The Chicken House

The Chicken House is a British publishing company specializing in fiction for children and young adults. It was established in 2000 as Chicken House Publishing by Barry Cunningham and Rachel Hickman. Cunningham had previously been associated with the discovery and publication of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter manuscripts while working at Bloomsbury, but The Chicken House itself was not the original publisher of the Harry Potter series. The distinction is important because the brand is sometimes inaccurately described as a Harry Potter publisher. The company was acquired by Scholastic Corporation in 2005 and operates within Scholastic's wider international publishing group. Its editorial identity is associated with imaginative, commercially accessible fiction and with finding new writers whose manuscripts may not fit a narrowly conventional publishing formula. The list has included authors such as Cornelia Funke, Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, Kevin Brooks, Lucy Christopher, Rachel Ward, M. G. Leonard, Rachel Grinti, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Jasbinder Bilan. The Chicken House publishes across children's and young adult age ranges, including middle-grade adventure, fantasy, speculative fiction, contemporary fiction and books with strong literary or cultural themes. One of its most prominent publishing successes is the UK publication of James Dashner's multi-million-selling Maze Runner series. Other notable activity has involved introducing debut and emerging writers through competitive submissions and editorial development rather than relying solely on established international franchises. A major part of the brand's public identity has been its relationship with The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition. Launched in 2008, the annual competition invited unpublished and unagented writers to submit complete manuscripts for readers aged approximately seven to eighteen. The initiative provided a route from competition entry to publication and helped bring several new authors into the Chicken House list. A second prize, known as the Chairman's Choice, was added in 2019 to mark the competition's tenth anniversary. The publisher's positioning combines the resources and distribution reach of Scholastic with the profile of a specialist children's imprint. Its catalogue is oriented toward story-led fiction with strong premises, memorable worlds and broad appeal, while its competition and author-development work reinforce an image of openness to new talent. The brand's current operations, editorial decisions and international reach are supported by Scholastic's corporate infrastructure, although The Chicken House retains a distinct name and publishing identity.

The Chicken House began in 2000 as Chicken House Publishing, founded by Barry Cunningham and Rachel Hickman in the United Kingdom. From its creation, the company concentrated on children's fiction and sought to build a list of distinctive stories for readers from early childhood through the young adult years. Cunningham brought substantial experience in children's publishing, including his role at Bloomsbury in the early development of the Harry Potter publishing programme. The Chicken House brand, however, should not be confused with Bloomsbury's original publication of Harry Potter; the series was not published by Chicken House. The new publisher developed a reputation for identifying authors with strong imaginative concepts and for publishing fiction across fantasy, adventure, contemporary and speculative categories. Its author list has included Cornelia Funke, Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, Kevin Brooks, Lucy Christopher, Rachel Ward, M. G. Leonard, Rachel Grinti, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Jasbinder Bilan. These authors reflect the company's interest in both commercial storytelling and books with distinctive voices, unusual premises or substantial thematic scope. In 2005, Scholastic Corporation acquired Chicken House Publishing. The acquisition connected the British publisher with a major international children's publishing and education group, giving its books access to wider distribution and corporate infrastructure. Chicken House continued to operate as a recognizable specialist publishing brand rather than disappearing into the parent company's general catalogue. The company also established a formal route for finding new writers through The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition. Launched in 2008 with The Times newspaper, the competition was open to unpublished, unagented writers submitting full manuscripts suitable for readers aged seven to eighteen. The prize structure included a publishing contract, making the competition both a promotional programme and a talent-discovery mechanism. In 2019, during the competition's tenth-anniversary period, a second prize called the Chairman's Choice was introduced. Winners and additional prize recipients subsequently joined the broader stream of authors associated with the Chicken House list. Among the publisher's significant commercial associations is the UK publication of James Dashner's Maze Runner series, described in reference material as a multi-million-selling series. The success of such fiction illustrates the company's ability to combine specialist children's editorial positioning with books capable of reaching international audiences. At the same time, the publisher's competition and author-development activity shows that its identity is not limited to established series or adaptations. Today, The Chicken House is best understood as a Scholastic-owned British children's fiction publisher with an independent editorial identity. Its business is centered on acquiring, editing, publishing and distributing books for children and young adults, with particular emphasis on narrative fiction. Its catalogue and public programmes position it as a discovery-oriented publisher: it seeks strong stories from new and established writers while using Scholastic's broader network to support publication and reach.

• 2019

  Chairman's Choice prize added

  [1]The Chicken Houseen.wikipedia.org

  A second prize was introduced for the competition to mark its tenth anniversary.

• 2008

  Children's fiction competition launched

  [1]The Chicken Houseen.wikipedia.org

  The Times and Chicken House launched an annual competition for unpublished and unagented children's fiction writers.

• 2005

  Acquired by Scholastic

  [1]The Chicken Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Scholastic Corporation acquired the company, adding the specialist British publisher to its international children's publishing group.

• 2000

  Chicken House Publishing founded

  [1]The Chicken Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Barry Cunningham and Rachel Hickman founded the British children's fiction publisher as Chicken House Publishing.

A specialist children's fiction publisher combining adventurous, imaginative editorial choices with Scholastic's international publishing and distribution capabilities.

• Young adult dystopian and speculative fiction

  The Maze Runner series

  The Chicken House is the UK publisher of James Dashner's Maze Runner series, a commercially successful young adult speculative-fiction property. The books center on young protagonists confronting controlled environments, incomplete memories, social conflict and survival challenges. The series became one of the publisher's most internationally visible associations and is described in reference material as having multi-million sales.

• Children's and young adult books · 2000

  Children's fiction catalogue

  The core Chicken House offering is a catalogue of fiction for children and teenagers. It spans middle-grade and young adult reading, including fantasy, adventure, contemporary, literary and speculative novels. The list is notable for combining books by established writers with debut and emerging authors discovered through submissions, editorial scouting and the publisher's fiction competition.

• 2008The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition

  United Kingdom

  Chicken House and The Times launched an annual manuscript competition for unpublished, unagented writers. Entries were required to be complete fiction suitable for readers aged between seven and eighteen, linking the promotional programme directly to the publisher's acquisition and author-development activities.

  Outcome. The competition produced a continuing sequence of winning and specially recognized manuscripts that entered publication, including works by Emily Diamand, Sophia Bennett, Janet Foxley, Kieran Larwood, Nicki Thornton, Jasbinder Bilan and other authors.

  Source

• 2019

  Expand the fiction competition prize structureStrategy

  Background

  The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition reached its tenth anniversary.

  Action taken

  Chicken House introduced a second prize, the Chairman's Choice, alongside the principal competition award.

  Aftermath

  The expanded structure created an additional route for recognizing and potentially publishing new children's fiction writers.

  Source

• 2005

  Join Scholastic's publishing groupM&A

  Background

  Chicken House Publishing had operated as a specialist British children's fiction publisher since 2000.

  Action taken

  Scholastic Corporation acquired the publisher and incorporated it into its wider international children's publishing organization.

  Aftermath

  The Chicken House name and specialist editorial identity continued under Scholastic ownership, with access to the parent company's distribution and publishing infrastructure.

  Source

1. 1The Chicken Houseen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Chicken House official websitechickenhousebooks.com