User:Katmichellec/Cap Pub

Capstone (or Capstone Publishers), is the leading publisher of children’s books and digital products in the U.S. education market. With more than 13,000 titles in its imprints and divisions, Capstone publishes everything from nonfiction, fiction, and picture books to interactive books, audio books, literacy programs, and digital media to engage young minds and support students’ learning needs. Imprints and divisions include Capstone Press, Compass Point Books, Picture Window Books, Stone Arch Books, Red Brick Learning, Capstone Digital, and Heinemann-Raintree. Capstone grew its business in 2008 by acquiring the assets of Heinemann-Raintree library reference imprints from Pearson , the international education and media company. The acquisition extended Capstone’s international reach as Heinemann-Raintree had a sizeable presence in the United Kingdom and wide international appeal. Capstone is based in Mankato, Minnesota, with additional offices in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Oxford, England. Capstone is part of Coughlan Companies, Inc., a family-owned and run business since the late 1800s which also includes Mankato Kasota Stone, a limestone quarry and fabrication facility .

History
1990 [Capstone Press] is acquired and rapidly expands. 1991 Capstone Press publishes its first books, 48 titles. 1998 Pebble brand® becomes the first nonfiction research series for emergent readers (grades preK-2) in the market. 1999 Capstone establishes its second imprint [Compass Point Books]. 2001 Capstone launches its third imprint, the first solely illustrated nonfiction series publisher [Picture Window Books]. 2002 Red Brick Learning launches, partnering with educators to help all students, from struggling to fluent readers, achieve reading success in the classroom. 2003 FactHound.com® launches, the first publisher provided, internet-based resource provider for elementary students. 2004 Pebble Plus® is launched to provide larger nonfiction books for beginning readers, grades preK-2. 2005 Capstone launches [Stone Arch Books], the first exclusively safe graphic novel publisher. Capstone debuts Graphic Library, the first nonfiction graphic novels series, under its Capstone Press imprint. 2007 Capstone Publishers (now Capstone) is established to unify the publishing companies with shared services. [Capstone Interactive Library™] with digital books online is launched

2008 Capstone acquires Heinemann Global Library, expanding its market globally. Acquisition of HRT Press Release Raintree is established in the U.K.

Capstone launches CollectionWiz™, the first online collection analysis and management tool created by a publisher.

2009 PebbleGo™ debuts as the first interactive animal database designed for emergent readers and researchers, grades K-2. Capstone Digital is launched with interactive and online media formats to excite and engage learners

Imprints
The Capstone family of imprints provides both fiction and nonfiction books for struggling and reluctant readers. Capstone has also extended learning online through innovative digital media products (including Capstone Interactive Library™, CapstoneKids™ FactHound™ and PebbleGo™) and services (CollectionWiz™ and Library Processing).

Capstone Press

 * Capstone Press publishes accessible, engaging nonfiction for beginning, struggling and reluctant readers, grades preK-8. A few of the popular titles in the Capstone Press imprint are,Poetry,Mighty Machines, and Kids’ Translations.

Compass Point Books

 * Compass Point Books publishes smart nonfiction that engages readers through thoughtful perspectives on topics such as history, science, biography and careers, grades 5-12. Some popular Compass Point Books titles are,Signature Lives, Write Your Own, Headline Science, and Snapshots in History.

Picture Window Books

 * Picture Window Books publishes fiction and nonfiction easy readers, picture books and chapter books, grades preK-4. Picture Window Books's popular titles are Pfeffernut County, Katie Woo, The Life of Max, Word Fun, Math Fun, Caroline Arnold’s Animals, and Writer’s Toolbox.

Stone Arch Books
DC Super Heroes, Jake Maddox, David Mortimer Baxter, Claudia Cristina Cortez, Library of Doom, Tiger Moth, Zinc Alloy, and Graphic Revolve are a few of Stone Arch Books's most popular titles.
 * Stone Arch Books publishes safe, contemporary and compelling fiction that inspires independent reading for grades K-9.

