Publisher · founded 1972
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Margaret K. McElderry Books is a Simon & Schuster children's and teen imprint, founded at Atheneum in 1972 and the first named after a children's editor.
- Editions tracked
- 61
- First editions
- 39
- Books
- 61
- Years
- 1973 to 2023
Margaret K. McElderry Books was founded in 1972. We track 61 editions it published between 1973 and 2023, 39 of them first editions across 61 books. How Margaret K. McElderry Books marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Margaret K. McElderry Books
Margaret K. McElderry Books is a children's and young adult imprint of Simon & Schuster, set up at Atheneum in 1972 by the editor Margaret K. McElderry and the first children's imprint named after an editor.
McElderry had built the children's department at Harcourt Brace after the Second World War, and in 1950 she published The Two Reds, which some booksellers avoided during the Red Scare because of its title. William Jovanovich fired her in 1972, and she started her own list at Atheneum the same year. Scribner later bought Atheneum, Macmillan bought Scribner, and Simon & Schuster bought Macmillan in 1994.
In 1974 the imprint published Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising, a Newbery Honor book, and its list has included Margaret Mahy, Helen Oxenbury, Hilary McKay and Irene Haas. More recent authors include Cassandra Clare, Holly Black and Chloe Gong.
By its 50th anniversary in 2022 the imprint had sold more than 80 million books. It issues roughly 30 to 35 titles a year as a boutique imprint within Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Margaret K. McElderry Books's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Margaret K. McElderry Books first editions
Authors
Books
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Margaret K. McElderry Books first edition?
How many Margaret K. McElderry Books books does MyVolumes track?
We track 61 editions published by Margaret K. McElderry Books, 39 of them first editions, across 61 books.
Where these facts come from
- Margaret K. McElderry Books celebrates 50 years of catching readers young, Publishers Weekly, 2022 (publishersweekly.com)
- A History of Margaret K. McElderry Books, Book Riot, 2022 (bookriot.com)
- Simon & Schuster (Margaret K. McElderry redirect), Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- First-Edition Identification by Publisher (Allen and Patricia Ahearn), ILAB, 2010 (ilab.org)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 17 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.