Trade and Educational Books

What is the difference between "trade" and "educational" books for children? I have written for both markets and will explain the difference.

Basically, TRADE books for kids are the books you usually find in bookstores. The intended buyer is the general consumer. They most often are published in hardcover with a paper jacket flap cover.

The EDUCATIONAL market publishes books for children as well. These books are most often found in school and public libraries. The intended buyer is mostly librarians. (There are, of course, exceptions. But this is the basic rule.) These books are often published with a hard cover called a Library Binding (which is very durable) with no paper jacket flap.

My book Muriel's Red Sweater is a trade book published by Dutton Children's Books. My book Saving Shadow is an educational book published by Picture Window Books, which is part of Capstone Press. Capstone is one of the big educational publishers. Saving Shadow fits into their existing line of "character education" books.

This photo (provided by Laura Purdie Salas) was taken at the Annual ALA show in Chicago last week. This is the Capstone/Picture Window booth at the ALA trade show. Saving Shadow is one of their featured books! ALA is attended by a lot of librarians, so the educational markets advertise big at this annual event.