Hannah Ray to join Hachette Children's as group picture books and preschool publisher

Hachette Children’s Group (HCG) has appointed Hannah Ray to the role of group picture book and preschool publisher. She will succeed Emma Blackburn, who will leave HCG at the end of March to take up the role of publisher at Post Wave Publishing UK.

Reporting to c.e.o. Hilary Murray Hill, Ray will lead the Picture Book and Preschool editorial and design teams, joining HCG on 29th April 2024 from her current role as publishing director at Macmillan Children’s Books.

During her time at Macmillan Children’s Books, Ray published books for young readers, including Rebecca Cobb’s Waterstones Prize-winning Lunchtime, Chris Riddell’s Once Upon a Wild Wood and Catherine Rayner’s Arlo The Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep, which was shortlisted for the Greenaway Medal. 

Ray has also been Julia Donaldson’s editor for the past nine years, and has acquired and edited The Detective Dog and The Hospital Dog, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie (Macmillan Children’s Books), as well as the latest three titles in the What the Ladybird Heard series, illustrated by Lydia Monks (Macmillan Children’s Books).

Before joining Macmillan Children’s Books in 2007, she worked on educational magazines and resources at Scholastic, followed by an editorial role working on Quarto’s QED imprint.

Hill commented: “I am extremely pleased to be welcoming Hannah to HCG’s picture book and preschool business, and the children’s board. Her strategic approach, clarity and creative brand development skills are acknowledged across the sector and she will be a huge asset in our growth plans for younger colour publishing.

"She is also a thoughtful and experienced manager who has inspired great loyalty from the editors she has worked with. I am very much looking forward to being colleagues, as are all our designers and editors.”

Ray added: “I’m very excited to be heading to Hachette Children’s Group as publisher of preschool and picture books. I’ve had a wonderful 16 years at Macmillan, and I’ve been lucky enough to work with a host of incredible authors, illustrators and colleagues, all of whom I will miss a great deal. But I’ve long been a big fan of HCG’s bestselling, authentic, child-pleasing books, and  I’m delighted to have the opportunity to join Hilary and her team, and to help shape their next chapter for young readers.”