Olivia Lawrence, Managing Editor, Preschool, DK+

Over 25 years ago, I started working in Children’s books and I’ve created, developed and sold every format possible, but my passion is for highly illustrated, novelty titles for our very youngest readers.

I like to include as much into a book as possible, always pushing to gently weave ideas that matter as children are growing up into stories, such as friendship, kindness and togetherness or by adding extra things to spot and find to increase the play value and make each book the very best it can be.

At DK, I love to develop formats which celebrate play and creativity and make reading fun, especially for reluctant readers or for those who find reading challenging. 

Books I’m proud of…

I’m enjoying expanding on the fantastic building blocks DK+ has in place with Pop Up Peekaboo and Ultimate Sticker Books, with new series such as Playhouse. I’ve particularly loved combining format development with the brilliant stories and characters licensors such as Disney and Universal create for young children.

A book I wish I’d published…

A book I wish I’d published is If You Go Down to the Woods Today by Magic Cat. It’s a perfect mix of a first book of poetry for young readers and a spotting book. The intricate detail of the illustrations reminds me of the enchanting Brambly Hedge books I loved as a child. It’s a brilliant book for learning about the outdoors; nature inspires the book, and the book inspires nature.

olivia.lawrence@uk.dk.com