Tenley Circle Press was born in 2005 because of a lifelong dedication to children and books, and the certainty that sharing good, beautiful books with children makes both children and adults happier and wiser. 

After retiring from over 30 years teaching English, Creative and Expository Writing, Latin, and ESL, Rhoda Trooboff took the plunge and, with her husband Peter, founded Tenley Circle Press to produce small runs of smart, beautiful books for children. The Press's business goals are simple: to pay its bills and, by foregoing salaries, to contribute proceeds to local charities that directly benefit children. To learn the craft of children's book publishing, Rhoda authored the Press's first two books, Ben, the Bells and the Peacocks (2006) and A Book for Elie (2008); commissioned two talented young artists Cécile Bucher and Anna Nazaretz Radjou, to illustrate and design these books; and took on nearly every possible chore in the book publishing business except doing the actual printing. Rhoda's role models were Leonard and Virginia Woolf and the Hogarth Press.

Soon after Tenley Circle Press's founding, a widening circle of writers and artists began approaching Rhoda with new publishing projects. From a pool of many worthy submissions, and despite the challenges of the current economic climate, more Tenley Circle Press books have reached enthusiastic readers. 2009 saw publication of Witchful Thinking by Maryland poet Mary Jane Mitchell and illustrator Jim Adcock and Artie and Merlin by DC's Sue Ruff and Don E. Wilson and North Carolina illustrator Lolette Guthrie. 2010 saw publication of We Grew It--Let's Eat It! by DC twins Veda and Annie Hedgepeth and their mom Justine Kenin, with photos by Becky Lettenberger, and dedicated to the late Carol Eliot, a beloved member of the TCP staff.

2011 titles are Lost and Found in the Mississippi Sound, the story of dolphins and Hurricane Katrina, by DC science reporter Mary Carpenter and her filmmaker sister Katie, and My Body Needs Help, Annette Abrams's book about cancer and the helper heroes who come to the aid of a young cancer patient. 2012 projects are in their early stages.

Book publishing has always been the product of imagination and teamwork. It doesn't take a huge staff or an exclusive vertical corporate hegemony to bring good children's books into the world. But it does take a circle of helping hands to birth books and deliver them to young readers. Desigers, printers, student interns, consultants, friends, former students, professional colleagues, neighbors, and family members have made Tenley Circle Press a working, creative circle. We are delighted that our customers nearby and far away--children, parents, grandparents, friends and family, teachers and booksellers--are all part of this creative circle. It takes a village to raise a child, and a village to put a book into that child's hands. Many thanks to all who are part of this happy village!