Launched in New York City in 2008 as an educational publishing vendor that provided editorial content and curriculum development services to clients in the school marketplace, Literary Safari has significantly expanded its scope. At the helm of the company is Sandhya Nankani, who founded Literary Safari after holding positions in educational publishing, including at Weekly Reader Publishing and Scholastic Education.
At present, Nankani explained, Literary Safari is “a boutique full-service children’s media agency, creative studio, and independent publisher committed to making inclusive media for children and families. Our work is rooted in an understanding of learning science, educational standards, and play.”
Literary Safari has developed a multi-pronged approach to publishing, offering services ranging from strategic and publishing consulting to content development and curriculum design for major educational publishers and entertainment companies. Its client list includes Benchmark Education, McGraw Hill Education, Scholastic, Sesame Workshop, and UNESCO. In addition to Nankani, the team encompasses a core group of in-house staffers and, on recent undertakings, between eight and 12 specialists such as editors, former teachers, and librarians. The school market projects that they have developed range from creating curricular materials to commissioning fiction and nonfiction books by prominent authors, among them Omar Abed, Derrick Barnes, Jerry Craft, Carmen Agra Deedy, Minh Lê, Kevin Noble Maillard, Rex Ogle, Traci Sorell, and Jane Yolen.
Launching an Original Publishing Program
In 2021, the company began publishing original books with the debut of Literary Safari Publishing, which Nankani described as “a small imprint with a big love for creating books where every child can see themselves on the page.”
True to Literary Safari’s underpinnings, its original imprint represents a meshing of publishing models. “We bring together the spirit of trade publishing and the rigor of educational publishing to tell diverse stories for children and families that belong in classrooms, libraries, and living rooms alike,” Nankani said. “As an independent publisher, we develop our books in partnership with authors and educational institutions such as museums, using a hybrid traditional and print-on-demand model of distribution.”
Literary Safari Publishing’s debut title was Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity (2021), an activity book companion to the studio’s Story Seeds Podcast, written by Nankani and Alicia Zadronzny. The book was included in the New York Times’ Wirecutter gift guide for five consecutive years.
That was followed by Life Is a Dance: Enjoy It! (2025), a picture book by Saanam Lalwani, illustrated by Rajashree Gopalakrishnan, in which a girl at the annual Hindu dance festival of Navrati finds her confidence by believing in herself. And It’s Possible: The Story of Ronald McNair by Rita Lorraine Hubbard, illustrated by Chase Walker (2026), is published in partnership with the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center. The picture book biography of McNair, a Black astronaut who perished in the 1986 Challenger disaster, received a starred review from Booklist. In keeping with its name, Literary Safari plans to continue its exploration of publishing possibilities. “In the past year, we developed books in conjunction with institutional and mission-driven partners and supported first-time authors and oversaw the publishing process,” Nankani said. “The distribution of books is also something we are involved in. We do a hybrid of traditional printing in limited numbers and also leverage the power of print-on-demand to expand distribution domestically and internationally, using platforms such as KDP, Lulu, and Ingram.”
Nankani said the company is poised to forge ahead. “Because we have worked with trade authors to develop high-quality stories as well as school and educational publishers to think about what makes a book engaging and educational, we feel we bring a unique perspective to the process of bookmaking,” she said. “Our partnerships with authors and institutions have been a win-win. Together, we collaborate to put into the marketplace something that didn’t exist.”
