive partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store on a new publishing program, launching in March 2018. The books will pull from the Met’s collection, covering art concepts, history and biography, and content tied to the museum’s exhibitions.
Howard Reeves, editor-at-large at Abrams, and Elizabeth Stoneman, senior manager of merchandising partnerships at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, negotiated the partnership. Reeves will oversee the editorial program, which will publish four to six new titles per year.
The program’s launch title is World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from the Metropolitan Museum, a poetry anthology featuring works from the museum, with an introduction by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Also included in the 2018 list is I Love Art, an illustrated introduction to the Met collection.
In a statement, Richard Pedott, v-p of merchandising at the Met, said, “These new titles will introduce children to a diverse range of art and artists from around the globe. Our hope is to delight and inspire a new generation of artists and thinkers, which is central to the Museum’s mission.”
Andrew Smith, senior v-p and publisher of Abrams Children’s Books, said in a statement, “The Met’s celebrated art collection combined with Abrams’s distinguished history as a visual publisher makes this an especially auspicious partnership. Now more than ever, engagement in the arts is essential to today’s young people. This publishing program helps ensure that today’s young readers can gain critical exposure to art, artists, and cultures from around the world.”
