Our Commitment to Privacy

Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc. (“Charlesbridge”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) and its imprints respect your privacy concerns and are committed to safeguarding the information collected through our website, newsletters, and social media platforms. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect your information in connection with our services.

Your Consent

By using our web site, you consent to the collection of information you provide pursuant to the terms of this privacy policy. We may update this policy periodically, and any changes will be posted on this page. Your continued use of our services after such changes signifies your acceptance of them.

Information Collection and Usage

We collect various types of Personal Information depending on how you interact with our services, including when you make purchases, subscribe to newsletters, participate in surveys, or interact with our website. Personal Information refers to data that identifies you or relates to an identifiable individual.

If you provide Personal Information about others, you confirm that you have the authority to do so and to allow us to use the information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Types of Information Collected

We plan to collect and have collected in the previous twelve (12) months, the following categories of Personal Information:

• Identifiers (Contact Information) such as a real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, or other similar identifiers;

• Content and files. We collect the photos, documents, or other files you upload to our Services; and if you send us email messages or other communications, we collect and retain those communications;

• Characteristics of protected classifications under federal law; [meaning: a personal trait that cannot be used as a reason to discriminate against someone.]

• Commercial and payment information, including records of personal property, products or Services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies;

• Geolocation data;

• Demographic data;

• Professional or employment-related information;

• Education information, including personally identifiable information as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. section 1232(g), 34 C.F.R. Part 99), that is not publicly available;

• Social Media Features and Widgets. Our Site includes Social Media Features, such as the Facebook “Like” button and Widgets (“Features”). These Features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the Feature to function properly. They may also allow third party social media services to provide us information about you, including your name, email address, and other contact information. The information we receive is dependent upon your privacy settings with the third-party social media service. Features are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our site. Your interactions with these Features are governed by the privacy statements of the third-party companies providing them. You should always review and, if necessary, adjust your privacy settings on third party websites and services before linking or connecting them to our website or Service.

• Third-Party Links. This Privacy Policy applies only to the use and disclosure of Personal Data that we collect while you use Charlesbridge Services. Links to any other websites or locations are for your convenience and do not signify our endorsement of such other websites or locations or their contents. When you click on such a link, you will leave the Charlesbridge website and go to another site. During this process, a third party may collect Personal Data from you. We have no control over, do not review, do not endorse, and cannot be responsible for, these outside websites or their content. Please be aware that the terms of this Privacy Policy do not apply to these outside websites or content, or to any collection of data after you click on a link to a third party. If you submit Personal Data to any of those sites, your information is governed by their privacy policies. We encourage you to carefully read the privacy policy of any website you visit.

• We do not collect any personally identifying information from you other than the information you supply to us on a voluntary basis.

• We monitor site traffic patterns and site usage to help us develop the design and layout of our site.

• Your credit card information is encrypted and protected by a secure server software that we have purchased.

• A Note about Spyware: Charlesbridge does not install spyware on your computer. Nor does it use spyware to retrieve information from your computer.

Use of Personal Data

• We may use your Personal Data to send important notices to you, such as communications about purchases you have made, or changes to our terms and conditions or other policies. This information is important to your interactions with us, and you acknowledge that if you opt out of receiving these communications, where permitted by applicable law, Charlesbridge reserves its right to discontinue its services to you.

• We may use the information we collect to notify you about important changes to our Web site, new services, and special offers we think you will find valuable. If you would rather not receive this information, please refer to the section labeled Disclosure of Information to Others.

• If you provide feedback on Charlesbridge’s website, we may use such feedback for any purpose. Charlesbridge will collect and store any information contained in such communication and will treat the Personal Data in such communication in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

• to facilitate the creation of and secure your account on our network;

• identify you as a Member or Non-Member in our system;

• to administer and provide improved administration of the Charlesbridge websites and Services;

• to improve the quality of experience when you interact with Charlesbridge

• to send you a welcome email to verify ownership of the email address provided when your account was created;

• to send you administrative email and/or chat notifications

• to collect fees and payments owing to us;

• to respond to your inquiries related to Charlesbridge products or Services

• to respond to your inquiries related to employment opportunities or other requests and to resolve disputes;

• to provide you with access to and information about customized features, new functionality, and partner integrations;

• to send promotional communications newsletters, personal interest pieces, and news about events, and campaigns;

• to operate our business, including to process payment transactions, manage and enforce contracts with you or with third parties, manage our corporate governance, compliance and auditing practices, and generate anonymized or aggregated data;

• to send with your consent upgrades and special offers related to Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc. and for other marketing purposes

• to resolve disputes and protect the rights of Members and third parties;

• to respond to claims and legal process (such as subpoenas and court orders);

• to monitor and enforce compliance with the applicable Terms of Service;

• to prevent or stop any activity that may be illegal, unethical, or legally actionable;

• to compare information provided by you for accuracy and verification with third parties;

• to provide you with support and to respond to your inquiries, including to investigate and address your concerns and monitor and improve our responses and responding to consumer rights requests;

• as otherwise described to you when collecting your personal information; directed by you; needed to comply with laws

Cookies

Cookies are electronic tags that most web sites place on your computer's hard drive in the process of sending your computer a file, such as a web page. Our cookies tell us when a computer that has previously visited our site returns and they identify the computer's browser and operating system in order to make the connection to our website more effective. Cookies also tell us how our website is used by allowing us to measure information such as how many visitors go to each page and for how long. This information is collected on an aggregate basis and is not associated with you as an individual. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually change your browser to prevent that if you so choose. You can accep all cookies, only those required, or manage your preferences here.

