Charnan Simon, Editor

Charnan Simon was working as an editorial assistant in the Children's Book Division at Little, Brown & Company in Boston when she applied for an editorial position with Cricket in 1975. In Celebrate Cricket she remarks, "Even though I tanked on the interview and couldn't remember a single title when Marianne asked about my personal favorite children's books...something clicked and they offered me the job." As Assistant Editor, she attended her first Editorial Advisory Board meeting in Fall, 1975. A fan of Cricket from the moment she saw it while babysitting in 1974, Simon recalls with enthusiasm, "Those early years at Cricket were rich and full and weird beyond belief.... I came away with a lifetime of friends, a wealth of knowledge about children's books, ... and even a husband---Tom Kazunas, Cricket's first production manager."