Lonely Planet Kids, the children’s imprint established by the venerable guidebook publisher in 2014, is debuting two travel series this spring.
The first, launching in April, is a line of pop-up books on London, New York, and Paris. These titles target children ages 5–8, the imprint’s core age range and a demographic that responds very well to interactivity. “After that age group, we lose them to digital,” publisher Tim Cook says.
The second, City Trails, pubs in June and features the same locales as the Pop-Up City series, but for an audience ages 8–12. The series aims to engage this older demographic with illustrated routes that guide the reader through the book.
The imprint publishes books in four main categories—activity, reference, high-interest nonfiction, and novelty/gift books—and grew out of the success of the Not for Parents series, which has been translated into more than 20 languages.
“That’s far more than any other Lonely Planet product, adult or children’s,” Cook says. “That gave us the impetus to create this imprint. Until that point [children’s books were] very much under the adult brand.”
Titles in the children’s line may not be typical guides, but they still draw on the institutional knowledge of the Lonely Planet brand. “In creating these books we call on the expertise of nearly 20 destination editors,” Cook says, “and under them are hundreds of expert travel writers.”
LP Kids published seven titles in 2015 and is growing quickly, with 17 titles coming out in 2016 and 24 slated for 2017; the ultimate goal, Cook says, is 40 titles a year.
