Lee & Low Books

Name

Lee & Low Books

Legal name

Lee & Low Books, Inc.

Website

https://leeandlow.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Book Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Book Retailers and News Dealers (4592)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Early Readers & Chapter Books Publishing (MPAJAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Picture Book Publishing (MPAJAFAA), Children’s Nonfiction Educational (Science, History, Nature) (EDAGAIAC)

Keywords

• Children's book publishing
• Multicultural literature
• Educational publishing
• Bilingual children's books
• Classroom book collections

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Book Sales (Direct to Consumer): Individual book purchases through the leeandlow.com e-commerce platform, with books ranging from picture books to middle grade and young adult titles, priced from $9.95 to $24.95 per title
2. Educational/Institutional Sales: Bulk orders and custom collections for schools, school districts, and libraries through the Request a Quote system, including Diverse Bookrooms pre-built libraries
3. Digital Content: Ebooks and audiobooks available through the website, with audiobook distribution through RB Media Global
4. Special Offers/Discounted Sales: Discounted pricing on select titles through the Special Offers section, with web discounts available for select books

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Lee & Low Books is a children's book publisher that produces and sells multicultural children's literature across six imprints spanning picture books, leveled readers, chapter books, middle grade, young adult, graphic novels, and bilingual/Spanish-language titles. The company distributes print books via its e-commerce site and through educational sales channels, and supplies digital ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive and RB Media Global for library and consumer markets.

Product overview

Lee & Low Books is a children's book publisher operating as a family-run, independent, and certified 100% Minority Owned Business Enterprise (MBE). The company publishes books across multiple formats—picture books, chapter books, middle grade, young adult, leveled readers, graphic novels, and bilingual/Spanish-language titles—organized under several imprints: the core Lee & Low Books imprint, Bebop Books® (early literacy), Children's Book Press (bilingual/diverse), Shen's Books (Asian/Asian American/Pacific Island cultures), Tu Books (middle grade/young adult), and Cinco Puntos Press (Border/Latine/Native life). Beyond publishing, Lee & Low offers educational resources for educators including Teacher's Guides, Webinars & Professional Development, and Diverse Bookrooms pre-built classroom libraries. The company also runs the New Voices Award and New Visions Award writing contests to discover unpublished writers of color and Indigenous/Native writers, and conducts the Diversity Baseline Survey, an industry-standard research initiative on workforce diversity in publishing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bebop Books®: An exclusive imprint offering leveled books for beginning readers in English and Spanish, created in response to educators' calls for more diverse reading materials for shared and small group reading in the classroom.
• Children's Book Press
• Shen's Books
• Tu Books
• Cinco Puntos Press

Products and services

• Lee & Low Books imprint The original Lee & Low Books imprint, publishing multicultural fiction and nonfiction picture books, leveled books for beginning readers, early chapter books, middle grade, and young adult titles for children of all backgrounds.
• Bebop Books® imprint Exclusive imprint offering leveled books for beginning readers in English and Spanish for shared and small group reading in the classroom, supporting emergent and early readers with engaging, content-rich texts.
• Children's Book Press imprint Acquired imprint publishing a wide range of innovative, lively stories from diverse cultures with an emphasis on bilingual titles; originally established in 1975 as the first independent press in the US to focus on children's literature by and about people of color.
• Shen's Books imprint Acquired imprint featuring creative stories from folklore to realistic fiction that shine a light on Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Island cultures.
• Tu Books imprint Imprint specializing in page-turning fiction and nonfiction middle grade and young adult novels and graphic titles that reflect the rich and diverse world in which we live.
• Cinco Puntos Press imprint Acquired imprint publishing picture books, middle grade, and young adult titles that highlight stories from Texas, US-Mexico Border, Latine, and Native life.
• Diverse Bookrooms Pre-built classroom libraries specially formulated in English, Spanish, or both, curated for diverse representation and sold to schools and districts through the Request a Quote system.
• Let's Read Decodable Book Collection A story-based phonics series of 10 decodable books offering global, contemporary perspectives, developed in partnership with The Asia Foundation to strengthen and advance phonics and reading skills for young readers.
• Drumbeat Decodable Book Collection A beginning reader series of 13 decodable books designed to strengthen and advance phonics and reading skills, part of the Bebop Books® early literacy program.
• Ebooks and Audiobooks Digital editions of Lee & Low titles distributed through the website, OverDrive for libraries, and audiobook distribution through RB Media Global.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 900 free Teacher's Guides available for educators
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• First Book and NEA FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Literacy nonprofits First Book and the NEA Foundation sponsored the publication of an additional debut novel by an author of color under the aegis of the New Visions Award. The resulting book, The Wind Called My Name by Mary Louise Sanchez, was published in 2018.
• The Asia FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLee & Low Books collaborated with The Asia Foundation to publish the Let's Read Decodable Book Collection, a story-based phonics series that offers global, contemporary perspectives. This partnership developed culturally relevant decodable texts for young readers.
• OpenIDEO and William Penn FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with design consultancy OpenIDEO and the William Penn Foundation on the Early Childhood Book Challenge, resulting in publication of I'll Build You a Bookcase in four bilingual editions (Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, and Vietnamese) to support early literacy nationwide.
• RB Media GlobalminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAudiobook distribution partner for Lee & Low titles, making audiobooks available through RB Media Global's distribution network.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Scholastic: Scholastic is the largest US children's book publisher and operates the school book fair channel that gives it dominant institutional reach into K-12 educators, directly overlapping with Lee & Low's educator customer base and educational sales motion.
• Penguin Random House Children's Books: Penguin Random House is the largest trade publisher globally and its children's division publishes diverse and multicultural titles at scale, with vastly superior distribution and marketing reach that frames Lee & Low's competitive context.
• HarperCollins Children's Books: HarperCollins Children's publishes multicultural and diverse picture books and middle grade titles through imprints like Harper and Quill, competing for the same institutional reading list placements and bestseller visibility as Lee & Low.

Direct peers

• Candlewick Press: Candlewick Press is an independent children's book publisher with a strong picture book and middle grade list, serving similar trade and institutional channels as Lee & Low and competing for the same author and illustrator talent pool.
• Charlesbridge: Charlesbridge publishes children's books emphasizing diversity, multicultural perspectives, and STEM/STEAM content, with a similar institutional sales focus on schools and libraries, making it one of the closest direct comparables to Lee & Low's mission and catalog.
• Barefoot Books: Barefoot Books is an independent children's publisher focused on diverse, inclusive, and globally-minded stories with a strong direct-to-consumer catalog, directly comparable to Lee & Low's multicultural, family-oriented publishing approach.
• Albert Whitman & Company: Albert Whitman is an independent children's book publisher with a long-running catalog of diverse titles (including the 70-year-old 'The Christmas Story' line), operating in a similar size band as Lee & Low with overlapping institutional and library distribution.
• Just Us Books: Just Us Books is an independent Black-owned children's book publisher with a multicultural catalog spanning picture books through YA, making it a direct niche peer to Lee & Low's diversity-focused mission and editorial approach.
• Arte Público Press: Arte Público Press is the largest US publisher of Hispanic and Latino children's literature through its Piñata Books imprint, directly competing with Lee & Low's Children's Book Press and Cinco Puntos Press for the bilingual and Latine market segment.

Emerging players

• Lil Libros: Lil Libros is a smaller bilingual children's book publisher focused on introducing Spanish language and Latin American culture to young readers, representing an emerging player that overlaps with Lee & Low's bilingual and early-reader segments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=lWp2XNm3uBo
• Xx.com/leeandlow

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lee & Low Books