Behavioral Advertising

We may partner with a third party to either display advertising on our Site or Application or to manage our advertising on other sites. Our third-party partner may use technologies such as cookies to gather information about your activities on this website and other sites in order to provide you advertising based upon your browsing activities and interests. If you wish to opt -out of interest-based advertising click here or here (or if located in the European Union click here). Please note you will continue to receive generic ads.

Disclosure of information

We do not sell, trade, or rent your Personal Information. We may share aggregated statistics with third-party vendors, and disclose Personal Information when required by law or to protect our rights. We may choose to share Personal Information in the future with trustworthy third parties, in which case we will post on this page information about the kinds of businesses in which the third parties are engaged, the general purpose for which information is used, and whether the third parties have agreed to maintain the confidentiality and security of the information. However, you can prevent us from doing so by contacting us here with the text "Do not distribute my personal information to others". Also, Charlesbridge may provide aggregate statistics about our customers, sales, traffic patterns, and related site information to reputable third-party vendors, but these statistics will not include personal information. Charlesbridge may release personal information when we believe in good faith that such release is reasonably necessary to (i) comply with law, (ii) enforce or apply the terms of any of our user agreements, or (iii) protect the rights, property, or safety of Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc., our users, or others.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to analyze website usage. Google’s practices are governed by their own policies; you can opt out through their tools. Although Google Analytics plants a permanent cookie on your web browser to identify you as a unique user the next time you visit this site, the cookie cannot be used by anyone but Google. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to this site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy. You can prevent Google Analytics from recognizing you on return visits to this site by disabling cookies on your browser, or using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on available directly from Google.

Updating Your Information

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

Contact Us

Charlesbridge

9 Galen St.

Watertown, MA 02472

(800) 225-3214

Supplemental Privacy Statements

Additional Information for EEA, Swiss, and UK Residents

This section provides additional details regarding how we handle Personal Information for residents of the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (UK), in compliance with applicable data protection laws. Click here.

Additional Information for California Residents

This section provides specific information for residents of California under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), including rights and options related to their Personal Information. Click here.

As an organization that fosters meaningful discussions and supports authors and illustrators, we aim to create a safe and respectful environment for all users on our digital platforms (e.g. social media channels and the Charlesbridge.com website). We welcome all opinions, however, to ensure a positive experience for everyone, we have established clear commenting guidelines on our digital platforms that address the standards of conduct we expect from our users. These guidelines are in place to help prevent online abuse, protect against harassment, and maintain a supportive space for all.

We reserve the right (but are not obligated) to remove and report any comment and to restrict or block any user who violates these guidelines at our sole discretion. Further, we may turn off all comments if necessary to help maintain a respectful and constructive space. We encourage you to review the following guidelines, as they establish standards of behavior expected from all users on all of our digital platforms:

1. Personal attacks: Comments that include personal insults, verbal assaults, derogatory language, or offensive content aimed at authors or other users will not be tolerated.

2. Respectful language: Users are encouraged to express their opinions and engage in productive discussions using respectful and appropriate language. Any comments with profanity or hate speech may be removed.

3. Relevant and on-topic contributions: Comments should relate to the original post's content or the discussed topic. Off-topic or spam comments may be removed.

4. Harassment or threats: Any form of harassment, including stalking, intimidation, or threats directed towards authors or other users is strictly prohibited.

5. Discriminatory content: Comments that discriminate based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic will not be tolerated.

6. Misinformation: Comments that spread false information or misleading content may be removed to maintain the integrity of discussions.

7. Reporting: Users are encouraged to report abusive or inappropriate comments to the platform for review and action. Contact us.

We appreciate your compliance with these guidelines. Thank you for doing your part.

A land acknowledgment is a formal statement that recognizes that we benefit from owning or existing on lands that were taken without consent from Native Nations who have lived here for tens of thousands of years. The purpose of posting publicly on our website is to show support for Native Nations and their citizens today and to point out that colonization has ongoing negative effects on the sovereignty, cultures, languages, and overall humanity of Indigenous peoples.

Since our founding, Charlesbridge has had offices in Watertown, Massachusetts, which is located on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Massachusett and Pawtucket people. Today there are two federally recognized Native Nations in our state—the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)—and one state-recognized Nation—the Nipmuc Nation.

Charlesbridge is dedicated to uplifting voices that have traditionally been left out of children’s publishing. Part of that work is to recognize the full history of our country. We are committed to educating ourselves about Indigenous peoples’ history and present-day realities and to publishing Native authors’ and illustrators’ work. 

Returned books must be received by the warehouse in saleable condition. Be sure to include the invoice number and return the books within 30 days of invoice date. Returns will be credited to customer credit card on file less the freight charge. Customer is responsible for all shipping costs.

Be sure to:

PACK books in original shipping box or other sturdy carton.

FILL empty space completely with paper or other packing material.

TAPE securely with shipping tape.

SHIP to:

Charlesbridge

Website Returns

9 Galen Street

Watertown, MA 02472

We are happy to offer co-op funding to help with your promotional efforts. Please contact your Penguin Random House sales rep, or call Penguin Random House customer service at (800) 733-3000, for details.

If you have questions, call Donna Spurlock at Charlesbridge at (800) 225-3214.