All of the publishers on this list publish children’s books. Some just publish picture books, some publish only middle-grade fiction, and some publish a wide variety of genres aimed at adults as well. Some are looking for educational work, others are open to anything. A number of these publishers are large and established. Others are small and just starting out. The majority are currently open to submissions, but not all of them are.
For this article, we have included a brief review of every publisher, focusing on the essentials. However, if you click on the heading with their name you will be able to read the full review of the company. The publishers are listed in no particular order.
At the end of this article, under a separate sub heading, we’ve included publishers who are open to direct submissions from writers from historically underrepresented communities. Some of these publishers are seeking authors from very specific backgrounds, others do not. We link to the publishers’ websites directly in this section.
City of Light Publishing
City of Light Publishing is a small press with many imprints, including a couple focused on children’s books, based out of Buffalo, New York. In some ways City of Light is a new press, they only came to be known by this name in 2019, when they started to have more of a national and international reach. Before that, previous iterations were called Canisius College Press and Buffalo Heritage Press.
Bala Kids
Bala Publications is an imprint of Shambhala Publications, an independent publishing company based in Boulder, Colorado. They are distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services. Bala Kids is dedicated to encouraging the values of wisdom and compassion for children with books on Buddhism, meditation, yoga, mindfulness, and more.
Cardinal Rule Press
Cardinal Rule Press is a respected children’s picture book publisher. They are only open to submissions during certain times of year. They re-open to submissions next on January 1st. 2024. The work they publish hopes to empower children by telling meaningful stories aimed at 4-11 year olds. They publish realistic fiction which they describe as “a genre made up of stories that could happen in our world and society.”
Artemesia Publishing
Artemesia Publishing was founded in 2004, and they describe themselves as a micro-publisher. Although based on the titles section of their website they publish work at the rate of one title per month, which is actually a lot more than many other small presses. They started out focused on nonfiction, particularly inspirational stories, but have since expanded into other genres, including children’s fiction, YA, and genre fiction (mystery, sci-fi, etc).
Enchanted Lion
Enchanted Lion is a children’s book publisher based in Brooklyn that was founded in 2003. You can learn more about their team here. Their books are well designed, engaging, and have great covers. Many of the books they have published have been featured in the New York Times, and won awards. They are well distributed and my local library has a large number of their books.
Dancing Lemur Press
Dancing Lemur Press is a small US Press that has been actively publishing work since 2009. They are based in North Carolina and seem to regularly participate in local events. The only children’s sub-genre they publish is Middle Grade.
Pelican Children’s Books
Pelican Children’s Books has always been an imprint of Pelican Publishing. In 2019 Arcadia Publishing purchased Pelican Publishing, and now Pelican Children’s Books is an imprint of Arcadia. Pelican Children’s Books is based in New Orleans, as it always has been, they’ve published a lot of regional children’s books, although they are open to submissions regardless of author’s location.
Pan Macmillan Australia
Pan Macmillan Australia is open to direct submissions. They are the Australian imprint of Macmillan, one of the big five publishers. This is the only way to submit to Macmillan directly. They have excellent distribution in Australia. In terms of children’s books they are currently seeking, Junior and middle grade fiction, as well as young adult/crossover fiction.
The O’Brien Press
The O’Brien Press is an established and respected publisher that is based in Ireland. They favour Irish voices, but are open to international submissions. They publish nonfiction for adults, and fiction and nonfiction for children.
Shadow Mountain
Shadow Mountain is an imprint of Deseret Book. Both publishers are Mormon, but Deseret Book focuses more on producing faith-based content. Shadow Mountain publishes primarily fiction and they have published a number of New York Times bestselling books. Because the company is Mormon run, books have to be approved by in-house censors in order to be published. They are very firm about publishing “clean books only”. However the authors need not be Mormon. They used to always be open to submissions but now have four reading periods a year.
Holiday House
Holiday House is an established and reputable children’s book publisher. Holiday House was founded in 1935. They publish picture books as well as books aimed at children grades 1 to 3, grades 4 to 6, and grades 7 and up. They are based out of New York City. They have published many well-known books and authors, including Kenneth Grahame. The books that they have published have won numerous respected awards and honors.
Reycraft Books
Their mission is to create books of interest for all children. Founded by Sera Reycraft, a Korean who immigrated to the United States as a child, they mostly focus on publishing diverse books from underrepresented communities, particularly by #ownvoices authors. You can get a feel for what they publish here.
AM Ink
AM Ink is a Western Massachusetts-based press that publishes quality biographies, children’s books, novels, and short story collections. They’ve published more than over 70 titles including bestsellers. They have also sold television rights, and had movies made from their books.
Thames & Hudson
Thames & Hudson was founded in 1949 by Walter and Eva Neurath. Their goal was to create a ‘museum without walls’ and it is named after the rivers flowing through London and New York. They have over 2,000 titles in print. They publish high-quality books in the following categories: the arts (fine, applied, decorative, performing), architecture, design, photography, fashion, film and music, archaeology, history, popular culture, and children’s books. Their head offices are in London.
