Kids' Own Publishing

What Kids' Own Publishing does

Kids' Own Publishing is an Australian not-for-profit arts organisation, operating since approximately 2010 from its headquarters at the Abbotsford Convent in Victoria. The organisation facilitates child-led book publishing by pairing children aged 0-12 with professional artists in three-month community publishing projects, one-off or residency workshops, and professional development training for educators. Its stated focus areas are literacy, creativity, confidence, and connection, with a particular emphasis on multilingual and First Nations language communities, including projects producing bilingual books in Hazaragi, Vietnamese, Woi Wurrung, Rembarrnga, Somali, Karen, and South Sudanese languages. The organisation has produced over 200 published children's books, of which 168 are listed in its direct-to-consumer online shop at unit prices of $20-$35.

The organisation's product surface spans three layers: (1) service-based programs including the Community Publishing Program (baseline cost $15,000 per project, producing 16-24 page colour paperbacks with ISBN) and the Kids' Own Languages Program focused on multilingualism; (2) workshops and professional development delivered at libraries, galleries, museums, festivals, and schools across Australia; and (3) digital tooling in the form of the KidsPublish iPad application, which allows children to independently create, print, and share their own 8-page books with a multilingual voice recording feature. Revenue is generated through a mix of fee-for-service program delivery, direct book sales via an e-commerce storefront, and recurring donations, supplemented by grant funding from federal bodies (Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Australia), state health promotion funding (VicHealth), and multiple Victorian local councils.

The organisation operates as a hybrid community-led and grant-supported model. Its GTM motion relies on direct engagement with educators, community organisations, multicultural groups, and Indigenous community partners, supported by a website, email newsletter, and social media presence. Strategic partnerships include named academic researchers at the University of Melbourne and Australian Catholic University, multicultural advocacy groups such as VietSpeak, and the Dandenong and District Aboriginal Co-operative. The organisation is governed by a board and employs a small core team of artists and program managers, with no parent company or external equity ownership disclosed.

Name

Kids' Own Publishing

Legal name

Kids' Own Publishing

Website

https://kidsownpublishing.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Kids' Own Publishing is an Australian not-for-profit arts organisation that pairs children with professional artists to co-create and publish multilingual and culturally diverse children's books through community programs, workshops, and an iPad app, serving educators, families, and Indigenous, refugee, and migrant communities across Australia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Community Publishing Services

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Book Publishers (51313)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Children’s Digital & Interactive Publishing (E-books, Apps, Enhanced Content) (MPAJAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Early Readers & Chapter Books Publishing (MPAJAFAB), Children’s Audio Publishing (Audiobooks & Podcasts) (MPAJAFAI), Children’s Book Print-on-Demand (Picture Books, Early Readers, YA) (MPAJANAC)

Keywords

• Children's book publishing
• Community publishing programs
• Multilingual children's books
• Publishing workshops
• Bookmaking app

Headquarters

HQ city

Abbotsford

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: Sale of published children's books through an online shop. Individual books priced at $20-$25, with book packs and series at $35.
2. Community Publishing Projects: Fee-based 3-month collaborative book publishing projects with communities of children. Baseline cost starts at $15,000, with quotes provided based on distance, artists, participant numbers, timing, print runs and project aims.
3. Professional Development Workshops: Two-hour hands-on training sessions for educators, artists, and community workers on children's community publishing facilitation.
4. Book Making Workshops: Artist-led one-off or residency workshops delivered at libraries, galleries, museums or festivals.
5. Donations: Not-for-profit organization accepting donations to strengthen delivery of creative arts and publishing projects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Kids' Own Publishing is a not-for-profit arts organisation that co-creates children's books with kids, families, educators and communities through collaborative publishing programs, artist-led workshops, and an iPad bookmaking app. They publish a catalog of more than 200 children's books (often multilingual) that are sold directly online and through libraries.

