Today sees the launch, within the Trade Books Area of the Mondadori Group, managed by Enrico Selva Coddè, of the Children’s Books Business Unit, which includes the publishing houses Mondadori, Rizzoli, Fabbri and Piemme with the Battello a Vapore and Geronimo Stilton brands.
The aim of the new structure is to consolidate, as well as further expand, the company’s leadership in children’s publishing.

The Children’s Books Business Unit, which will be headed up by Lorenzo Garavaldi, aims to enhance the various imprints in response to the challenges of a strategic and continuously changing market.

The new organisational structure, while maintaining the different positioning and characteristics of the individual publishing houses, will facilitate a more complete and coherent articulation of the offer. The skills, creativity and passion of the people of the publishing houses will guarantee the essential quality and innovation necessary to reach excellent results

The Editorial Director of the new Children’s Books Business Unit will be Enrico Racca and the heads of the various publishing houses – Patrizia Puricelli for Piemme Geronimo Stilton, Alessandro Gelso for Rizzoli and Fabbri Ragazzi, Marta Mazza for Mondadori Ragazzi and Enrico Racca (ad interim) for Piemme Battello a Vapore – will report directly to him.
Lorenzo Garavaldi will remain in charge of marketing.
Rights for the whole area will be managed by Laura Casonato, who is already in charge of rights for Edizioni Piemme and Sperling & Kupfer.
Press and Communications for the Children’s Books Business Unit will be overseen by Paola Caviggioli, who remains as head of Communications for Edizioni Piemme and Sperling & Kupfer.

Don’t trust a surface that is too calm: you never know what it conceals. With the same narrative force that has captured millions of readers around the world with The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins gives us a multifaceted novel that is rich in emotions. When the river of a small town gives up the bodies, within a few weeks of each other, of a single mother and her teenage daughter, what also comes to the surface is a much more complicated and surprising affair than expected. As in The Girl on the Train, INTO THE WATER  comes from a deep and powerful understanding of human instincts and the damage they can cause.

“INTO THE WATER offers surprises on every page,” said the American editor Sarah McGrath. “As in The Girl on the Train, also here the murders are part of a bigger story. INTO THE WATER shows us what the tricks of memory can do and the ways in which the past creeps dangerously into the present and the future.”

“Once again Paula explores the fascinating depths of our mind,” says the British editor Sarah Adams, “reminding us that things are rarely as they seem, and prompting us to investigate the reality around us.”

“An original and courageous book,” said Paula Hawkins’ agent, Lizzy Kremer.

The novel will be published in the United States and in Great Britain on 2 May 2017.

Paula Hawkins is the author of the worldwide bestseller The Girl on the Train, which has sold over 18 million copies around the world. The novel spent 79 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list, and more than three months in the number one spot. In Italy it has sold over 600,000 copies, and has never left the bestsellers list since it was published in June 2015, and remains in the top ten best-selling books. The Girl on the Train was recently adapted for the cinema starring Emily Blunt.

In the book by Tea Stilton titled The Blue Scarab Hunt (Edizioni Piemme) for the purpose of explaining the history of the ancient city of Thebes – currently Luxor – a map of the Nile Valley was published with no indication of the State of Israel.

This was never meant to be a geographic and/or political depiction of Egypt and/or its borders, but simply an identification of the place where the new fictional story of the leading character occurred.

Geronimo Stilton, with his book titled Il mio primo atlante (My First Atlas), has undertaken to describe the geographic layout of the area in a page with a political map where all sovereign states are clearly indicated.

We regret the error and we proceeded to stop the distribution of the book and pulped all the copies while in its next reprint, a new map will be attached.

The Umberto Veronesi Foundation and Geronimo Stilton are sharing a project of great ethical and educational value, aimed at building an awareness in children of the importance that scientific research has for all of us.

The initiative is being realised with the support of the publishing house Piemme, a leader in children’s fiction thanks to the ability to dialogue with children that distinguishes its catalogue, and which has enables it to become a reference point for parents attentive to the needs their children and teachers involved in stimulating a love of reading.

Thanks to his ability to handle even delicate and complex topics with charm and humour, bringing them within the reach of a child, Geronimo Stilton has written a book, The Strange Case of the Blue Pimples, which recounts a very special adventure, set in Topazia, where a strange outbreak of blue pimples pushes grandfather Torquato to turn to the famous doctor and researcher Prof. Toponesi, the Island of Mice’s alter ego of the eminent Professor Umberto Veronesi!

The story continues with the family Stilton on a visit to Professor’s highly modern scientific laboratories: this gives them an opportunity to explain to young readers the importance of safety rules, of how a team of researchers is composed and the significance of research protocols, with the help of explanatory boxes accompanying the text. And all of this with a view to popularizing science in a way that can be assimilated in the early years of life and which is crucial for the training of aware future adults, and using a language and approach suitable for the ages to which they are addressed.

