Peaceable Kingdom, creator of stationery products for children, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Its offerings include greeting cards, posters, bookmarks and journals featuring illustrations from a wide variety of children's book artists.
Created in 1983 by Thacher and Olivia Hurd, the company has always aimed to showcase the work of illustrators and support children's books. Their first product was a poster featuring art from Goodnight Moon, which was illustrated by Thacher's father, Clement Hurd, followed by more posters with art from other classics, such as Where the Wild Things Are.
Three years ago, the Hurds sold the company to The Booksource, a family-owned book wholesaler serving the retail and education markets. According to general manager Donna Jaffe, the new owner has kept the same basic mission of celebrating the art of children's books, and has provided "a business infrastructure for the company to grow."
Since coming under new ownership, Peaceable Kingdom has expanded its lines by increasing the number of products and categories. One of the newest additions, blank journals, was added just last year. "They were a last-minute holiday addition," said Jaffe. "They did phenomenally well during the holiday season and throughout the year."
Peaceable Kingdom is now working directly with children's book illustrators to create commissioned artwork for the products, instead of simply licensing images from books, as was done in the past. "Often, we will see a book, like How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?, which we like so much," said Jaffe. "In this case, we called Mark Teague and told him we liked his book but all the art showed the dinosaurs going to sleep." Since the company doesn't carry any bedtime products, Jaffe reported that Teague was "happy to make us a dinosaur with a cake, or a dinosaur with a skateboard—whatever was needed."
The large list of Peaceable Kingdom artists includes Jane Dyer, Rosemary Wells and Peter McCarty, and about 30 new artists are added each year. "Dr. Seuss is our most extensive program," said Jaffe. "That's because there are so many books and so much art to work with, as well as lots of crossover appeal."
The company's current model seems to be working well for them, because when asked what the next 20 years will bring, Jaffe answered with enthusiasm, "Truthfully, more of the same."
