In the Argentine publishing industry, 1,500 titles are published per year, 6 million copies per month, and more than 45 million pages are printed per day. The raw material to produce them comes out of trees.

Pequeño editor is an independent children’s book publisher that was looking to stand out, innovate, and survive - in an industry controlled by much bigger publishers – by raising a message that was strong enough to make them visible and, at the same time, leave a teaching to children.

We introduced TREE BOOK TREE - the first book that, after being read, is planted. It’s handmade with acid-free paper, biodegradable ecological ink, and Jacarandá seeds, a native species that provides a huge amount of oxygen to the environment and helps eliminating carbon dioxide.

The book was sent to the main opinion leaders in Argentina, while it was also exposed in bookshops so people could see it germinating. A classic version of the book was also for sale.

We think this piece is appropriate for the PR category, because the initiative quickly captured people’s attention and it was spread through the national media. Schools from different parts of the country asked the publisher for a copy of Tree Book Tree to carry out “planting days” with students after reading the book in class.

The awareness of Pequeño Editor has grown over a 70%, not only nationally but also worldwide, for example, copies were planted in Italy and Ruanda

To make Tree Book Tree - the first book that, after being read, is planted - the first thing we thuoght was that the message in the story should be strong and ludic for children, so that it would transcend after being read. After that, we found a native species (Jacarandá) that would quickly grow on our soil conditions and had an environmental contribution. So we took advice from Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) where we were handed certified seeds and guarantee their growth. Then, we tried to take the paper process to its most natural end, generating handmade acid-free paper made of cellulose pulp only. We’ve manually incorporated to this paper the Jacarandá seeds, one by one, so we could make sure that they grow with the necessary space. To the printing process, we’ve implemented biodegradable ink that doesn’t affect the soil and even favours the seeds’ growth.

The initiative quickly captured people’s attention and it was spread through the national media. A copy was even planted live in free-to-air channels.

Schools from different parts of the country asked the publisher for a copy of Tree Book Tree to carry out “planting days” with students after reading the book in class.

The awareness of Pequeño Editor has grown over a 70%, not only nationally but also worldwide, for example, copies were planted in Italy and Ruanda.

Pequeño Editor was recognised as the Best Children’s Book Publisher of Latin America in 2015 Bologna’s Book Fair.