Home > About Hawthorn Press |
About Hawthorn Press
Hawthorn's vision is to contribute to a more creative, peaceful and sustainable world through our book publishing. We have published books since 1981, offering inspiring and practical ways in which you, our readers, have found tools for transforming yourselves, your family, business, school and community life.
The spark that led to founding Hawthorn Press was the publication of Who's Bringing Them Up? The effects of TV on children. This was so widely reviewed that many parents asked, ‘What are the alternatives to TV viewing?' So we published Festivals, Family and Food – guide to seasonal celebration. This has sold over 200,000 copies. The Daily Mail wrote that, 'Every family should have one.' The Celebrating Festivals and the Seasons Series grew from this book.
The second book, Lifeways: working with family questions, founded our Parenting and Child Health Series. This book has inspired many parents with creative family life ways, and there is a thriving Lifeways Summer Conference and Camp held every year at Emerson College, Sussex.
The Festivals books grew like topsy, so we founded a Crafts and Family Activities Series, with The Children's Year, Knitted Animals, Making Waldorf Dolls, and Puppet Theatre. For the latest book, Baking Bread with Children see author Warren's web site www.warrenleecohen.com.
Questions from parents and educators about understanding, nurturing and respecting children's early years led to the founding of the Early Years Series, with the publication of The Future of Childhood for the Brussels 2000 Alliance for Childhood Conference (www.allianceforchildhood.org.uk). Many of the books in the Early Years Series are published in partnership with the Alliance for Childhood, which works to improve children's lives around the world.
Hawthorn has published some groundbreaking books, such as Sally Jenkinson's The Genius of Play, or Susan Perrow's Healing Stories for Challenging Behaviour (www.healingthroughstories.com). Many are translated into other languages like Sally Goddard Blythe's The Well Balanced Child, (www.inpp.org.uk) and Martin Large's Set Free Childhood. The original editor of the Early Years Series, Dr Richard House, lectures at Roehampton University's Centre for Therapeutic Education. You can read his Early Years Series rationale in the Early Years Series Articles section. He is active in advocating for the 're-membering' of childhood and against any materialistic, prematurely intellectual intrusion into children's lives. He helped found the OPENEYE campaign against aspects of the British government's 2008 Early Years Foundation Stage.
The Personal Development Series features Springboard: women's development workbook and Navigator: men's development workbook. Springboard is now in its 6th edition and has been published in 14 languages, including Arabic. Authors Liz Willis and Jenny Daisley can be contacted at www.springboardconsultancy.com. These books are making a big difference to people's lives at work around the world.
Although the Art and Science, Conflict and Peace, Social Ecology and Management and Rudolf Steiner/Waldorf Education Series could be mentioned, our latest new departure is Sven Nordqvist's Findus and Pettson Series from Sweden. We do not normally publish children's books, but we have made an exception for Findus and Pettson, and when you read them, you will know why!
Philip Pullman warmly welcomed Pancakes for Findus, writing specially to us:
'The stories are ingenious, the characters are quirky and original, and the illustrations are absolutely delightful. I've seldom seen such an endless, apparently effortless flow of invention. Readers young and old will spend happy hours poring over them to find all the details, and revisit them again and again. I can't recommend them highly enough. Hurrah for Findus!'