A Million Nursery Books

Sweden is a land of singers, with far more than its fair share of famous artists, from pop icons to opera divas. One reason could be that Swedish children learn to sing at a young age. And children’s book publisher Bonnier Carlsen has done its part with the Barnkammarbok series – nursery books – which feature the music and words of a wide range of songs for children. The beautiful hardcover books come with a CD of the music, so children and parents can listen and sing along. The series started in 1989 with the Blue and Green nursery books and now boasts 14 different titles.

“We wanted to create a lovely mix of the best writing and illustration for children,” says Annika Lundeberg, publisher of the series. “Popular old classics along with new favorites.”

Now the series has sold an astounding million copies of the books – this in a country of only 9 million. In honor of the milestone, Bonnier Carlsen and Cosmos Music, which creates the CDs that come with the books, have organized a concert for 3-9 year olds in Stockholm, with popular Swedish musical artists Amy Diamond, Nassim Al Fakir and Sara Edwardsson. “The idea came from Cosmos, and we thought it was a really fun idea,” says Lundeberg. A singing ensemble of children and adults will be joining the three stars.

Along with the concert, Swedish national daily newspapers Expressen and Aftonbladet are offering a CD with copies of the newspaper. A total of 10 CDs will be offered, including a special Christmas CD that is not tied to a book.

“It’s been so incredibly fun to develop the nursery book series,” says Lundeberg. “First it was ‘just’ a beautiful anthology, then we improved them by adding a CD. And it was so much fun to create good children’s music and so the step to live music – a concert – wasn’t far. There are a number of children’s theaters around but not very many concerts for kids, so this is an exciting way to take things further.”