Lee & Low Books is an independent children's book publisher focusing on diversity.

History

Lee & Low was founded in 1991 by Chinese Americans Tom Low and Philip Lee as a children's book publisher specializing in books featuring people of color and one of the few minority-owned publishing companies in the United States."Descubriendo el sabor: Spanish Bilingual Book Publishing and Cultural Authenticity,

Winter 2007 Low says, "There was a void in children's books. Most of the books were targeted to Caucasians or contained animals or

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

s. There was nothing dealing with contemporary issues and people of color.". Lee & Low published its first list in 1993 and immediately gained attention when its first book, ''

Baseball Saved Us Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...

'' was given a full-page review in ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

.'' In 1997, founder Tom Low's sons, Jason Low and Craig Low, joined Lee & Low, and in 2004, founder Philip Lee retired. Lee & Low Books publishes primarily

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

, but in recent years has also published a small number of middle grade and

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

titles. In January 2012, Lee & Low Books acquired the backlist titles of the now-defunct non-profit publisher, Children's Book Press, as well as the latter's existing contracts with authors and illustrators, with the name itself being revived as an imprint of Lee & Low Books. In 2021, Lee & Low acquired

Cinco Puntos Press Cinco Puntos Press is an imprint of publishing company Lee & Low Books. It is a general trade publisher that has received attention for its bilingual children's books and fiction and non-fiction focusing on the Mexico–United States border regi ...

Research

In 2015, Lee & Low Books partnered with

St. Catherine University St. Catherine University (St. Kate's) is a private Catholic university in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was established as one of the first institutions of higher learning specifically for women in the Midwest and was known as the College of St. C ...

and Assistant Professor Sarah Park Dahlen to conduct the Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS). The objectives were to look at 1) Gender 2) Race/ethnicity 3) Sexual Orientation 4) Disability in the publishing industry. The Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS) was sent to 1,524 reviewer employees and 11,713 publishing employees for a total of 13,237 surveys deployed. The DBS survey results confirmed that the publishing industry is overwhelmingly white, at 79%, which corresponded with the numbers from ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' annual salary survey.

Arcoiris: books in Spanish

In 1994, Lee & Low began to publish Spanish/English bilingual books and Spanish translations of many of their English titles. The name Arcoiris, Spanish for

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

, was chosen to reflect the diversity of the books and subject matter.

Bebop Books

Founded in 2000, Bebop Books is an educational imprint of Lee & Low. Bebop Books prints leveled books for early readers in English and Spanish.

Tu Books

Tu Books is an imprint of Lee & Low. Tu Books publishes middle grade and young adult science fiction, fantasy, and mystery featuring people of color or set in worlds inspired by non-Western folklore or culture. Tu Books was founded as Tu Publishing in 2009 by Stacy Whitman, a freelance children's book editor. In March 2010, Whitman joined Lee & Low as editorial director of the new imprint.

New Voices Award

In 2000, Lee & Low Books established the New Voices Award to encourage writers of color. The award is open to any United States resident of color who has not had a children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

published previously. A winner receives $1000 and a standard publication contract, while an Honor Award winner receives $500. While Honor Award winners are not guaranteed publication, several honor books have been published. New Voices Award recipients

Major awards

Books published by Lee & Low have received several major awards, including some given by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

, the International Reading Association (IRA), and the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

.The Ezra Jack Keats and New York Public Library New Writer and New Illustrator Award for Children's Books
, Accessed April 7, 2009 Major awards won by Lee & Low Books

Notable authors and illustrators

Authors and illustrators with work published by Lee & Low Books include: *

Lulu Delacre Lulu Delacre (born December 20, 1957 in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico) is the author/illustrator of many award winning children's books. Some of her most famous works include ''Arroz con leche: Popular Songs and Rhymes from Latin America'', ''Vejigante ...

Ted Lewin Theodore Peter Lewin (May 6, 1935 – July 28, 2021) simply known as Ted Lewin, was an American illustrator and writer of children's books. Lewin and his wife Betsy Lewin drew on their travels to exotic places such as the Amazon River, Botswana, ...

Betsy Lewin Betsy Reilly Lewin (born May 12, 1937) is an American illustrator from Clearfield, Pennsylvania. She studied illustration at Pratt Institute. After graduation, she began designing greeting cards. She began writing and illustrating stories for ...

Joseph Bruchac Joseph Bruchac (born October 16, 1942) is an American writer and storyteller based in New York. He writes about Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a particular focus on northeastern Native American and Anglo-American lives and folklore. He ...

* Ed Young *

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the ...

Carole Boston Weatherford Carole Boston Weatherford is an African-American author and critic, now living in North Carolina, United States. She is the winner of the 2022 Coretta Scott King Award for ''Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre.'' She writes children's literatur ...

Pat Mora Pat Mora (born January 19, 1942 in El Paso, Texas) is an American poet and author of books for adults, teens and children. Her grandparents came to El Paso from northern Mexico. A graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, she received Honor ...

* David Diaz * George Ancona *

John Coy John Richard Coy (born August 9, 1958) is an American children's and young adult author. He writes picture books, young adult novels and the 4 for 4 middle-grade series. He is best known for his books on basketball, ''Strong to the Hoop'', ''Aro ...

Lynne Barasch Lynne Barasch is an American children's book illustrator and author. Work Lynne Barasch was born in New York City and grew up in Woodmere, New York. She studied at Rhode Island School of Design for one year. Barasch holds a BFA from Parsons S ...

Benny Andrews Benny Andrews (November 13, 1930 – November 10, 2006) was an African-American artist, activist and educator. Born in Plainview, Georgia, Andrews earned a BFA in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1958, and soon after m ...

Jim Haskins James Haskins (September 19, 1941 – July 6, 2005) was an American author with more than 100 books for both adults and children. Many of his books highlight the achievements of African Americans and cover the history and culture of Africa and ...

* Chris Soentpiet *

Greg Neri Greg Neri (pen name G. Neri) is an American author and is known for his work in young adult fiction. He has written books in free verse and novelistic prose, as well as graphic novels. Neri has received awards from the American Library Associatio ...

* Kaylani Juanita

References

External links

Lee & Low official website

Publishing Statistics on Children's Books about People of Color and First/Native Nations and by People of Color and First/Native Nations Authors and Illustrators Documented by the Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison

American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee and Low Books Children's book publishers Book publishing companies based in New York City Companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 1991 1991 establishments in New York City