Kar-Ben Publishing, an award-winning children’s book publisher providing a growing Jewish library for children, is a division of Minneapolis-based Lerner Publishing Group

Lerner Publishing Group

Lerner Publishing Group, based in Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota since its founding in 1959, is one of the largest independently owned children's book publishers in the United States. With more than 3,500 titles in print, Lerner Publishing Group offers nonfiction and fiction books for...

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The company had its genesis in 1975, when two friends, Judyth Groner and Madeline Wikler, founded Kar-Ben Copies, Inc. to publish My Very Own Haggadah, a children's Passover

Passover

Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...

 haggadah they had created. Now in its 30th anniversary printing, it went on to sell over two million copies. The company is named after the two founders’ youngest children, Madeline’s daughter Karen and Judye's son Ben.

Over the next 27 years, under the leadership of the founders, Kar-Ben published more than 150 books for Jewish children and their families, the creative work of over 60 authors and illustrators. In recognition of their "outstanding contributions to the field of Jewish children’s literature," Judye and Madeline were awarded the prestigious "Body of Work Award" by the Sydney Taylor Book Award

Sydney Taylor Book Award

The Sydney Taylor Book Award recognizes the best in Jewish children's literature. Medals are awarded annually for outstanding books that authentically portray the Jewish experience. The award was established in 1968 by the Association of Jewish Libraries. It is named in memory of Sydney Taylor,...

 committee.

In 2001, Kar-Ben was purchased by Lerner Publishing Group. Under the leadership of publisher Joni Sussman, Kar-Ben Publishing now publishes over sixteen new titles of Jewish content each year, for children from pre-school through middle school, both fiction

Fiction

Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

 and non-fiction

Non-fiction

Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...

. Kar-Ben has created many award-winning children's books on such subjects as Jewish holidays, crafts, folktales, and contemporary stories and picture books. Many have become popular classics including The Mouse in the Matzah Factory, Once Upon a Shabbos, the Sammy Spider series, The Secret of Priest's Grotto

Priest's Grotto

Priest's Grotto is a cave in western Ukraine near the village of Strilkivtsi , located within the Borshchiv Raion of the Ternopil Oblast ....

, and the best-selling book Six Million Paper Clips.