Levine Querido
Arthur A. Levine Books was an imprint of Scholastic Inc. that was founded in 1996 and as of 2019 they parted ways with Scholastic and since 2019 they have been Levine Querido. They publish hardcover literary fiction and nonfiction for children and teenagers (and discerning adults), as well as picture books and graphic novels. They have published many award-winning and nominated books, as well as a number of very well known and respected authors.
The Good Book Company
“We are an evangelical publishing house that stand on the fundamental truths of the Christian faith, for example, the IFES/UCCF/Intervarsity basis of faith. We are also corporate members of the Evangelical Alliance.” As such they are not interested in views outside of the Christian Evangelical movement. However, within that area they publish resources for evangelism, Bible study, training, Christian living as well as for youth and children’s work.
Gill Books
Gill Books is one of Ireland’s leading publishers of content in terms of both the Primary and Secondary schools market, but they also publish nonfiction for adults. They accept proposals for adult nonfiction and children’s books.
Owl Kids
A Canadian publisher of children’s books that is open to queries a few different times a year, from unagented authors and illustrators. Sometimes these open reading periods are limited to specific demographics, sometimes they are not.
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
Founded in 1911 and located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company is an independent publisher of religious books. They have a large range, including academic books and reference works in theology, biblical studies, and religious history to popular titles in spirituality, social and cultural criticism, as well as literature and children’s books. They are primarily a print publisher with excellent distribution. My local independent bookstore regularly carries a number of their titles.
Brother Mockingbird
Brother Mockingbird Publishing is a small independent press committed to discovering writers from the American South, but they are also open to good fiction, regardless of where the author is based.
Flying Eye
Nobrow Press is a respected publisher of graphic novels and Flying Eye is their children’s book imprint. Flying Eye publishes both fiction and nonfiction picture books. Nobrow Press and Flying Eye are both different from what we normally review because they are looking for either an author/illustrator or an already formed author-illustrator pair with a book to pitch. They do seem to make exceptions, but for the most part they are not interested in matching illustrators with authors.
Sleeping Bear Press
Sleeping Bear Press is a well-regarded publisher of board books, picture books, middle grade readers, and young adult fiction. They offer advances to some authors. They have good regional distribution in the Midwest and ok distribution in North America. Their books have won a wide variety of awards, all of them are listed here.
Gibbs Smith
Gibbs Smith is an established publisher with good distribution and a focus on cook books, interior design and architecture books, children’s picture books, and board books. They have published a number of bestsellers, including a board book version of Pride & Prejudice.
Flashlight Press
Flashlight is an award-winning publisher of illustrated children’s books. They publish books aimed at 4 to 8 year olds. They only publish 2 to 4 books every year, so they are very selective. The books they publish are beautifully illustrated. They also have good distribution internationally and nationally. The theme of the book must be universal, and the book should focus on family and/or social situations.
Princeton Architectural Press
Princeton Architectural Press is a small press that focuses on publishing books on architecture, design, photography, landscape, and visual culture. They also publish beautiful stationary and children’s books. They are based in New York. In 2009 they were bought by McEvoy Group. They are now a sister company to Chronicle Books.
Familius
Familius is focused on publishing books for the whole family, including children.
duopress
duopress is a publisher of innovative nonfiction books and gift books. They publish a large variety of non-traditionally formatted books for children, including board books that fold out, flash cards, and sticker books. They also publish more traditional books for children, including local books (such as Portland Baby). Most of what they publish is aimed at the very young (two and under).
Quirk Books
This Philadelphia-based press publishes just 25 books a year in a whole range of genres, from children’s books to nonfiction to science fiction. Unlike most publishers that tackle a large range of topics, Quirk books has a clear marketing plan and to a certain degree their books have a cohesive feel, because they all are quirky. They are currently not open to direct submissions.
Free Spirit Publishing
Free Spirit Publishing is an established publisher with good distribution. They publish primarily nonfiction, mostly curriculum-based, where they have a number of niche focuses. They do publish fiction but only in the form of board books (aimed at infants to 4 year olds) and picture books (for ages 4 to 8) that focus on social skills and getting along, early learning, character education, self-esteem, and other topics related to positive early childhood development. Also see their Black Voices in Children’s Literature contest which will open for US-based Black writers – they want children’s stories by and about Black people. The contest will run from the 19th June to the 24th of July 2023. Their new acquisition editor also put together this post which is very helpful.
Charlesbridge
Charlesbridge publishes high quality books for children and young adults with the goal of creating lifelong readers and lifelong learners. In 2010 Charlesbridge acquired Imagine Publishing, which expanded what they were able to offer. They now have extensive audio offerings. They also publish adult nonfiction, cookbooks, and puzzle books.
Turner Books
Turner publishes books in a wide range of categories and formats—fiction and nonfiction. They publish mainly in print but have electronic options as well. They are a major independent publishing house that has a number of imprints. They publish children’s books under their imprint Ramesy & Todd.
Maverick Children’s Books
Maverick Children’s Books is a UK-based publisher of children’s books. Their books generally have wonderful covers and illustrations, and are quirky. They publish a variety of books for children. They are currently closed to all submissions, but plan to reopen. You can learn more about the team behind Maverick here.
