Dorling Kindersley
Encyclopedia
Dorling Kindersley is an international publishing
company specializing in illustrated reference book
s for adults and children in 51 languages. It is currently part of the Penguin Group
.
Established in 1974, Dorling Kindersley publishes a range of titles in genres including travel, (including the bestselling Eyewitness Travel Guides), history, cooking, gardening, and parenting. They also publish an extensive children’s catalogue for children, toddler
s and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals, and activities.
DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto, and Australia.
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.
Dorling Kindersley 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, History, and Prehistoric Life
, each of which is more than 500 pages.
Other successful book series published recently include Eyewitness
, DK Handbooks and The Brainwaves
.
DK also acts as a parent company for travel/non-fiction publisher, Rough Guides
.
, which specializes in video game strategy guides, covering multiple video game platforms
. It published their first strategy guide in November 1993 and has grown to publish roughly 90-100 guides per year. Competitors include Prima Games
and Piggyback Interactive.
The company occasionally offers two different versions of the same guide: one regular and one limited edition (which usually contains bonus items like a CD-ROM
soundtrack or separate book containing art from the respective game).
s and a successful range of educational CD-ROM
s 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 website
s, the company tried to rebrand the digital part of its business as DK Online before opting to sell the UK publishing rights to its CD-ROM backlist in 2000 to an entirely separate company, Global Software Publishing, which is part of the Avanquest Software Group. The DK Online section of the business then transferred into development work on the anglicised version of the Pearson Education (US) KnowledgeBox product.
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
company specializing in illustrated reference book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s for adults and children in 51 languages. It is currently part of the Penguin Group
Penguin Group
The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...
.
Established in 1974, Dorling Kindersley publishes a range of titles in genres including travel, (including the bestselling Eyewitness Travel Guides), history, cooking, gardening, and parenting. They also publish an extensive children’s catalogue for children, toddler
Toddler
A toddler is a young child, usually defined as being between the ages of one and three. Registered nurse, midwife and author, Robin Barker, states 'Any time from eight months onwards your baby will begin to realise he is a separate person from you...
s and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals, and activities.
DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto, and Australia.
History
Dorling Kindersley was founded as a book-packaging company by Christopher DorlingChristopher Dorling
Christopher Dorling is the co-founder of Dorling Kindersley, a publishing company, along with Peter Kindersley. He retired from the company in 1987, but remains a board member.- References :...
and Peter Kindersley
Peter Kindersley
Peter Kindersley was the co-founder of the publishing company Dorling Kindersley and ran it with Christopher Dorling from 1974, until he sold his family stake for £105m in 2000...
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
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
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
Pearson PLC
Pearson plc is a global media and education company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is both the largest education company and the largest book publisher in the world, with consumer imprints including Penguin, Dorling Kindersley and Ladybird...
media company, and made part of Penguin Group
Penguin Group
The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...
, which also owns the Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
label.
Publications
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
, the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
and the British Red Cross
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom branch of the worldwide impartial humanitarian organisation the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with over 31,000 volunteers and 2,600 staff. At the heart of their work...
. Some DK books apparently produced by celebrity authors such as Carol Vorderman
Carol Vorderman
Carol Jean Vorderman MBE is a British media personality, best known for co-hosting the popular game show Countdown for 26 years from 1982 to 2008. In September 2011 she became a co-anchor of the ITV1 panel show Loose Women....
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
Animal (book)
Animal is a non-fiction coffee table book edited by David Burnie, who was the main-editor, and several co-authors. The full title of the book is: Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to The World's WildLife. The 624-page book was published by Dorling Kindersley in 2001...
, Human, History, and Prehistoric Life
Prehistoric Life (book)
Prehistoric Life is a non-fiction encyclopedia. The full title of the book is Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth. The 512-page book was published by Dorling Kindersley in 2009.-External links:* at Amazon.com*...
, each of which is more than 500 pages.
Other successful book series published recently include Eyewitness
Eyewitness Books
Eyewitness Books is a series of nonfiction books intended for young adults. They were first published in England by Dorling Kindersley in 1988. The series now has over one-hundred titles on a variety of subjects, such as dinosaurs, Ancient Egypt, flags, chemistry, music, the solar system, film,...
, DK Handbooks and The Brainwaves
The Brainwaves
The Brainwaves are cartoon characters that populate Dorling Kindersley's children's reference books.The first title in the series, "How Nearly Everything Was Invented...by The Brainwaves" was first published in September 2006. It was written by Jilly MacLeod and Illustrated by Lisa Swerling & Ralph...
.
DK also acts as a parent company for travel/non-fiction publisher, Rough Guides
Rough Guides
Rough Guides Ltd is a travel guidebook and reference publisher, owned by Pearson PLC. Their travel titles cover more than 200 destinations, and are distributed worldwide through the Penguin Group...
.
BradyGames
BradyGames is a publishing company in the United States operating as a DK imprintImprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
, which specializes in video game strategy guides, covering multiple video game platforms
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. It published their first strategy guide in November 1993 and has grown to publish roughly 90-100 guides per year. Competitors include Prima Games
Prima Games
Prima Games, a division of Random House, is the largest publishing company of video game strategy guides in the United States. It is an imprint of the Random House Information Group, based in Roseville, California...
and Piggyback Interactive.
The company occasionally offers two different versions of the same guide: one regular and one limited edition (which usually contains bonus items like a CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
soundtrack or separate book containing art from the respective game).
DK Multimedia
During the 1990s, the company published educational videoVideo
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
s and a successful range of educational CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s 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 website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s, the company tried to rebrand the digital part of its business as DK Online before opting to sell the UK publishing rights to its CD-ROM backlist in 2000 to an entirely separate company, Global Software Publishing, which is part of the Avanquest Software Group. The DK Online section of the business then transferred into development work on the anglicised version of the Pearson Education (US) KnowledgeBox product.
See also
- Eyewitness BooksEyewitness BooksEyewitness Books is a series of nonfiction books intended for young adults. They were first published in England by Dorling Kindersley in 1988. The series now has over one-hundred titles on a variety of subjects, such as dinosaurs, Ancient Egypt, flags, chemistry, music, the solar system, film,...
- CartopediaCartopediaCartopedia: The Ultimate World Reference Atlas was an atlas program originally published by Dorling Kindersley Multimedia in 1995. It featured interactive world maps and graphs and charts of international statistics, and served as a reference guide for students and geographers....
- Children's Illustrated EncyclopediaChildren's Illustrated EncyclopediaThe Children's Illustrated Encyclopedia tells children about nearly all kinds of things. The book's motto is "From Aboriginal Australians to Zoos".Published by Dorling Kindersley, it won Blue Peter Children's Book Award in 2001.-Entries:...