With this book Geronimo Stilton and Edizioni Piemme support the research grants of the Fondazione Umberto Veronesi.

In the centre of Milan, in Piazza Duomo, inside the Libreria Mondadori Multicenter, for a number of days Geronimo Stilton, the popular editor of the The Rodent’s Gazette, has been preparing a cheddarific (surprise for his young readers: in fact it will be possible to visit the house where he stays on his frequent visits to the city!

The space features the characteristic screaming yellow walls, which recall the house in New Mouse City and, as you enter on the left, you’ll find the relax corner, in which the fireplace stands out, and beside which is an armchair that invites you to take a seat and read from the pages of an exciting book …
In the study there is a desk, where you will see the typewriter that Grandpa William gave to Geronimo when he turned over the management of The Rodent’s Gazette to him.

On the walls there are maps of New Mouse City and Mouse Island, as well as the most important prizes won.
Continuing the tour, the young visitors will come to the kitchen with a wonderful stove.
And of course, a house like this wouldn’t be complete without a big bookcase!
The Geronimo Stilton house can be visited for free by everyone during the Multicenter Mondadori’s normal opening hours (every day, including Sundays, from 9am to 11pm).

Geronimo Stilton is an extraordinary publishing phenomenon that since 2000, the year in which the first books were published by Piemme, has spread from Italy across the world. Indeed, the character can now rightly be considered and authentic “classic” that is destined to live on and become increasingly popular.
Born in New Mouse City (Mouse Island), Geronimo Stilton is the Rattus Emeritus of Mousomorphic Literature and Neo-Ratonic Comparative Philosophy. He is the editor of The Rodent’s Gazette, Mouse Island’s leading and most popular newspaper. His book, which have been translated into 36 languages, have sold more than 23 million copies in Italy alone, and 74 million around the world.
His web site is: www.geronimostilton.com

NumeriPrimi° is the new brand, launched on 25 March 2011 for the bestselling titles published by Mondadori, Einaudi, Sperling & Kupfer, Piemme and Frassinelli.
This innovative project brings to bookstores, under a single brand, quality paperback editions of all of the bestselling titles of the Mondadori Group’s five publishing houses just a few months after their publication in hardcover, at advantageous prices and ahead of the paperback editions of the single imprints.

NumeriPrimi° will feature only successful titles published around 12 months for their first appearance in hardcover and is expected to produce 30-40 titles a year grouped in three different moments; with a single format, but different covers reflecting the original and at competitive prices of between €12 and €15; each title will be available under the new brand for around 18 months, before being definitively reallocated in the paperback catalogue of the original publishing house.

The new NumeriPrimi° brand is the result of collaboration between Mondadori and RobilantAssociati, Italy’s top brand design and strategy consultants, with a range of leading Italian companies among its clients.

With the definition of NumeriPrimi°, RobilantAssociati has identified, for the publishing sector, a response to a phenomenon already underway in other sectors: a demand for upscale products at more affordable prices, creating, along with the Group’s publishing houses, a new offer to add to the the market. Through its name and logo the new NumeriPrimi° brand will stand out and attract attention, exemplifying the values of success and accessibility that characterise the brand, while using an expressive and highly innovative and identifiable language.

The first 13 NumeriPrimi° titles, in bookstores from 25 March 2011 are:

John Grisham Ritorno a Ford County
Anne Holt La porta chiusa
Paolo Brosio A un passo dal baratro
Madeleine Wickham La compagna di scuola
Nicholas Sparks L’ultima canzone
Fabio Volo Il tempo che vorrei
Giancarlo De Cataldo Romanzo criminale
Dan Brown Il simbolo perduto
Mauro Corona Il canto delle manere
Fred Vargas Prima di morire addio
Clarissa Pinkola Estés Donne che corrono coi lupi
Alessandro D’Avenia Bianca come il latte, rossa come il sangue
Niccolò Ammaniti Che la festa cominci.

The mobile advertising campaign of iPad applications by Edizioni Piemme, whose catalogue of titles available from Apple’s Appstore will reach eleven titles by Christmas, has been launched on Mediamond websites. In details the campaign has been planned on the Mondadori web and mobile sites held by the advertising sales agency, accessible on the iPad.

The focus of the initiative will be on some of the most successful titles of Edizioni Piemme, such as Storie da ridere and the bestseller Nel Regno della Fantasia of the popular children’s character Geronimo Stilton’s; Il cacciatore di acquiloni by Khaled Hosseini and the autobiographical A un passo dal baratro by Paolo Brosio.

