About Us
Thank you for your interest in books that are a “voice for the voiceless.” Our mission is to publish beautifully illustrated children’s picture books about the vital issues that animals–domestic, wild, and farmed– face, and to present those issues in such a way that children gain insights into and develop empathy for every animal life. All our books are intended to illuminate the struggles that non-human animals face in modern society and to strengthen the human-animal bond.
Our picture books are designed to work as read-alouds for preschool children as well as maintaining high interest for readers up to the third grade. However, because of the nearly universal interest in animals by children of all ages, we’ve also found that our books have excellent applicability to ESL and struggling readers in higher grade levels, as well as suitable themes for students of all ages. In fact, our books have been used in high school and college curricula.
Founder and Co-Publisher
Emilie Buchwald is a writer, editor, and an award-winning children’s book author and teacher. Before founding The Gryphon Press, she was the cofounder and publisher of the nationally acclaimed nonprofit literary press Milkweed Editions. When she retired, she had edited and published 190 titles — recipients of more than two hundred prizes, awards, and recognitions — with more than a million books in circulation. She has received a number of awards for her work in the service of literature; among others, the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award and The National Book Critics Circle Lifetime Achievement Award. Buchwald is the author of two award-winning children’s novels, Gildaen and Floramel and Esteban as well as two books of poetry, The Moment’s only Moment and Incandescent.
Sam the dog, though long gone, was the inspiration behind the founding of The Gryphon Press.
Co-Publisher
Dana Buchwald is a publisher, editor, writer, and attorney. She is a Senior Humane Policy Volunteer Leader for Humane World for Animals and served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Humane Educators. She holds a B.A. from Carleton College and a Law Degree from American University. She recently graduated with an LLM in Animal Law from The Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School and was named the 2024 recipient of the Outstanding Animal Law LLM Graduate Award. She shares her life with her dogs, Mocha and Val, and her diva cat, Kitty.
Marketing Assistant
Nairi Simonyan is a writer based in Los Angeles, California. In 2016, she self-published her first novel, From Afar. Since then, she earned her B.A. in Creative Writing at California State University, Northridge, and her work has appeared multiple times in The Northridge Review. She also serves her global Armenian community as a Social Media Marketing Coordinator for the International Armenian Literary Alliance. In her free time, she reads fiction submissions for X-R-A-Y Magazine and spends time with her princely pup, Charlie.
Read “The Light of The Gryphon Press” article in Animal Culture Magazine.
A good combination: kids, dogs, and books!
The Gryphon Press titles showcase a range of important issues and ideas in humane education, including— the joys as well as the responsibilities of pet ownership, animal abuse and neglect, teaching empathy to children, dealing with overpopulation, the need to eliminate puppy mills, choosing a pet for its entire life, adoption, and fostering. The books approach these subjects in an appropriate, engaging, and non-didactic manner. Each book offers detailed information in the back of each book about the issue addressed for parents and educators. In addition, we encourage you to look for and download the free teaching guides that accompany many of our titles.
Buddy Unchained in the classroom
We are grateful for the enthusiastic letters from parents and children about our books, as well as the endorsement of humane educators–a group of teachers who, for the most part, are employed by shelters and humane education groups to teach children about responsible behavior towards animals as well as towards other people. The professional organization of these teachers, the Association of Professional Humane Educators, recommends our titles, as does the National Humane Education Society and The Institute for Humane Education. Our titles are on the reading lists and used in the programs of a number of organizations that work to help animals and to strengthen the animal-human bond, such as (in alphabetical order):
- The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
- Best Friends Animal Society
- HEART (Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers)
- The Humane Society of the United States
- Institute for Humane Education
- RedRover Readers
