Atheneum Books

Atheneum Books was a publishing house and adult publisher created by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr. in 1959. He recruited editor Jean E. Karl personally, to come and establish a Children's Book Department in 1961.

In the 2000s Atheneum is a children's-book imprint of Simon & Schuster. They have published the popular May Bird series, which includes May Bird and the Ever After. Other bestsellers include Olivia and the Newbery Medal winner The Higher Power of Lucky.

History
Created by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr. in 1959, it became the publisher of Pulitzer Prize winners Edward Albee, Charles Johnson, and Theodore H. White. In 1961, Jean Karl created a children's division.

Atheneum merged with Charles Scribner's Sons to become The Scribner Book Company in 1978. The acquisition included Rawson Associates. Scribner was acquired by Macmillan in 1984. Macmillan was purchased by Simon & Schuster in 1994.