About Us

Boyds Mills Press, the trade division of Highlights for Children, Inc., was launched in 1990. Publishing books was a logical step for Highlights, which has a long tradition of helping children develop a love of reading. Boyds Mills Press publishes books that enlighten and entertain, reaching children primarily through bookstores, libraries, and schools. We publish our books under five imprints:

Boyds Mills Press publishes picture books, nonfiction, activity books, and paperback reprints. Boyds Mills Press titles have been named notable books by the International Reading Association, the American Library Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English. They have earned numerous awards, including the National Jewish Book Award, the Christopher Medal, the NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor, and the Golden Kite Honor, to name but a few.

Calkins Creek, launched in 2006, is devoted specifically to American history, and includes fiction, nonfiction, and picture books.

Front Street features children’s and young adult fiction, in hardcover and paperback, and a unique line of art- and design-driven picture books. Front Street was founded in 1994 and joined Boyds Mills Press in 2004. Front Street titles have won numerous awards, including six National Book Award finalists, two Newbery Honor books, a Michael L. Printz Award, a Michael L. Printz Honor Award, two Coretta Scot King Honor Awards, and a Los Angeles Times Book Award.

Manuscripts for Front Street may be submitted by email to: jrneaves@frontstreetbooks.com.

Wordsong is the only imprint in the country that is devoted exclusively to poetry for children.
In 2007 we will launch a new imprint devoted to science and natural history in association with an important national foundation.

Respect for children is among the highest priorities when we acquire a manuscript. We aim to publish good stories with lasting value. We avoid the trendyand never publish a book simply to fill a market need.

We believe in and are committed to publishing and exposing young readers to the best literature available in other countries, cultures, and languages. We believe in new voices. Finally, we believe books should be beautiful to look at and to hold.

Who We Are

Stephen Roxburgh, Publisher, has been involved with children’s books and publishing for thirty years, first as an academic, then as senior vice president and publisher of Books for Young Readers, at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and, as the president and publisher of Front Street Books, a small independent press he incorporated (deliberately) on April 1, 1994. He has worked with such authors and artists as Felicia Bond, Nancy Eckholm Burkert, Brock Cole, Carolyn Coman, Roald Dahl, Martine Leavitt, Madeleine L’Engle, An Na, Marilyn Nelson, Adam Rapp, Alvin Schwartz, George Selden, Uri Shulevitz, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Garth Williams, and Margot Zemach.

Larry Rosler, Editorial Director, began his publishing career at Henry Holt & Company, working in school and library promotion and later in adult editorial as assistant to the editor in chief. Prior to the launch of Boyds Mills Press, he served on the staff of Highlights for Children.

Carolyn P. Yoder, Editor/Calkins Creek, has been a history buff for many years. Before joining Highlights magazine and Boyds Mills Press ten years ago, she was an editor and writer for the New Jersey Historical Society; the executive director of the New Hampshire Antiquarian Society;, and from 1983 to 1996 served as editor, editor in chief, and assistant publisher of Cobblestone Publishing, Inc. Currently she is also senior editor of history at Highlights.

Andy Boyles, Editor/Science and Natural History, has been translating science for lay readers for more than twenty years. He began editing science books and articles for young readers in 1994, when he became science editor at Highlights. He has edited occasional science books for Boyds Mills Press over the years and took on a formal role in 2005. He has worked with Jack Myers, Dougal Dixon, "Dino Don" Lessem, Ken Croswell, Rosanna Hansen, and others. Andy has offered many beginning science writers their first opportunity to publish for children and is always looking for scientists who want to write for kids and children's writers who want to write about science.

Joy Neaves, Editor/Front Street, jrneaves@frontstreetbooks.com, began working at Front Street in 1999 as assistant to the publisher soon after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Asheville with a degree in literature and language. Since becoming a Front Street editor, she has worked with novelists Andrea Cheng, Lindsay Lee Johnson, and Adam Osterweil; the poet Charlotte Pomerantz; and the illustrators Craig Smith and Rob Shepperson. She has overseen the publication of several foreign authors, including Australian writers Judith Clarke and Steven Herrick and the Swedish writer Per Nilsson. She is always looking for additional international authors and illustrators to add to the Front Street list. Joy is also the editor of Lemniscaat, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, which includes picture books originally published in the Netherlands.

Joan Hyman, Editor/Wordsong, has edited Jane Yolen’s poetry books for the imprint since 1991, as well as titles by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Eileen Spinelli, and Milton Meltzer. During that time, she has also managed other editorial projects at Highlights for Children, Inc., including Hidden Picture books, puzzle books, and craft books.

Tim Gillner, Art Director/Boyds Mills Press, is a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He has worked in magazines, textbooks, and trade books for the past twenty-seven years and taught book illustration for twelve years at Marywood University. He is a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Society of Illustrators in New York City. Tim resides in a one-hundred-fifty-year-old farmhouse with his wife, a beagle dog, and five cats and enjoys spending time in the outdoors.

Helen Robinson, Art Director/Front Street, studied fine arts (with a concentration in photography) and has been working as a designer for the past twenty-five years. Her experience includes book design, museum exhibit design, jewelry design, and poster design. Her book designs for Front Street have won national and international acclaim. She grew up in Athens, Greece, and still spends as much time as possible out of the country. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband and daughter.