It is the publishing house that prints many of the books parents are most delighted to see their offspring reading; classics such as C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, or Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. But now children's editors at HarperCollins are poised to infuriate literary-minded parents all over Britain.

This month the publisher is to launch a new series of American teen-books with the help of a groundbreaking text-messaging campaign to take the marketing direct to children's mobile phones.

'Teenage girls are prolific text messagers, so this campaign is a natural fit,' said Jo Williamson of Collins Children's Books. 'It introduces them to the books via a medium they are comfortable with and which is very much part of their everyday lives.'

On 18 March HarperCollins will start to promote two books from the 'Mary-Kate and Ashley' brand, titled Two of A Kind and So Little Time . Information about the books, which deal with 'teen and tween' issues, will be sent to the phones of members of Sugar magazine's readers' club, 'utilising their database of target girls aged seven to 16'.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the real life girls behind the brand name, are Hollywood-based teenage twins and sitcom stars who together preside over a $1 billion empire in the United States. Their website gets 270 million hits a year and they have a magazine, as well as their own range of clothes, shortly to be stocked at Asda.

The powerful combination of the Olsen factor and the unprecedented texting ruse looks promising for HarperCollins. A quarter of British children between five and 16 have their own phone and seven- to 16-year-olds send 12 million text messages a day.

The combination is not likely to prove nearly so popular with parents.

'Kids will be targeted on a one-to-one basis and parents have no way of knowing when it's going to happen, or of filtering or monitoring the information or misinformation, in the way you might if they're beguiled by something they see on TV,' said Mary North, the mother of two keen 'texters'.

The direct mobile phone mailshot will be run for HarperCollins by Aerodeon, a wireless marketing agency that has for some months sent out personalised text messages out to viewers of the children's television programme The Saturday Show .

Andrew Jones, managing director of Aerodeon, defended a marketing strategy which has already been criticised by Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers.

'The text messages will promote the books and will be mixed in with suitable competitions and games,' said Jones.

Companies get hold of phone numbers for young potential customers through the internet. Websites ask children to register their mobile phone and email addresses when they first log on. HarperCollins stress that the members of the Sugar club will all have agreed to receive text messages.

Rob Gray, of the communications company Mercier Gray, believes fears about text message promotions are misplaced. 'The kids understand the rules. I am not sure how much of children's TV viewing is really observed by parents anyway.'