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Penguin Imprint Feature Focus: DK

Tue, 06/17/2008

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Welcome to our second Imprint Focus Feature, where the Penguin Blog will spend four weeks examining the Dorling Kindersely Imprint, better known simply as DK. Learn more about the character and goals of this imprint, and meet the staff members that help make the magic happen behind the scenes.

DK (which stands for co-founders Christopher Dorling and Peter Kindersely) Publishing was founded in London in 1974. Originally established as a book packager, DK became a book publisher in 1982, and in 2000 DK was purchased by Pearson and became a division of Penguin Group.

DK Publishing is known around the world for its bold and innovative illustrated books, including our award-winning Eyewitness Books for Children and Eyewitness Travel Guides, among many others. Unlike other imprints within the labyrinth that is Penguin Group, DK's books on the whole are driven more by content than they are by authors. That's not to say that we don't work closely with our authors, because we do! However, not every book we publish is written by one author so we think a bit differently about how to get the word out about our books. Our publicity and marketing teams are really stellar at finding clever ways to be the voice of our books: they've created videos; they've made projects and recipes from our books; and, they're always roaring cheerleaders for DK's books.

DK's adult publishing program offers books on an enormous variety of subjects: We have books about raising healthy babies and books that teach how to take perfect photographs; we have practical books about sex and cookbooks that show how to make delicious grilled chicken; we have books that celebrate nature and books that show you how to survive in the wilderness; our books show readers how to practice yoga and how to fix a leaky faucet; our books teach business leaders how to spot trends and gardeners how to compost. Our recent award-winning adult titles include The Cook's Book (James Beard/KitchenAid), Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cuisine (IACP), and Rainforest (Oppenheim Toy Portfolio), among others. We've also enjoyed fruitful publishing partnerships with The Culinary Institute of America (Spain and the World Table) and The American Museum of Natural History (Ocean), to name only a few.

DK's children's books are just as varied and exciting as our adult books! In addition to our Eyewitness series, DK's children's list boasts the New York Times bestsellers Pick Me Up and Do Not Open and award winners such as Holocaust: The Events and Their Impact on Real People (Sydney Taylor Honor Award for Older Readers), Shipwreck Detective (VOYA Nonfiction Honor), Cool Stuff and Yoga for Teens Card Deck (both Parents' Choice Award winners), among others. Our richly illustrated dictionaries, readers, pop-up books, encyclopedias, biographies, and activity books offer something for every area of interest at every age. From dinosaurs to iPods, from pirates to sharks, from weather to astronomy, if there's a subject of interest to kids, DK has a book about it.