Silvey Departs Houghton

After six years as Houghton Mifflin's vice president and publisher of children's books, Anita Silvey has decided to hang up her trademark hat. Silvey, who is known for her extraordinary knowledge of kids' books, left the Boston-based publishing firm in May to devote more time to teaching and writing about children's literature.

During her recent tenure, Houghton and Clarion Books, which she also oversaw, earned a healthy share of children's book awards, including two Caldecott Medals, a Newbery Medal, and two Hans Christian Andersen Awards. Immediately prior to joining Houghton in 1995, Silvey sat in the critic's chair: she was editor-in-chief of the Horn Book Magazine for 11 years. Before that, she was Houghton's manager of children's book advertising and promotion and, later, its library marketing director.

So what exactly does she plan to work on? One of Silvey's first projects will be tackling a revision of Children's Books and Their Creators, her popular overview of 20th-century children's books. The updated version—to be published by Houghton, of course—will be available in the fall of 2002.