Abrams began publishing children's books when Howard Reeves was hired as publisher to establish a children's program, which was based on the company's foundation of artful, high-quality publishing. Reeves set the tone for a list that has been rich in diversity.
Abrams Children's Books has reached many milestones and steadily expanded with new imprints since it officially launched in 1999 as Abrams Books for Young Readers. It began with a focus on picture books and illustrated nonfiction for preschool through middle-grade readers. The first list included Babar and the Succotash Bird by Laurent de Brunhoff.
In 2004, Abrams Children's Books launched the Amulet imprint, focusing on novels and nonfiction for middle-grade readers and young adults. Amulet's first list included ttyl by Lauren Myracle, an innovative novel told entirely in instant messages and texts that became a national bestseller. In 2007, Amulet Books published the first title in Jeff Kinney's beloved and internationally bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The series has sold more than 290 million copies in 70 languages. Book 19, Hot Mess, comes out in October.
Kinney said this about his long collaboration with Abrams: "Abrams is celebrating a huge milestone: Seventy-five years of making wonderful, life-changing books. Books that changed my life and put me on a path to becoming an author. Never could I have imagined that my work would become part of the fabric of Abrams' own story. I'm so proud to have been able to have experienced so many firsts alongside Abrams. Thanks for giving this unknown author a chance. Thanks for believing in me, for supporting me, and for getting my stories out into the wider world. And thanks for doing what you do best--making the most beautiful books in the world. The Art of Books, indeed."
Abrams launched the Abrams Appleseed imprint in 2012, which is devoted to books for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
In 2016, Andrew Smith joined as publisher of Abrams Children's Books and has led the group since then in addition to overseeing the company's award-winning calendar program. Also that year Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts became Abrams's first #1 New York Times bestselling picture book. Ada Twist, Scientist was the beginning of the Questioneers publishing program, which expanded to include more picture books, as well as activity and chapter books, selling more than four million copies.
Beaty reflected on working with Abrams on the Questioneers: "Nobody makes more beautiful books than Abrams. Every detail from the first edits to the last touch of varnish on the cover is the best quality possible. And that quality is echoed in everything. From editorial to design to production to marketing to sales to support to distribution to management to the sturdy boxes used to ship finished copies to... EVERYTHING!"
In 2020, Abrams Children's Books welcomed a new imprint, acquiring Magic Cat, a London publishing house that focuses on illustrated nonfiction and gift books that encourage children to dream big and celebrate the art of storytelling in innovative formats.
In 2022, Abrams published Lightlark by social media sensation Alex Aster, an acclaimed YA fantasy novel that was an instant #1 New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller, and stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 53 consecutive weeks. Nightbane (The Lightlark Saga Book 2) came out in 2023, and Abrams has sold more than 1 million copies of the two books. The third in the series, Skyshade (The Lightlark Saga Book 3), will be published this November.
Avatar: The Last Airbender YA publishing program, which began in 2019, includes the most recent New York Times and USA Today bestseller, The Reckoning of Roku. The five titles in the Chronicles of the Avatar series have sold more than a million copies combined.
The Hello!Lucky publishing program consists of more than 20 titles in board book, picture book, and young graphic novel formats by Sabrina and Eunice Moyle, the sisters behind the Hello!Lucky letterpress greeting card and design studio.
Abrams Children's Books titles have won a myriad of awards. In 2001, Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Arts edited by Jan Greenberg was named a Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature Honor book. In 2011, Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus was named a Newbery Honor book, the first Amulet title to receive the prestigious award. In 2015, Amulet published El Deafo by Cece Bell, which was the first graphic novel to be named a Newbery Honor book. Also in 2015, Abrams Books for Young Readers published Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews and illustrated by Bryan Collier, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner and Caldecott Honor winner.
And there's more to come! The Abrams Fanfare imprint, dedicated to comics and graphic novels for young readers, is launching this fall.