Tamarind Books
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Tamarind Books was a small independent British publisher specialising in picture books, fiction and non-fiction featuring black and Asian children and children with disabilities. It was founded by Verna Wilkins in 1987 with the mission of redressing the balance of diversity in children's publishing,[1] and in 2007 became an imprint of Random House Children's Books UK.
History
Tamarind Books was founded by Grenada-born[2] Verna Wilkins in 1987 after her five-year-old son came home from school with a "This is Me" booklet in which he had coloured himself pink. When she offered him a brown crayon to use instead, he refused, saying that the image he had drawn of himself had to have pink skin because it was for a book.[3][4] When she researched the matter further, she arrived at the conclusion that her child and other children from the ethnic minorities were so under-represented in children's books that they were being denied an important stage in their learning, so she decided to start publishing books to meet that need.[5]
For twenty years, Wilkins ran Tamarind Books from her home, writing many of the books herself, working with the support of her family and a small group of friends and freelancers. New books were published only when there was enough money in the company bank account. In the early years, she sold the books herself.[6] Later, Tamarind books were distributed by commercial distributors.
Two of the imprint's best-known titles, both written by Wilkins, are The Life of Stephen Lawrence (2001),[7] and Dave and The Tooth Fairy (1993), featuring a computer-literate black tooth fairy.[8][9] Tamarind also specialises in biographies of black role models, in the Black Stars series, which includes biographies of Malorie Blackman, Benjamin Zephaniah, Rudolph Walker, Baroness Scotland, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, David Grant and Samantha Tross.[10]
Acquisition by Random House
In 2007, Tamarind Books was acquired by Random House Group Ltd and became an imprint of Random House Children's Books (UK).[11]
In 2008, Tamarind Books was awarded the Decibel Cultural Diversity Award in the British Book Awards (Nibbies).[12]
In October 2009, Wilkins retired from publishing,[13] and a successor, Patsy Isles, was announced. In January 2011, a new team comprising editors from Random House (Ruth Knowles, Parul Bavishi, Joe Marriott and Sue Buswell) were brought in to run Tamarind, with Verna Wilkins acting as a consultant, with the patrons of Tamarind, alongside Wilkins, being Michael Rosen, Benjamin Zephaniah, Jamila Gavin and Meera Syal.[14][15]
The titles that were historically published under the Tamarind Books imprint are now part of the Puffin and Ladybird lists.[16]
Awards
- 2007: Tamarind Books Highly Commended at the Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) Awards in category "IPG Diversity Award"[17]
- 2008: Tamarind Books wins Cultural Diversity Award at the Nibbies[18][19][12]
References
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- ↑ "About Us", Tamarind website.
- ↑ "Biography - Verna Wilkins", Government of Grenada, 30 September 2011.
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- ↑ Article for BBIA, Publishing News. Script error: No such module "webarchive".
- ↑ "Tamarind Books' Verna Wilkins talks to Michelle Brooks about Making her Mark on Children's books", OHTV interview. YouTube, 24 August 2010.
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- ↑ "Random House acquires Tamarind", The Bookseller, 7 December 2007.
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ "Tamarind Publisher Verna Wilkins To Retire At RHCB", Book2book, 30 October 2009.
- ↑ "Tamarind Announces New Patrons", 6 December 2011.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Tamarind Books at Puffin.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Publishing News, 2008. Script error: No such module "webarchive".
- ↑ "Verna Wilkins | The reluctant publisher – 20 years on", The Galley Club, 2008–2009.
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External links
- Tamarind Books at Penguin.
- Verna Wilkins, "The Right To Be Seen", Patrick Hardy Lecture, 29 October 2008.
- "Verna Wilkins on Tamarind Books Part 1", Random House Children's Publishers UK, 27 August 2013.
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