Capstone Digital
Capstone Digital offers audio books and interactive titles and databases to increase fluency and reading levels through formats that excite and engage grades preK-9, through sound, action and ideas.

Red Brick Learning
Red Brick Learning offers the widest range of high-kid-appeal and supplemental materials for the classroom to help struggling readers achieve. Our carefully leveled nonfiction, with targeted instruction offers an innovative resource that strengthens literacy and fosters content comprehension.

Heinemann-Raintree
Heinemann-Raintree is a leading provider of nonfiction educational publishing for libraries and classrooms. They provide inspiring, high-interest books that will make pupils want to keep on reading and learning.

Awards
In publishing for nearly a decade, Capstone has received more than 300 awards and accolades for its innovative content that spans both established and emerging delivery formats, from traditional print to interactive. Some of the most notable awards the publisher has received include: The Best Children's Books of the Year (Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education); Teachers’ Choices Selection (International Reading Association); Nonfiction Honor List (VOYA); Sydney Taylor Notable Books (The Association of Jewish Libraries); Amelia Bloomer Project List (Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table, American Library Association); Notable Social Studies Books for Young People (National Council for Social Studies and the Children's Book Council); Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students (National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council); Teachers’ Choice Awards for Children’s Books and Teachers’ Choice Awards for the Classroom (Learning Magazine); and Junior Library Guild selections.

Corporate Giving
Capstone gives 5% of its income back to its communities. Each year, Capstone and its employees volunteer time, gifts, and financial support to many organizations and efforts. Capstone is committed to strengthening communities by supporting literacy programs, expanding educational opportunities, and caring for the environment.

Scholarships and Grants
Each year Capstone sponsors the Innovate Reading Grant through the American Association of School Librarians for the planning and implementation of a unique and innovative program which motivates and encourages reading, especially with struggling readers. Recipients are awarded $2,500 to implement their program. Capstone also offers up to 16 scholarship awards in the amount of $2,500 to full-time undergraduate and graduate students majoring in one of the following preferred areas of study: Elementary Education, Library Science, English Language and Literature or Design at a designated college or university. 

Green Initiative
Leading Capstone’s green initiatives is a passionate group of employees who formed the Green@Work committee in 2007. The committee’s charge is to make Capstone a more environmentally-responsible company by incorporating eco-friendly initiatives and actions into the workplace, and communicating green news and trends to employees. Capstone prints all of its books on at least 10% post-consumer waste paper, affecting more than 600 titles annually. And they didn’t stop there. In lieu of printing full product line catalogs for customers twice a year, Capstone consolidates and condenses spring catalogs and highlights only the newest titles. This smaller catalog saves more than 60 million sheets of paper. Capstone increased the number of recycling receptacles throughout their offices, and started collecting bottle caps to be recycled at special locations. To reduce waste even further, one of their offices implemented organics recycling. With recycled paper used in the bathrooms and kitchens and biodegradable bags collecting the organic waste, organics recycling reduces their office waste by nearly 80%. Many employees purchase subscriptions to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). From May through October, local farmers deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to our office locations.

Criticism
In a Wall Street Journal article from August 2008 (“Problem: Boys Don't Like to Read. Solution: Books That Are Really Gross”) Jan Harp Domene, the national president of the Parent Teacher Association, criticized publishers like Capstone for using “shock tactics” to appeal to boy readers. She argued that boys should be reading Greek mythology instead of gross books like “Getting to Know Your Toilet.” This publisher’s gross topics range from farting to food with titles such as, “The Pukey Book of Vomit,” “Sewers and the Rats that Love Them,” “The Foul, Filthy American Frontier: The Disgusting Details about the Journey Out West,” “Poop-Eaters: Dung Beetles in the Food Chain”, and “Disgusting Foods.” Other critics of Capstone consider their books to be relatively short in literary and artistic merit, with limited content, rudimentary facts, simplistic plots, and flat dialogue.

Related Links
  Library Bound Stone Arch Books’ Blog