Product overview

Kids' Own Publishing operates as a not-for-profit arts organisation that publishes books by children, for children. The core offering consists of community publishing programs (Community Publishing Program and Kids' Own Languages Program) where children collaborate with artists to create bilingual or multilingual picture books. The company also offers the KidsPublish App for iPad as a digital tool for book creation, Book Making Workshops for one-off or residency engagements, and Professional Development Training for educators. The product portfolio includes over 200 published titles available through the online book shop, ranging from $20-$35 per book, with categories spanning fiction, non-fiction, nature, food and recipes, Indigenous languages, and multilingual content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Publishing Program A three-month collaborative book publishing project delivered by a team of artists with a community of children (up to 20, ages 0-12), producing a 16-24 page full-colour paperback children's book with ISBN. Sold to educators, community organisations and councils.
• Kids' Own Languages Program A three-month collaborative book publishing project focused on multilingualism, supporting children's confidence, creativity and connection through co-creating books in their home languages, including Aboriginal, refugee and migrant community languages.
• Book Making Workshops Artist-led book making workshops delivered as one-off events or residencies at libraries, galleries, museums or festivals, teaching children and families to create and publish their own books.
• Professional Development Training Two-hour hands-on training sessions for educators, librarians, family services, community leaders and artists on facilitating child-led community publishing.
• KidsPublish App An iPad application that enables children to create, print and share their own 8-page books, featuring a voice function that reads the book aloud in the child's chosen language.
• Published Books Catalog An online catalogue of more than 200 published children's books created by kids, spanning fiction, non-fiction, nature, food and recipes, family stories, multilingual titles, Indigenous languages, and numeracy resources, sold individually for $20-$25 each or in book series/packs at $35.

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Dr Mary Tomsic (ACU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch Fellow at Research Centre for Refugees, Migration and Humanitarian Studies, Australian Catholic University. Collaborates on research into language and literacies impact of community publishing.
• Dr Anh Nguyen Austen (ACU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch Fellow at Research Centre for Refugees, Migration and Humanitarian Studies, Australian Catholic University. Partnered on academic research.
• Associate Professor Julie Choi (University of Melbourne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociate Professor, Additional Languages, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne. Academic research partner examining multilingual pedagogies.
• Dr Rafaela Cleeve Gerkens (University of Melbourne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLecturer in Language and Literacy and Arts Education, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne. Research partner on language and literacy studies.
• ViệtSpeakcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultilingual advocacy group partnering on the 'Crocodile and Unicorn Go Play' project exploring contemporary language use in multilingual Australia.
• Dandenong and District Aboriginal Co-operativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndigenous community organization partnering on multiple projects including Tartu-Nganyin Bopop Koori Playgroup publications.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Magabala Books: Magabala Books is an Indigenous-owned Australian publisher specializing in children's books by First Nations creators. It is directly comparable to Kids' Own Publishing because both focus on underrepresented Australian community voices in children's publishing, with Magabala operating at a more national/retail scale.

Broad incumbents

• Allen & Unwin Australia: Allen & Unwin is one of Australia's largest trade publishers with a substantial children's and picture book imprint. Comparable as a broad incumbent in Australian children's publishing, though it serves a much larger commercial market and does not focus on community-led co-creation.
• Penguin Random House Australia — Children’s Division: Penguin Random House Australia publishes a large volume of children's picture books and educational titles domestically. Comparable as a broad incumbent in Australian children's publishing; competes for shelf space and author attention but does not operate a community co-creation model.
• Hardie Grant Children's Publishing: Hardie Grant is a major Australian independent publisher with a strong children's list, including multicultural and picture book titles. It is a broad incumbent peer — overlapping in children's trade publishing in Australia but operating at significantly larger scale and with established retail distribution that Kids' Own Publishing lacks.

Emerging players

• Lingo Books: Lingo Books is an Australian children's book subscription and retailer focused on multilingual titles for culturally diverse families. It is comparable to Kids' Own Publishing because it serves the same multilingual/identity-affirming demand, though via a retail distribution model rather than co-creation.
• Little Bookmates: Little Bookmates offers personalized children's books and bookmaking experiences. It is comparable to Kids' Own Publishing as a fellow children's bookmaking service, though it operates on a commercial personalized-gifting model rather than community publishing.
• Bookworm Therapy (Asialink / Korea-Australia): Small community-led children's bookmaking projects in Australia and the Asia-Pacific share the Kids' Own Publishing model of pairing professional artists with children to produce physical books. They are comparable as fellow emerging players in the community publishing niche, though typically project-based and grant-funded rather than productized.
• Storybox Library: Storybox Library is an Australian digital platform streaming children's picture books read aloud, often used in schools and libraries. It is comparable to Kids' Own Publishing as an Australian digital children's-literature platform, though it focuses on curated mainstream titles rather than community co-created books.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kids' Own Publishing