About Top That! Publishing

Marine House Photo Top That! Publishing Plc is an independent children's book publisher with an international reputation for producing exciting novelty books that challenge and stimulate young minds. Founded in September 1999, this innovative company has published over 1500 titles across its various divisions.

Located beside the river Deben in Woodbridge, Suffolk, Top That! employees enjoy idyllic surroundings in which to create new books. The company represents five main divisions, culminating in a varied range of both fiction and non-fiction titles that cater for pre-schoolers to adults.

Our most established division is Top That! Kids, which features the multimillion selling Mini Maestro series and numerous activity-based ranges including Fun Kits and Early Days. We continue to build on the success of this division by constantly adding new formats and series to the list each year. This division also produces licensed products, with which we have had much success – most notably with the Raymond Briggs' classics The Snowman and Father Christmas. In 2009 we will add to the licensed product offering following our acquisition of the Caillou license. Inspired by the work of world-renowned French physician and psychoanalyst Francoise Dolto, this exciting new range of books is designed to contribute to the overall well-being of the very young at each stage of their development, from birth to six years of age.

KUDOS, our adult division, was formed in 2003, allowing us to apply our experience of Books Plus publishing to the adult market. This imprint quickly grew and the hallmark of its success is the extensive Lifestyle series. Covering the widest range of pursuits, crafts and hobbies, from fondue to fishing, we are justifiably proud of the design and quality components that are included with each title. Also in the range are Flick Tops and Shenanigans – novel titles with gift appeal, which come in-built with a quirkiness and sense of fun. In addition, we are delighted to hold the license to recreate the illustrations of Edith Holden – best known for The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. Our new range of craft kits allows a whole new generation of nature lovers to appreciate Holden's beautiful and delicately observed watercolours.

In May 2004, Imagine That! was formed to offer a bespoke packaging service to market-leading companies throughout the world. Although you won't see our new imprint on many covers, the launch of Imagine That! has been an unmitigated success. The AA, WHSmith, Marks & Spencer, Barnes & Noble, Next, Scholastic and Disney are just a few of the companies that have used our highly competitive book-packaging service in recent months.

In March 2007, we introduced our fourth imprint, Tide Mill Press. Named after the beautiful wooden mill located next to our office (thought to be the oldest tide mill in England and much favoured as a subject for artists all over the country), this imprint brings together some of the best contemporary illustration styles to be found in Europe and America today. With easy-to-read stories and unique engineering, this line of books captures the magic so essential to a young child's learning experiences.

This fast-growing list includes the story of a millipede who travels through the pages on a flexible ribbon, 'eating' different coloured food items on the way (Millie the Millipede), a pop-up 'whodunit' about a small creature who has eaten the contents of a vegetable patch (Who ate all the Lettuce?) and a whole range of titles that uses various formats including magnets (Jungle Numbers, Counting on the Farm) among others.

And now for something different!

In July 2008, Top That! is pleased to announce the launch of our new multi-platform publishing imprint – Quest.

The recipe for our new Quest list is simple – great concepts, creative writers, cool contemporary cover design and an inspired 'plus' element. From podcast-linked crime thrillers and time travel, to the murky world of espionage, each Quest title includes all of the essential ingredients that make for an engrossing read, but it is the multi-platform elements that we have added to the mixture, which make our brand new range of books stand out from the crowd.

For today's technologically advanced children Quest titles will prove to be a reading revelation.

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