We’ve got some exciting news to share: LEE & LOW BOOKS has acquired multicultural children’s book publisher Children’s Book Press.
From the press release: January 26, 2012—Continuing to expand despite a difficult economy, LEE & LOW BOOKS, an independent publisher of high quality books for children that focuses on diversity, announced today that it has acquired the assets of Children’s Book Press. Founded in 1975, Children’s Book Press, based in San Francisco, was the first specialty publisher of multicultural children’s books in the United States. With this addition LEE & LOW BOOKS becomes one of the largest independent multicultural children’s publishers in the country with over 650-titles in print. “This is a tremendous honor for us to keep the prestigious collection of Children’s Book Press alive, and have the opportunity to build on its 36-year history,” said Jason Low, Publisher of LEE & LOW BOOKS.
Children’s Book Press and LEE & LOW BOOKS share similar missions of promoting diversity through the publication of books for young readers. In 2010, LEE & LOW BOOKS, founded in 1991 with a focus on illustrated books for the K-6 market, expanded its range to the young adult market through the launch of Tu Books, an imprint for science fiction, fantasy, and mystery novels. Children’s Book Press will maintain its own identity as a separate imprint of LEE & LOW BOOKS, joining Tu Books and its firmly established educational arm, Bebop Books.
“Creating continuity for the mission of Children’s Book Press is important to us, since its commitment to diversity was so groundbreaking,” notes Jason Low. “Children’s Book Press started the trend of featuring people of color in the pages of books—before this, the reading experience was exclusively white.”
So, there you have it, folks. We’re excited to keep growing, and thankful for you, our readers, who have allowed us to do so.
