Hachette acquires Otter-Barry books

5 October, 2026 — Hachette UK today announced the acquisition of Otter-Barry Books, celebrated publisher of culturally diverse, inclusive illustrated stories, picture books, gift books, non-fiction and poetry collections for children. The sale is in accordance with the definitive agreement signed on 1st October 2026.

Following the acquisition, Otter-Barry’s backlist and contracted frontlist publishing will transfer over to become part of the Hachette Children’s Group’s catalogue, benefiting from Hachette’s global distribution, marketing capabilities, and technological infrastructure.

Founded in 2015 by Janetta Otter-Barry, the publisher is best-known for award-winning titles like Joseph Coelho’s The Boy Lost in the Maze, illustrated by Kate Milner, and Matt Goodfellow’s The Final Year, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton, as well as acclaimed works such as Jackie Morris’s The Jackie Morris Book of Classic Nursery Rhymes and Something About a Bear and Petr Horáček’s The Perfect Present and Blue Monster.

With its incredible breadth of voices, and visually striking product, Otter-Barry Books has long been admired for publishing diverse and inclusive books that children everywhere will love. Its catalogue of bestselling and award-winning poetry, picture books, gift books, fiction and information books perfectly complements Hachette UK’s existing strengths and aligns with the longer-term strategy to diversify into specialist areas by acquiring publishers – and their works – who are leaders in their field, including Welbeck, Paperblanks, Bookouture, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Laurence King, Summersdale, Short Books, and most recently, Kogan Page.

David Shelley, CEO of Hachette UK, said: ‘We are honoured and excited to welcome Otter-Barry’s talented community of authors and illustrators to Hachette UK. I know their fantastic range of books will continue to thrive and find readers under the care of Ruth’s Alltimes’ team at Hachette Children’s Group. Otter-Barry’s commitment to publishing books that make a difference, push boundaries, and that children will love aligns perfectly with our Raising Readers mission, and HCG’s commitment to publishing a book for every child and young person.’

Janetta Otter-Barry, Founder and Publisher at Otter-Barry Books, added: ‘It has been the privilege of my life to found and lead Otter-Barry Books for the last ten years. But now it’s time to hand over the baton and I’m excited to see our wonderful authors and illustrators flourish and thrive with the brilliant team at Hachette Children’s UK, under the care and vision of Ruth Alltimes. I feel that in Hachette we have found the best possible home for the Otter- Barry list.’

Ruth Alltimes, Managing Director, Hachette Children’s Group, said: ‘We have long been fans of Janetta’s work and great admirers of Otter-Barry’s wonderful list. It has been our honour to have worked with some of the same authors and illustrators, and we are thrilled to welcome their impressive stable of creatives to Hachette Children’s Group. We look forward to championing them and their books to reach the broadest possible readership.’