Karen Lotz

Candlewick Press has announced the hiring of John Mendelson as senior vice president of sales and digital initiatives. Mendelson will join the Somerville, Mass.-based children's publisher May 18. He is currently director of trade sales at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, where he has worked for more than a decade in a variety of sales positions.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Candlewick Press was launched 15 years ago as the U.S. publishing arm of London-based children’s book publisher Walker Books. Since its inception, the company has grown into one of the largest independent publishing companies in the world. Today, it boasts nearly 100 employees, more than 3,000 published titles and countless industry awards, including the 2007 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for “Zelda and Ivy: The Runaways,” by Laura Kvasnosky, and this year’s E.B. White Read-Aloud Award for “Houndsley and Catina,” by James Howe and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay. Both of these award-winning titles were among the first four titles released in the