“We are delighted to be able to promote our applications on the Mediamond network,” declared Laura Donnini managing director of Edizioni Piemme.
“It is the first campaign for our mobile applications and we believe that the launch of the applications of our books will certainly benefit in terms of visibility and downloads,” she concluded.

Satisfaction was also expressed by Davide Mondo, managing director of Mediamond, who said, “Our product portfolio is clearly the ideal platform for the realisation of an application advertising campaign. With the tools we have available we have designed an immediate communication campaign that focuses on the interests of the users that visit Mondadori’s digital properties,” he concluded.

Edizioni Piemme has a consolidated leadership in children’s book publishing, with a market share of 18% (Source: Nielsen November 2010), thanks to the success of the “Il Battello a Vapore” and “Geronimo Stilton” brands, as well as its successes in the fiction, non-fiction and religion sectors for general readers.

Mediamond, the joint venture between Mondadori Pubblicità and Publitalia ’80, was set up in 2009 for the sale of advertising on the web. Mediamond’s portfolio is made up of a network of 30 titles that every month reach more than 8.4 million users and 710 million page views, which represents a 35% coverage of internet users.

In addition to e-books, a series of interactive applications for the iPad are now available for some of the titles in the children’s catalogue. These apps area exclusively available from Apple’s App Store, starting on 11 November. Geronimo Stilton is the first protagonist of this operation, which involves some of the most popular titles.

Funny stories

Some of the titles in the series will be sold in a digital format containing the full text as well as extra content. The digital version of the books include a complete audio version of the stories, with the voice of Geronimo Stilton and the other characters from the world of Topazia. The application’s main menu also offers the following functions: write, underline, highlight, make brief notes on the page, write on notepaper, cancel, place bookmark, record brief audio tracks.

But above all it is the extra content that makes the app so much fun and engaging for younger users.

Character profiles. Every time a new character appears in the story, an icon on the side of the text indicates that there is a profile of the character.

Games. At the beginning of each book there are 4 games, such as “find the hidden detail”, “identify the differences”, “find the right shadow” and “find the intruder”.

Outline images to be coloured. In the text, on the side of some images an icon indicates the same image in a black and white outline form that the reader can enlarge and colour, using a palette of colours that appears on the screen.

From the menu it is also possible to access the online catalogue of Geronimo Stilton apps available for the iPad and to send an email to friends, inviting them to join the fun with the range of Geronimo Stilton interactive applications.

The application, developed by Enhanced Press, can be used on the iPad and is downloadable from the App Store. Follow this link: http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/id398491904?mt=8. New titles will be available for sale every two weeks.

In the Realm of Imagination

The bestsellers of Geronimo Stilton come to the iPad, in a version to be read, listened to and …touched! The application provides the complete text of the book that can be flicked through, page by page, or listened to by activating the audio with the voices of Geronimo and his friends.

The pages, that are already full of exciting words, will surprise young readers with the numerous animated images, that provide sound effects and the possibility of interacting by dragging certain objects on the screen.

Over 300 pages of full-colour illustrated text as well as 50 pages with a glossary of imaginative words; more than 150 multi-touch animated images with sound effects; animated presentations profiles of all the characters of the Compagnia della Fantasia and partial audio of the story.

The application, developed by Simplicissimus, can be used on the iPad and is downloadable from the App Store. Follow this link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id400428205?mt=8.

The Geronimo Stilton cartoons

Finally, an application has also been created to read the cartoons of Geronimo Stilton in a digital format: cartoons can be viewed in their entirety in the portrait mode (vertical) or enlarged in the landscape mode (horizontal).

The main menu of the application allows users to write, underline, highlight, make brief notes on the page, write on notepaper, cancel, place bookmark and record brief audio tracks.

From the menu it is also possible to access the online catalogue of Geronimo Stilton apps available for the iPad and to send an email to friends, inviting them to join the fun with the range of Geronimo Stilton interactive applications.

Soon there will also be an interactive iPhone application for the cartoons of the popular editor of the Eco del Roditore.

The application, developed by Enhanced Press, can be used on the iPad and is downloadable from the App Store. Follow this link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id400088098?mt=8. New titles will be available for sale every two weeks.

Following legal authorisation and the positive results of duediligence, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. today exercised the contract as per thepreliminary agreement stipulated on 16 July – and already communicated to the market– forthe acquisition of 70% of the share capital of Edizioni Piemme S.p.A.

The definitive price, fixed on the basis of the results of due diligence, is of €14.107 million.

This operation will allow Mondadori to significantly strengthen its position in thechildren’s books segment and also acquire a portfolio of established authors in the fictionand non-fiction area.