The St. Catharines, Ontario-based children’s house Crabtree Publishing appears to be on the mend after a difficult few years. According to the St. Catharines Standard, the company recently received a $385,640 grant from the federal government’s Book Publishing Industry Development Program. This isn’t exactly news “ Crabtree received a similar-sized grant last year and a much larger grant ($472,404) the year before that “ but the Standard also looks at owner Peter Crabtree’s recent efforts to turn the company around:

About two years ago, the Welland Avenue business hit rough waters, largely due to the rising Canadian dollar’s effect on American sales.

About 15 of its staff of 50 were laid off, but many later returned to do freelance work for the company.

“Then we got it all together and figured we had to put out more books, and with the help of everybody here, we did it,” Crabtree said at a media event for the grant.

“And this money is making a difference, it’s really helpful.”

With the help of the grant money, the company aims to increase the number of titles to about 400 from 300.