Weston Woods was founded in 1953 by Morton Schindel who became fascinated with picture books while reading to his children. He was inspired by their involvement with the stories and the rapt attention they paid to the illustrations and their eagerness to listen to a story over and over again. Weston Woods has remained the principal innovator in the translation of picture books into the audiovisual media, and the pioneer of the multimedia approach to children's literature. Throughout this time, the philosophical underpinning of Weston Woods has been fidelity to the original. In 1996, Weston Woods became part of Scholastic, Inc. Partnership with Scholastic Inc., the world's largest publisher of children's books, provided the opportunity to support literacy around the world. Since the founding of each of these companies, Scholastic and Weston Woods have shared a common vision: To provide educators with the best possible learning tools to enhance positive learning experiences and to instill in children a lifelong love of books and reading. (source: http://westonwoods.scholastic.com/products/westonwoods/mission.htm ).
From the guide to the Weston Woods Studios, Collection, undated, 1974-2004, (Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries)
