About the Editor
Valerie Garfield is the Publisher for Licensed, Novelty and Branded Publishing for the Simon Spotlight, Little Simon, and Aladdin imprints, which span the preschool to middle reader age range. She has extensive experience in novelty books, board books, beginning readers and chapter books, acquiring and building series and programs across formats. She oversees about 400 titles per year, including the Ready-to-Read beginning reader program, Little Simon’s IP chapter book program, and the Simon Spotlight media tie-in program, for which she acquires preschool properties such as CoComelon, Angelina Ballerina, and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. For the Aladdin imprint she is focusing on the growing chapter book program as well as contemporary voices in middle grade publishing. While the 0-12 age group is vast, Valerie is keenly tuned in to the current needs of kids, paying careful attention to a wide range of kids who need voices, stories, and formats that not only meet their needs, but engage them as future – and hopefully lifelong — readers.