Nathalie Le Du has been promoted from editorial director to publisher of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group’s Odd Dot imprint, effective immediately. The imprint, which launched in spring 2019, focuses on interactive nonfiction for young readers with a mission to produce “Joyful Books for Curious Minds.”
Outgoing publisher and Printz Award-winning author Daniel Nayeri, who is leaving the company to write full-time, said in an internal statement, “To someone like me, the head of Odd Dot is the best job in all of publishing. It requires equal parts passion, panache, creativity, and drive—and I can’t think of anyone better suited to have that job than Nathalie, who was the founding editorial director of the company, the architect behind many of its brands, and a leading thinker in the intersection of child development, learning, and play.”
Since joining Macmillan as Odd Dot’s founding editorial director in 2017, she has overseen a number of the imprint’s series, including Tinkeractive Workbooks, Show-How Guides, Outdoor School, and the popular title The Antiquarian Sticker Book. She was previously editorial director of Workman Publishing's children’s group, where she steered brands including Brain Quest, Star Wars Workbooks, and the Big Fat Notebooks series. Le Du began her career at Kumon, helping to forge the company’s North American division and Kumon Workbooks.
In her new role, Le Du will report to MCPG president Jen Besser. With the move, creative director Christina Quintero and senior editor Justin Krasner will report to Le Du, and assistant Kate Avino will continue to do so.
Le Du told PW at the time of Odd Dot’s launch, “We take very seriously the mission of inspiring kids to explore the world and understand the world, but then we’re adding on this other part of giving them the capabilities to change the world.”
