The U.S. children’s (and teens) book market is incredibly vibrant and robust, with players at all levels of scope and scale.
Scholastic is America’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, but all the major conglomerates have their own distinct children’s divisions, with about a dozen imprints each, including:
Random House Children’s Books (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers, Disney Books for Young Readers, Dragonfly, Golden Books, Random House Books for Young Readers, Robin Corey Books, Schwartz & Wade Books, Wendy Lamb Books, Yearling Books) plus Tricycle Press (Ten Speed/Crown);
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (Aladdin Paperbacks, Simon Pulse, Little Simon/Little Simon Inspirations, Simon Scribbles, Simon Spotlight, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Margaret K. McElderry Books, Paula Wiseman Books, Richard Jackson Books, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers);
Hachette (Center Street, Faith Words, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, LB Kids, Poppy);
Macmillan Children’s Book Publishing Group (Farrar, Straus & Giroux Books for Young Readers, Feiwel & Friends, First Second, Henry Holt & Co. Books for Young Readers, Priddy Books, Roaring Brook Press, Square Fish, Starscape, Tor Teen) plus Griffin;
Penguin Putnam Young Readers Division (Dial Books for Young Readers, Dutton Children’s Books, Firebird, Grosset & Dunlap, Philomel Books, Price Stern Sloan, Puffin Books, G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, Razorbill, Viking Children’s Books, Frederick Warne);
HarperCollins Children’s Books Group (Amistad Kids, Balzer & Bray, Eos, Greenwillow Books, Harper Children’s, HarperFestival, HarperTeen, HarperTrophy, Joanna Cotler Books, Katherine Tegen Books, Laura Geringer Books, Rayo) plus Avon, Zondervan, Inspirio, Zonderkidz;
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has 3 children’s imprints: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Harcourt Children’s Books, and Clarion Books, as well as 2 paperback lines, Sandpiper and Graphia.
Eerdmans, Harvest House, Moody, Bethany House, Thomas Nelson, St. Anthony Messenger, Tyndale, and Paulist Press are established Christian houses, while Feldheim, Hebrew Publishing Company, Jewish Lights Publishing, The Jewish Publication Society, Kar-Ben, Mesorah, URJ Press are focused on Jewish interest titles. Sierra Club focuses on nature and the environment. Mid-sized and small presses with a specific mandate for children’s books, or substantial offerings in the genre, include the following:
- Abbeville Kids
- Abingdon Press
- Abrams Books for Young Readers, Amulet Books (Harry N. Abrams, Inc.)
- Magination Press (APA)
- Accord (Andrews McMeel Publishing)
- Augsburg Fortress Books
- B & H Publishing Group
- Bethany House (Baker Publishing Group)
- Barron’s
- Bloomsbury Children’s Books USA, Walker Books for Young Readers
- Calkins Creek Books, Front Street, Leminscaat, Wordsong (Boyds Mills Press)
- George Braziller, Inc.
- Crossway Books
- Smooch (Dorchester Publishing Company)
- Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)
- Feldheim Publishers
- Free Spirit Publishing
- Fulcrum Publishing
- Harvest House Publishers
- HCI Teens (Health Communications, Inc.)
- Hebrew Publishing Company
- Broad Street Books, Graphedia Books (Hill Street Press)
- Clarion Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s)
- Hyperion Books for Children
- Candycane Press, Smart Kids Publishing, Williamson Books (Ideals Books)
- Bear Cub Books, Bindu Books (Inner Traditions/Bear & Company)
- Jewish Lights Publishing
- The Jewish Publication Society
- Dafina (Kensington Publishing)
- Lark Books
- Carolrhoda Books, Graphic Universe, Kar-Ben Publishing, Lerner Classroom, Lerner Publications, Twenty-First Century Books (Lerner Publishing Group)
- Flux (Llewellyn Worldwide)
- McSweeney’s
- Meadowbrook Press
- Mesorah Publications
- Milkweed Editions
- Moody Publishers
- Thomas Nelson Publishers
- Small Horizons (New Horizon Press)
- H. J. Kramer, Starseed Press (New World Library)
- Paulist Press
- Pelican Publishing Company
- Running Press (Perseus Books Group)
- Taylor Trade (Rowman & Littlefield)
- Sasquatch Books
- Arthur A. Levine Books, The Blue Sky Press, Cartwheel Books, Klutz, Chicken Socks (Scholastic, Inc.)
- Sierra Club Books
- Gibbs Smith, Publisher
- Jabberwocky (Sourcebooks, Inc.)
- St. Anthony Messenger Press
- Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
- Thames & Hudson, Inc.
- Tyndale Children’s (Tyndale House Publishers)
- URJ Press