Moon Lane to open franchise in Nanjing

Moon Lane is partnering with LinMind Cultural Development to open a franchise in Nanjing, China, next month.

The move comes as its co-owner and founder Tamara McFarlane releases children's book Dragon World, published by Dorling Kindersley.

The shop will launch on the 20th of February, along with a pre-publication celebration of Dragon World.

The idea for Moon Lane's first international premises was sparked by the development of the partnership with LinMind Cultural Development Co. Ltd, the franchisee operating Moon Lane Nanjing. The partnership came about when Lane was invited to speak at the Fang Suo Bookshop Forum in Chengdu, a festival of international bookselling and publishing.

The store will combine a range of English language and Chinese children’s books.

Macfarlane said: “We are deeply honoured to have been chosen, from all the amazing bookshops in the world, to partner with LinMind in this exciting project. Extending our Moon Lane mission to raise equality in children’s books, beyond the UK and into international areas, is a hugely significant step for us. We hope to build on this with further partnerships in order to open more franchisees and create deeper cross-cultural understanding with other countries. I am also, personally, delighted that he opening of Moon Lane Nanjing has coincided with the publication of Dragon World. A book that explores the common existence of dragons in so many cultures around the world. To be able to celebrate these two events at the same time is extraordinarily fortunate.”

Lu Shen, founder and owner of LinMind, added: “It’s been a huge excitement and honour to work with Tamara and her Moon Lane team on this franchise project."

Moon Lane started 18 years ago in Herne Hill, with the children's bookshop Tales on Moon Lane. Today, it has grown to include Moon Lane Education, Moon Lane Books and Moon Lane Ink CIC. Moon Lane Books & Toys in Ramsgate opened on Addington Street on the 1st of November 2019 with "Moon Lane TV: The Children’s Book Channel" launching in April as a response to Covid-19.

Illustrated by Alessandra Fusi, Lane's Dragon World is published in the UK on 4 March 2021.

James Mitchem, acquisitions editor at Dorling Kindersley, UK said: “We are so thrilled to be working alongside Tamara to publish Dragon World. Tamara’s passion and enthusiasm really bring the subject to life. We’re so proud of the book and all her outstanding work at Moon Lane - and are very excited for this next chapter.”