Visiting the offices of Holiday House publishers on Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan—as we did recently for a preview of its spring 2014 titles—one gets a view of what most children’s book publishers may have been like before recent massive mergers changed the landscape.

Holiday House has been independently publishing children’s books since 1935 and since 1965 John Briggs has been at the helm as owner and president.  Briggs was present at last week’s spring preview, where he proudly showed librarians around the Holiday House offices decorated with original and classic book art by such legendary illustrators as Glen Rounds, Leonard Everett Fisher, and Trina Schart Hyman. Another highlight of the event was a visit by author/illustrator Bruce Degen.

Original artwork from Holiday House illustrators.

Several additions from noted authors and illustrators will be joining the publisher’s popular I Like to Read series in 2014. The series, which has so far expanded to 30 titles, will grow with Ted Lewin’s Can You See Me?, a book that challenges readers to find the creatures hidden in the illustrations, while Emily Arnold McCully, a Holiday House regular, will offer up Little Ducks Go. In fact, ducks ruled the spring list, with two other titles on offer. Mordicai Gerstein, 2004 Caldecott Medal winner, retells a French folktale in You Can’t Have Too Many Friends! featuring one very lucky duck.  Meanwhile, five ducks known as the Wing Wing Brothers address the Common Core in Ethan Long’s The Wing Wing Brothers Geometry Palooza, which comes on the heels—or should I say wing—of the series’ previous educational entry, The Wing Wing Brothers Carnival De Math.

Mice will also weigh in on the Common Core next spring as Caroline Stills and Judith Rossell debut Mice Mischief: Math Facts in Action. Jan Carr and Jennifer A. Bell also have a mouse tale on offer that is bound to delight ballet lovers: Toe Shoe Mouse.

And what is more adorable than ducklings and mice?  One may say a benguin.  What, you ask, is a benguin?  It is a cross between a bunny and penguin—and the main character of Estelle Billon Spagnol’s Little Benguin, a charming tale that shows being different has its advantages.

There will be a bounty of nonfiction next spring, thanks to such respected names as Gail Gibbons and David A. Adler.  Adler has three titles on the spring list, including The Story of Passover, appealingly illustrated by Jill Weber. In addition, Adler has collaborated with Edward Miller on their sixth math book, Triangles. And for older readers, he will debut the biography, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt.

Gail Gibbons, another Holiday House regular and nonfiction picture book master, explains precipitation to young readers in her new picture book It’s Raining! Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome, a husband-and-wife team, use poetry to tell the story of the first integrated jazz band in Benny Goodman & Teddy Wilson.

For older kids, Jane Cutler and Amy Gordon have based their middle-school novels on historical events. Cutler’s Susan Marcus Bends the Rules, set in 1940s Missouri, tackles the prejudice of the era against Jews, blacks, and the Japanese. The Japanese interment also plays a role in Gordon’s Painting the Rainbow, in which the story’s1960s teens uncover a family secret.

No kids’ publishing preview is complete without a dog story or author appearance. Lutricia Clifton’s Immortal Max is the tale of a boy and an old canine that refuses to die. Meanwhile, special guest Degen, bestselling author and illustrator, dropped by to share with the group the original art from his new book I Said, “Bed!”  During his appearance, Degen discussed his creative process. He also explained the important role of his editor, who helped him evolve his book’s mother character from a 1950s homemaker to a more contemporary-looking mom. And though spring was on everyone’s mind, holiday cheer was certainly in the air—especially following the presentation. To cap off the event, attendees were sent out toting gift bags full of advanced reader copies into midtown Manhattan to view the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree right down the street.