Toronto’s Owlkids Books is marking 50 years since the Young Naturalist Foundation launched OWL magazine in January 1976. Started by Key Publishers co-founder Michael de Pencier along with Annabel Slaight and Mary-Anne Brinkmann, OWL—an acronym for Outdoors and Wildlife—grew into a three-magazine franchise with the additions of Chickadee in 1979 and Chirp in 1997, and eventually a book publishing arm. Bayard Canada acquired the company in 1997; the book division, spun off in the early 2000s as Maple Tree Press, was reunited with the magazines in 2008 under the Owlkids Books name.

Owlkids currently employs roughly 10 staff, some shared with its magazine division, and publishes about 30 new titles annually alongside paperback conversions, with a backlist exceeding 200 titles. The milestone also marks a change in leadership, with Judy Brunsek, the company's longtime director of sales and marketing, retiring on July 31, and several people being promoted into new roles.

"Everybody who's moved into these positions started off as an intern with us," Brunsek said. "It's the way the business is supposed to work: you get an intern, you hold onto them, they work through a bunch of different departments, and then all of a sudden they're taking over."

Under the new structure, Taylor Lytle-Hewlett was promoted to marketing manager in June. Danielle Laver will take over Canadian sales and rights. And Dytria Ruddy, who has worked across several departments including marketing, moves back into sales as assistant U.S. sales manager. Publisher Karen Boersma said she will have a more direct hand across all three areas going forward.

Marketing manager Lytle-Hewlett said the anniversary has shaped much of the company's programming this year, including a dedicated blog series, an increased trade show presence, and a party at the Owlkids offices for past contributors and staff. Brunsek takes credit for the anniversary slogan, "Giving a Hoot About Reading for 50 Years." Staff have also distributed branded tote bags at industry events including ALA and the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Several people have posted photos of themselves posing with bags at international landmarks.

A Steady Identity

Boersma said the company's defining qualities have remained consistent even as illustration styles and market tastes evolve. "We are very kid-centered," Brunsek said of the publisher's approach. "We really do stuff that kids love to read."

Boersma agreed, adding that Owlkids aims to create books that both appeal directly to children and satisfy the "gatekeepers"—parents, teachers and librarians—who ultimately decide what reaches them.

On the business side, Boersma said U.S. sales account for roughly 60% of revenue, with Canadian sales at 20–25% and rights sales making up the remainder. Owlkids' U.S. titles are distributed by Publishers Group West, after the publisher made a move into its neighboring market in 2012. That expansion multiplied sales three to four times over. International licensing sales have also grown tenfold since 2012, something Boersma credits to the universal appeal of their titles, as well as an internal rule that requires follow-up with foreign publishers within two weeks of a book fair.

"It's international matchmaking," Brunsek said. She also pointed to the company's Indigenous publishing initiative as a growth area. Willie Poll, a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, was brought on as a paid acquisitions consultant to help identify and acquire stories from Indigenous creators across Canada; her own book, A Salmon Story, was published by Owlkids earlier this year. Boersma said the company has set an internal target of drawing roughly 40% of acquired titles from diverse cultural communities.

Lytle-Hewlett, who attended the recent ALA conference, said librarians are increasingly seeking books tied to specific experiences. She cited When Bryn's Ear Went Quiet by Nancy Hundal, illustrated by Ellen Rooney, about hearing loss, as one example, along with titles tied to Lunar New Year and Ramadan, so children can see themselves reflected on library shelves.

Boersma noted that consumer bestseller lists capture only part of the children's book market, since sources like BookScan don't reflect institutional and library sales, where much of Owlkids' backlist—including You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey, illustrated by Soyeon Kim, newly issued in paperback for the anniversary—performs strongly year over year.

Consistent Sales

Looking back across five decades, Boersma pointed to several backlist titles that she said defined the company's identity. Why?, one of Owlkids' oldest titles, was compiled from questions children submitted to the magazines and has since been licensed in multiple languages worldwide. The Flat Rabbit by Faroese writer and illustrator Bárður Oskarsson, licensed for North American publication and dealing with the death of a pet, marked a turning point, she said. "That was a game changer for us, because people just looked at Owlkids and went, 'Oh, that's really interesting.' "

Boersma also cited Skunk on a String, a wordless picture book with collage art by Thao Lam that began as a slush-pile discovery and has been reprinted three times since it was first published in 2016. The company's How to Party Like a Snail series by Naseem Hrab, illustrated by Kelly Collier, has "done extremely well,” Boersma said, with a fourth installment, How Not to Rescue a Snail, in the pipeline. She pointed as well to How to Make a Peanut Butter Sandwich in 17 Easy Steps and its sequel, Squirrelish, by Bambi Edlund, both nominated for multiple U.S. state awards, with a follow-up, How to Wrap a Present in 17 Easy Steps, due out next spring.

In middle-grade nonfiction, Boersma mentioned Left-Handed by Maria Birmingham, illustrated by Catherine Chan, published this past January, about left-handedness, as representative of the company's approach to underexplored topics. "It's done super well right out of the gate," she said.

"I think we're actually well understood by the marketplace for what we do," Boersma said. "People recognize and appreciate an Owlkids book."