Tilbury House
Tilbury House publishes adult books too (only nonfiction), but they mainly focus on publishing children’s books with a social message. Most focus on the environment, cultural diversity, nature, and social justice. They have published a number of award-winning books that are greatly respected. They focus on getting these books into schools. The books they publish are for children between the ages of 7 to 12.
Albert Whitman & Company
Albert Whitman & Company has been around since 1919. I grew up reading a series, the best-known series that they have published, The Boxcar Children. Over the past few years they have started to focus on publishing a larger number of books each year.
The Quarto Publishing Group
The Quarto Publishing Group is an international publishing house known for its illustrated books. They publish most of their work through a number of niche imprints each with their own focus. All of their US imprints are distributed by Hachette.
Immedium
Immedium was founded in 2004 and is led by experienced professionals, who have written critically acclaimed books, marketed print and digital media, and sold #1 nationwide best-sellers. Aquanauts, a series of books they published, was turned into a successful TV show for children.
Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books is a reputable publishing house that publishes many wonderful books, however for the sake of this list, I am just focusing on their children’s line. They have published a number of books that have been nominated for the Caldecott, the most prestigious Children’s book award. They publish a large number of children’s books every year and have excellent distributors.
Paulist Press
Paulist Press is an established press that was founded in 1881. Paulist Press publishes Christian books in a wide variety of sub-genres, including children’s books. They have excellent distribution and sales within that market.
August House
August House was established in 1978, originally it focused on publishing poetry but in the 80’s their focus switched to folklore and after that, to storytelling. They no longer publish poetry, instead they focus on publishing children’s books, although many of these are influenced by folklore. They currently publish children’s folktales, picture books, early-grade chapter books, and storytelling resource materials.
Arbordale Publishing
This children’s publisher focuses on science and math books that parents and children read together, meaning they offer family focused rather than school focused learning.
Sky Pony Press
Sky Pony is a division of Skyhorse Publishing. This division focuses on publishing work for children, and are also open to publishing Young Adult work as long as it intersects with other areas of interest for the publisher such as ecology, farm living, wilderness living, recycling, and other “green” topics.
Hohm Press
A small print publisher based out of Arizona, Hohm has been around for many years. They are a respected press that has published a number of well known authors. The publish a wide variety of genres, including poetry, nonfiction, and children’s books. They generally focus on eastern religion and spirituality. They are not interested in fiction or short story collections.
Eifrig Publishing
Eifrig Publishing is a small independent publishing company that focuses on publishing children’s books. They also publish family psychology books, some nonfiction for adults, and books on education. They publish some eBooks. Their motto is “good for our kids, good for our environment, and our good for our communities.”
Jolly Fish Press
Jolly Fish Press was started in 2012. They are based out of Provo, Utah. Jolly Fish has a major distributor and a large staff for a relatively new press. Their authors have won numerous awards. They publish commercial and literary fiction, historical, fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, humor, horror, thriller, middle-grade, and young adult. They also publish motivational nonfiction, self-help, biography, and memoir.
Ulysses Press
Ulysses Press is an independent publisher. They focus on publishing nonfiction books aimed at niche markets. It is a good idea to go through their catalog before submitting to see if your work is a good fit for their press.
Flyaway Books
Flyaway Books is a children’s book publisher focused only on children’s picture books. The focus of their books is on “diversity, inclusivity, compassion, care for each other, and care for our world”. They are an imprint of Westminster John Knox Press which is part of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, but many of the books that Flyaway publishes are not faith based, and the ones that they do publish that are faith based are “appropriate for progressive churches, religious schools, and readers who value faith inside and outside of a church setting”.
Monarch Educational Services
A new small press founded in 2021, they focus on publishing work for MG and YA audiences. They are just starting to publish work aimed at younger readers under their Caterpillar imprint, which is now open to submissions, although they will only consider picture books by author/illustrators who are prepared to illustrate their own work. I am currently working on the full review, and it should be published in the coming months.
Publishers Only Open to Submissions from Historically Underrepresented Authors
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
A large independent publisher based out of Illinois, they also have offices in Connecticut and New York. Source books was started in 1987 by Dominique Raccah. They also have several imprints, all founded within the last decade. Their children’s book imprint is only open to unagented submissions of works that directly promote diversity, equality and inclusion.
Scholastic Canada
They are open to direct submissions from Canadian authors or focusing on Canadian content, who are from underrepresented communities, including Black writers, Indigenous writers, writers of colour, writers with disabilities, LGBTQIA2S+ writers and writers who identify with other marginalized groups.
Heartdrum
Heartdrum is an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, which is edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, and is in partnership with We Need Diverse Books. Native and First Nations writers and writer-illustrators are welcome to query her directly via a form on her website. Native and First Nations illustrators are also invited to reach out.
Tundra Books, Puffin Canada, Penguin Teen Canada
These children and teen focused Canadian imprints are open to direct submissions by underrepresented authors and illustrators only. Authors need not be Canadian.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2022 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.
She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.
