[PRESS RELEASE – 27 MARCH 2022]

Independent children’s book publisher, Sweet Cherry Publishing, has been awarded Children’s Publisher of the Year at the IPG’s 2022 Independent Publishing Awards.

The judges praised Sweet Cherry – who was shortlisted alongside Nosy Crow, Usborne and OneWorld for the category sponsored by Clays – for “its wider work on diversity and reducing socio-economic barriers to reading for children.” They said: “Sweet Cherry is a fantastic success story that does a lot of good in the world. They’re always looking for feedback and ways to get even better.”

The award was received by Sweet Cherry’s publisher, Sanjee de Silva (pictured above), who said: “We are so delighted to have won Children’s Publisher of the Year! Ten years ago we set out on a mission to make books accessible and affordable to children of all backgrounds and abilities, but above all, to make reading fun and joyous. Thank you to the IPG team for supporting independent talent – this award is dedicated to the team at Sweet Cherry for working so hard to bring great stories within the reach of all children.”

The company was founded in 2011 by bookseller Abdul Thadha (pictured left), who grew up in an area of Leicester where children rarely spoke English outside of school and there was a clear divide of wealth, particularly in the ethnic populations. Access to books was limited in these communities, and although he had been working with children’s publishers for seven years, he didn’t feel like enough was being done to reach those children.

Abdul started Sweet Cherry – one of the few publishing houses in the UK that is led by the “global majority” (the term that now replaces “ethnic minority”) – with the intention to publish value-for-money books and collections that are illustrated and easy to read, with a mission to bring great stories within the reach of all children. 

In Autumn 2021, Sweet Cherry launched two new imprints: Cherry Stone Publishing to bring literary classics to a modern audience and Clock Tower Publishing to champion new, marginalised and diverse voices in publishing. Sweet Cherry has been described as “well ahead of the game on diversity” by The Bookseller at the time it was awarded Small Press of the Year at The British Book Awards in 2021.

Sweet Cherry Publishing calls out to authors, illustrators and kid’s brands who share their mission to make books inclusive and accessible to all children.

---

ENDS
For more information please contact:
Divia Kainth – Senior Marketing and Publicity Executive
[email protected]

Sweet Cherry is an independent award-winning children’s book publisher. We specialise in fun children’s books that promote reading for pleasure with reluctant readers to improve their confidence with reading alone. In 2021, Sweet Cherry won Small Press of the Year and celebrated 10 years in children’s book publishing with the launch of two new imprints, Clock Tower and Cherry Stone.