LEE & LOW BOOKS an independent children's book publisher specializing in diversity. It is the company's goal to meet the need for stories that children of color can identify with and that all children can enjoy. LEE & LOW makes a special effort to work with artists of color, and takes pride in nurturing many authors and illustrators who are new to the world of children's book publishing.
The company was founded in 1991 and published its first list in spring 1993. Since then, LEE & LOW BOOKS' titles have won a number of major awards and honors, including the Coretta Scott King Award, the Pura Belpré Honor Award, The Parents' Choice Award; The Jane Addams Peace Award; Child Magazine's Best Books; a Reading Rainbow Feature Title; American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists" honors; and "Choices" honors by the Cooperative Children's Book Center. Furthermore, LEE & LOW BOOKS has also received praise from a broad range of media, such as THE NEW YORK TIMES, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, CBS THIS MORNING, USA TODAY, KIRKUS REVIEWS, and SMITHSONIAN Magazine.
Co-founders, Tom Low and Philip Lee, are both Chinese American making LEE & LOW BOOKS one of the few minority-owned publishing companies in the country.
"When we started the company, there was a lot of interest in books focused on diversity," says Tom Low, "but most of the titles were folktales about exotic people from distant lands. We felt strongly that it was important to have books with a contemporary setting that reflect how we live today."
In September of 2004 Philip Lee retired from the company and the role of publisher was filled by Jason Low, son of founder, Tom Low, who joined the company in 1997. "Publishing diverse books we are proud of is our main focus and we will continue our mission to find new voices and powerful stories," says Jason Low.
LEE & LOW BOOKS has published over 200 titles in hardcover, paperback, lift-the-flap, and board book formats. Many of our titles have been translated into Spanish.
Craig Low has been with the company since 1997 and is also a son of founder, Tom Low. Craig is publisher of LEE & LOW's imprint BEBOP BOOKS, and extends the company's mission to bring diversity to children who are just beginning to read. The Bebop imprint has published 255 titles in both English and Spanish.
Learn more about our company by reading the article Balancing Words, Pictures, and Diversity. Or surf our site by starting with our Home page. If you want to learn more about BEBOP BOOKS, please click here. Thank you for visiting us and if you have any questions, suggestions and/or comments please do not hesitate to contact us.
