New York, NY (Top40 Charts / Dreamscape Media) Dreamscape Media, the publishing and entertainment arm of Midwest Tape, today announced an exclusive audio and video agreement with Levine Querido, the new independent publishing house from Arthur A. Levine, known for his tenure as the President and Publisher of Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic. During his time there he worked with authors Markus Zusak, Dan Santat, Emma Donoghue, Francisco Stork, Shaun Tan and Jaclyn Moriarty and introduced American audiences to the beloved stories of Harry Potter. The deal will include production and distribution for Levine Querido's highly anticipated children's and young adult releases. Dreamscape Media's audiobook adaptions of Levine Querido's exceptional, diverse stories will be available in Fall 2020.
"Children deserve stories that represent them and the world around them," said
Lorna Henry, Acquisitions
Director for Dreamscape Media. "In Levine Querido, Arthur has built a home for diverse voices to thrive. Dreamscape Media is honored to partner with Levine Querido to get these important stories in front of children and families in as many formats as possible. These are the books that I wish I had as a kid, and it is an absolute privilege to work with the exceptional team at Levine Querido, to make them available to the next great generation of readers, advocates and allies."
The deal, brokered by Biagi Literary Management, will include iconographic video and digital and physical audiobooks for titles represented in Levine Querido's two imprints: the Arthur A. Levine list, which focuses on building a platform for previously underrepresented voices such as the LGBTQIA+ community, those of various ethnic backgrounds and races, those of minority religions, and those living with disabilities; and the Em Querido list, which brings outstanding books from around the world to U.S. readers. The inaugural list has received praise from Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist among others.
Among the 23 titles in the collection are anticipated releases Apple: Skin to the Core, a memoir that provides a poignant look at poverty, family, and discrimination within author Eric Gansworth's Native community, and Elatsoe, a magical story that embodies and subverts genres from Lipan Apache and #ownvoices author Darcie
Little Badger.
"I'm excited to partner with another vibrant independent company on this venture," says Arthur. "Dreamscape shares our commitment to ensure that a broad audience of young readers who prefer to experience stories through listening to dynamic narration will have access to the work of LQ's fine authors."
Ensuring these important stories will be accessible to a wider children's audience, the audiobooks will be available to library patrons through hoopla digital, Midwest Tape's mobile and online service for public libraries. The fall collection of titles will soon be available for preorder everywhere audiobooks are sold, including Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, and iBooks.
Dreamscape Media (dreamscapeab.com) is a privately held media development firm focusing on production, distribution and licensing in publishing and video channels, with an emphasis on the library/educational market. The company produces fiction and non-fiction audiobooks, book-based children's read-along video programs, and offers video distribution services. Titles are available to both library and retail channels in physical and digital formats. In 2020, Dreamscape Media is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a library-first publisher. Dreamscape is the publishing arm of Midwest Tape - a trusted partner to public libraries for over 30 years.
Founded in 2019 by Arthur A. Levine, Levine Querido (LQ) is an independent publisher born of a fervent mission to give voice to a uniquely talented, exceptionally diverse group of authors and artists whose books will inspire young people while offering them a sense of their (and others') rightful place in the world. LQ books are characterized by great storytelling, powerful and beautiful artwork, and a fearless commitment to telling deep truths. Full disclosure: Sometimes we will make you laugh while doing so.
