The easiest occupation?

Publishers connect writers and audiences, bringing to projects their experience of what is possible, and making things happen that authors alone could never achieve. Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar would not have become a 50-million-copy book still in print after 53 years had his publishers not found a way to mass produce the holes. In more recent times imprints like Two Hoots and Nosy Crow have pushed the boundaries of foil and flaps, and Magic Cat is creating puzzles and toys to supplement its innovative books.

Publishers do more than enhance physical product. They open young minds to the possibility of lifestyles and values that differ from their own experience. Companies like Hope Road, Otter-Barry, Old Barn, or Sweet Cherry bring books into the UK marketplace from fresh and diverse backgrounds around the world. (I would like to highlight Juan Villoro's The Wild Book, from Mexico, which is not only a hugely engaging story but a wonderful celebration of why books matter.)