Last week, the Mexican stamp El Naranjo Editions got up with him BOP Award for Best Children’s Publisher of the Year for Latin America that grants the Bologna Children’s Book Fairthe nerve center for this sector of the publishing market in the world.
With the outstanding victory, there are four occasions in which Mexican publishers have won the distinction since the award was instituted in 2013 and, with this, our country consolidates itself as the top winner in the region, followed by Colombia and Argentina, with two awards.
“This shows that there is a very sustained and high-quality editorial work that raises the name of our country,” says Ana Laura Delgado, founder and director of the orange tree in an interview for this newspaper.
But the recognition of the orange tree in the great showcase of books for children and young people is not new, nor is its international recognition. With this nomination, at least half a dozen considerations are added to the bop award for this label founded in 2003, without counting the dozens of occasions in which his books have been awarded locally and abroad for their artistic merit and for the courage in the selection of themes that he has promoted since its inception.
With a catalog of more than 130 titles, such as goodbye to fairy tales, Dictionary of American Myths, the book of denial, Little Trans-Neptunian Elephant or mermaid and dot (the latter, a book on gender preference), this imprint has created a corpus capable of transcending ages and that today is applauded for proposing, but that until a decade ago was a reason for stigmatization and even eviction.
Photo EE: Special
“We have always believed that literature has to bring children closer to unconventional themes that allow them to know and recognize themselves in diversity and on that basis build their own imaginary. We have published titles that emphasize sexual diversity, death, mental and physical conditions, discrimination, but also fundamentals such as joy, human relationships, and affection. In 2009, we published the novel for nina. Diary of an identity sexual (written by Javier Malpica and illustrated by Enroque Torralba), about which everyone told me how dare I, that no one was going to buy it”.
The formula for success is enhanced by the emphasis on the visual theme, says Delgado. The publications, in addition to being written by several of the best Spanish-speaking writers, are enriched with art and illustrations of the same spirit that turn their copies into object books, into collectibles at affordable prices whose rights have been acquired in China, Brazil, Japan, Spain, Korea, to mention a few markets.
“There is a distortion of the criteria and it is thought that children’s literature is minor literature. With this award, we are not asking for more visibility for El Naranjo, but rather that it serve to reflect on the lack of attention given to authors of children’s literature, despite the fact that they have won a number of international awards”, regrets the editor.
The participation of the sector in the industry
According to the National Chamber of the Mexican Publishing Industry (Caniem), in 2020 the children’s and youth sector sold 12.7 million copies on the open market and 1.6 million units for government programs. With both figures, the participation of this sector in the publishing market was 14.4% in volume, while in value, children’s and youth books had a turnover of almost 804 million pesos, which represented 9.5% of the publishing market.
It was not a favorable year for this book sector due to the closure of schools throughout the country. That year, coupled with the closure of public schools, the National Association of Private Schools announced the closure of around 20,000 private schools of the 48,000 existing in the country, that is, due to lack of resources, more than 40% of private institutions Mexican women stopped providing educational services at least during the first and second school cycles crossed by the health emergency. With this, an important part of the market became inaccessible.
But in 2021, it began to be recovery ground. In preliminary results, the Caniem estimated that, along with educational books, children’s and youth topics increased their participation to 18.3% in the market value, with an average price of 176.6 pesos per unit.
What did El Naranjo do to stay afloat?
“The school market is the most important for selling books. In this sense, everyone suffered, but more so in Mexico, where reading levels are not desirable”, says the interviewee.
During 2020, the orange tree it published only three titles, although in 2021 it resumed the rhythm of 10 annual titles. But at no time did the team of this label stop working on linking.
“About six years ago, we began to work on our own with education, we linked up with school librarians who are sensitive to the issues and our books began to participate in the plans. That allowed us to maintain a certain level of sales. There are reading promoters who believe a lot in the work of El Naranjo and have brought us closer to educational institutions in different states. That allowed us not to fall into a critical situation.”
On several occasions, the director of El Naranjo Editions has been called to collaborate with the SEP in projects on the elaboration of didactic materials.
Photo EE: Special
“For us it is an honor to participate in textbooks because our work can reach millions of children. That is our opportunity to contribute. Now, we do not publish books for the competitions of the SEP, we publish the books that we consider important. From the beginning, our objective has been to work to survive, even if they did not buy us from the government”.
Regarding the topic, the interviewee is asked about the public policies around the book in the current administration.
“In this government they have broken everything breakable. This government is deaf and will not listen to you at all. The abandonment of culture is really very sad. How is it that a government that calls itself leftist does not support culture in all its breadth? It’s so sad. What can you say to this administration now? Do you know how many people have stayed in the middle of the dream? It has bankrupted many people so valuable that they tried to position new publishers. That is when you say that there should be support for small businesses in Mexico, but there is nothing.
Photo EE: Special
About the, so far not recovered Children’s and Youth Book Fair (FILIJ), which was one edition away from celebrating its 40th anniversary, which would be held in 2020, until the outbreak of the pandemic prevented the possibility. In its place, a Children’s and Youth Literature Festival was installed that has had two exclusively virtual editions, the editor says:
“The FILIJ is another of the great misfortunes. They brought out the news that they wanted to decentralize the meeting, when each state has its own fairs, which we always go to and sometimes with the risk of not selling anything. They put an end to an effort that was already almost 40 years old and had large numbers of children. The FILIJ for us was a moment of celebration”.
Prepare new publication
Currently, El Naranjo, which currently has 85% of its books in digital format, is preparing the publication next July of a novel translated from French under the title “I am 14 years old and it is not good news”, which addresses the painful issue of the sale of girls for marriages, an issue that our country is no stranger to.
Some titles and their authors:
- goodbye to fairy tales
Topics: Death and Maturity
Text: Elizabeth Cruz Madrid
Illustrates: Estelí Meza
Topics: Memory and family
Text: Sara Bertrand
Illustrates: Amanda Mijangos
- Song about a boy lost in the snow
Topics: Family and identity
Text: Antonio Malpica
Illustrated: Sara Quijano
Topics: Diversity and justice
Text: Martha Riva Palacio Obón
Illustrated: Roger Ycaza
Topics: Migration and loss
Text: Sergio Andricain
Illustrates: Quim Torres
Consult the online catalog of El Naranjo: https://edicioneselnaranjo.com.mx/catalogo
kg