David C. Cook is an American nonprofit Christian publisher based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded as a provider of Sunday school curriculum and remains a major publisher of such materials. It also publishes fiction and nonfiction books and distributes supporting materials like toys and games. Its best selling authors include Francis Chan, Gary Thomas, and J. Warner Wallace. For many years it published a Christiancomic book, Sunday Pix, with stories about the adventures of Christian heroes in many different eras and in many parts of the world.
History
An author and leader in the AmericanSunday school movement, David Caleb Cook, established the company in Chicago, Illinois, in 1875. He was motivated to provide affordable educational materials for children who had been left homeless in the Great Chicago fire. Cook, who worked as a printer's devil in his father's print shop and as a volunteer in Sunday schools around Chicago, adjudged that most available Sunday school literature "suffered from either loose theology or poor design." With his wife, Marguerite, he established a newspaper, Our Sunday School Gem, to meet the need for good Sunday school literature before starting his eponymous publishing company. As the twentieth century began, the company moved to larger facilities in suburban Elgin. By the 1920s, the company produced more than 50 titles and had an annual circulation of two million. The company moved its headquarters from Elgin to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1995. It did business under the name "Cook Communications Ministries" before reverting to "David C Cook" in 2007.
Acquisitions
David C Cook acquired Kingsway in 1993, Scripture Press/Victor Books in 1996, and Integrity Music in 2011. In 2015, David C Cook acquired assets from Gospel Light and Standard Publishing, including the Gospel Light Curriculum line, The Standard Lesson Commentary, HeartShaper, and Route 52 Curriculum from Standard, among other products. This acquisition positioned David C Cook as the second largest Sunday School curriculum publisher in the world, behind LifeWay Christian Resources. In 2016, David C Cook Canada was bought by management and merged with Augsburg Fortress Canada. It is now known as Parasource Marketing & Distribution.
Foundation
David C Cook is a nonprofit publisher that uses the proceeds from its sales for global ministry. The David C Cook Foundation was founded in 1942 by Francis Kerr Cook “to aid and promote the work of religious education without profit to any person or group.” The projects of the foundation include providing the Life on Life curriculum and the Action Bible, translated into local languages, for children's ministry use around the world.
