Dorling Kindersley (DK) is an international publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 51 languages.
Established in 1974, over the years Dorling Kindersley’s line of books has become a popular choice in libraries, schools, and homes, becoming bestselling and winning numerous awards as well as critical acclaim. Their titles range from travel, (including the award-winning Eyewitness Travel Guides) to history, cooking, gardening and parenting; plus a wide range of other subjects. They also publish an extensive children’s catalogue for children, toddlers and babies, covering topics from history and the human body to animals and activities.
DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Australia.
History
DK was founded as a book-packaging company by Christopher Dorling and Peter Kindersley in London in 1974, and in 1982 moved into publishing. The first book published under the DK name was a First Aid Manual for the British voluntary medical services; this book established the company's distinctive visual style of copiously illustrated text on a glossy white background. DK Inc. began publishing in the United States in 1991.
In 1999 DK printed 18 million Star Wars books but sold less than half of them, leaving the company with crippling debt. As a direct result, DK was taken over the following year by the Pearson PLC media company, and made part of Penguin Group, which also owns the Penguin Books label.[1]
Nowadays, DK is the world's leading family illustrated reference publisher and has established a worldwide reputation for its innovative non-fiction books for adults and children.
Publications
DK publishes an extensive range of titles internationally for adults and children. Most of the company's books are produced by teams of editors and designers who work with freelance writers and illustrators. Some are endorsed by "imprimaturs": well-known and respected organizations such as the British Medical Association, the Royal Horticultural Society and the British Red Cross. Some DK books apparently produced by celebrity authors such as Carol Vorderman are actually ghostwritten by the company's own writers and editors.
Popular titles that DK has published include a series of large-format "visual guides" with such titles as Universe, Earth, Animal, Human and History. Other successful book series published recently include Eyewitness, DK Handbooks and The Brainwaves.
DK also acts as a parent company for video game publisher, Brady Games, and travel/non-fiction publisher, Rough Guides.
Dorling Kindersley's London office is at
Shell Mex House, 80 Strand, a 1930s
Art Deco building easily recognizable from the River Thames by its distinctive clock.
During the 1990s, the company published educational videos and a successful range of educational CD-ROMs under the brand "DK Multimedia", during the late 1990s CD-ROMs were rebranded as "DK Interactive Learning" to reflect a changed emphasis toward the educational sector. Following dwindling sales and increasing competition from websites, the company tried to rebrand the digital part of its business as "DK Online" before opting to sell it to an entirely separate company, Global Software Publishing (GSP), in 2000. More recently, the handling of DK CD-ROMs has passed to GSP (Global Software Publishing) which is part of the Avanquest Software Group.
See also
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