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. Low says, "There was a void in children's books. Most of the books were targeted to Caucasians or contained animals or
fairy tales. 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 was given a full-page review in
The New York Times Book Review. 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, but in recent years has also published a small number of middle grade and
young adult 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. ==Research==