Barbara Fiore Books

Children’s books are increasingly becoming collectible items. One of the main attractions when choosing which to buy are the beautiful illustrations that help teach children that “dreams can become reality, if we want it enough”. Or at least, this is the message Barbara Fiore wants to transmit to her readers. One of the founders of the publishing house that carries her name, she could be considered the Queen Bee of books.

“We don’t skimp when it comes to making sure that the final product is totally unique, in terms of both its quality as a piece of art and for its content”, explains Fiore. “Beauty, hard work and coherence are what we are trying to achieve”. It’s not difficult to identify the titles that make up their catalogue. If the company had existed in the 1940s, one can imagine Barbara Fiore Books producing the Spanish edition of the classic children’s book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. But Italian Fiore was born a little late. Nevertheless, her publications shroud a particular way of thinking: critical, heuristic, mature, she treats children like rational and conscious beings and believes it is the small things that count.

When flicking through some of their first Spanish-language publications for children including Emigrantes (Emigrants) and El árbol rojo (The Red Tree) both by Shaun Tan, La Ola (The Wave) by Suzy Lee or El pato y la muerte (Duck, Death and the Tulip) by Wolf Erlbruch, you’ll find yourself becoming totally immersed in a parallel universe often hidden from our prematurely aged eyes. Beautiful, captivating and dreamlike images. Dreams that dye the pages in colour and sensations. Illustrations so expressive that words become decorative ornaments, without losing their importance. “Suzy Lee and Chaun Tan have shown us that a great story doesn’t necessarily need words, in the same way that some stories don’t always need spectacular illustrations in order to be fabulous. That said, at Barbara Fiore Books we believe that illustrations are very importance to convey stories and messages to children”, explains Fiore.

Their forte is their community of authors, many of which are internationally acclaimed. “With an innate talent in their field, they would be sorely missed if they did weren’t present in our libraries and bookshelves”. For this reason, Barbara Fiore Books has made it their mission to conduct research to find the best specialists in every genre, many of whom are unknown in Spain and Latin America, their two markets.

Surprisingly, their ranks don’t include that many Spanish writers. “It is very difficult”, comments the director. “Established authors have already been nabbed by the bigger labels. It is only recently that newcomers are getting to know our work and find us an interesting option when sending out their projects”. Getting through their selection process is no mean feat. “We don’t want to publish anything that doesn’t reach our standards. The Spanish and Latin-American titles in our catalogue have to be just as good as the international titles we publish”.

Good taste and professionalism. To make the little ones laugh, there is no need to resort to easy gags. Barbara Fiore has recognized this fact and dedicates her company to bewitching readers with great and beautiful ideas. The critics are now on her side. Children were from the beginning.

Editorial Bárbara Fiore
Paseo del Fuego, 7
Albolote (Granada)
958499234