Publisher Profile: Oak Tree Comics
The CBC asks Josh Oaktree, Founder & Managing Director, questions about the publisher.
How did your publishing house start out?
Sometimes, adversity can lead to inspiration. During the pandemic, my jobs as a screenwriter were on hold, and I had time to reevaluate my voice and impact as a storyteller. You may remember the summer of 2020; the only means to connect with community was by being outdoors. I spent a lot of time hiking and enjoying nature. From that period of introspection came the inspiration to write my first children’s book, Do You Speak Tree?
Oak Tree Comics grew from that seed of an idea into an independent children’s book publisher where imagination meets environmentalism.
What is your publishing house most known for?
I still consider our press to be a little sapling when it comes to the larger publishing world, so thank you for taking the time to learn about our books. With your help, one day we can grow into a mighty oak.
In our first five years, I wrote our stories in collaboration with two illustrators: Josiane Vlitos and A. D’Amico. Josiane illustrated our young reader series Art & Oakie Ask, while Aster illustrated our middle-grade books Thorn the Unicorn and The Weird Animal Hour.
The common throughline between all of our titles is how they celebrate our imagination’s ability to advocate for nature.
The young reader series is really special because it’s nearly wordless. In each book, an imaginative elementary school student and a good-natured oak tree set out on an adventure to help their friends in nature. In Do You Speak Tree?, Art and Oakie save the forest, then they start a nature reserve in Do You Speak Bear?, and they bee-friend bees in Do You Speak Bee?
Meanwhile, Thorn the Unicorn is a middle-grade graphic novel about two friends who rescue a baby unicorn because…nature is magic!
To discover what magical animals would exist in the world of Thorn the Unicorn, we started combining mythical creatures with endangered species. That’s how The Weird Animal Hour came about. It’s an anthology of sixty of our Weird Animal hybrids, with nonfiction write-ups about the mythology and ecology that went into each animal’s creation.
Where in the country is your house based? What do you love about being based there?
Oak Tree Comics is very proud to call Los Angeles home! Not everyone thinks of Los Angeles as a nature hotspot, but it is! From its iconic beaches to its mountain ranges, there is so much nature to discover. Los Angeles is such an imaginative town, and its local community is passionate about speaking up for the world around them. L.A. makes for such a great home for our stories.
What conventions and conferences does your publishing house usually attend?
In everything we do, we look to build community. We attend as many in-person events as we can, with Southern California as our hub and home. Over the next year, we plan to attend:
- L.A. Times Festival of Books
- Los Angeles Comic Con
- Orange County Children’s Book Festival
- American Library Association
- and more!
If you are an event organizer, it would be a joy to plan with you!
How many books does your house aim to publish per season/year?
We publish 5-10 titles per year.
Again, we’re delighted that you’re discovering Oak Tree Comics at a very exciting time, while we’re growing. Previously self-distributed, our books are now distributed by Lakeside Book Company. With wider reach also comes greater opportunity….
Which genres does your house prefer to publish?
Specifically, we publish picture books, young reader, and middle-grade graphic novels. We like stories, told with imagination, that highlight environmental themes. Our focus is on character-based, visual storytelling, where the illustrations can carry equal weight in telling the story as the narration.
We are actively looking for story submissions! If you are a storyteller, you can learn more about our current guidelines online: www.oaktreecomics.com/submissions
What are some of your house’s publishing priorities over the next few years?
During our first five years of publishing, I wrote the books, in collaboration with two amazing artists. I can’t rave highly enough about Josiane Vlitos and A. D’Amico! They’re both so talented and such kind people. As we grow, we’re looking to broaden the range of storytellers we publish while staying true to our unique brand of environmental storytelling.
We have a few new series in the works, with more underway!
Which title has your house recently rallied behind?
Tying into our goal of publishing more storytellers, we have a very special project coming up titled We Are Los Angeles. Over thirty Los Angeles-based writers and artists contributed to this middle-grade comics anthology, in support of local wildfire relief.
What inspired the book? In 2025, while wildfires devastated Los Angeles, the community at large rallied around and supported each other. We Are Los Angeles captures that spirit. The book debuts this upcoming January 2027 to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the fires.
Which upcoming titles is your house buzzing about?
Buzzing? Now that we have national distribution, we are relaunching each of the books in the Art & Oakie Ask series, including Do You Speak Bee?
We are also buzzing about a couple of new picture books that debut in spring of 2027. Josiane and I are publishing our first collaboration outside of the Art & Oakie Ask series; A Good Planet is Hard to Find is a fun, sci-fi adventure about what makes our planet so special.
And then there’s Sloth & Hummingbird. Boy, I’m excited about this one! Illustrated by Bruna Martins, this picture book explores mindfulness, you guessed it, through the friendship of a sloth and a hummingbird.
Which of your frontlist titles would be great for a school or public library?
Oh, goodness—all of them! But if I had to choose, I’d start with Do You Speak Bear? (because I’m in a bear-y good mood today), and I find its allegorical exploration of habitat loss to be beautiful thanks to Josiane’s illustrations. With all of our books, we look to make them educational (and fun) without being didactic.
Which of your frontlist titles would be great for a classroom? Which grade?
Again, can I choose them all? If I have to choose, middle-grade students can’t get enough of The Weird Animal Hour. The premise is immediately inviting, and Aster’s illustrations are delightful while mind-bogglingly weird. Once you discover one of our Weird Animals, you’ll want to learn about them all.
Which of your frontlist titles would you like to see get more attention from bookstores?
If you like the magic behind The Weird Animal Hour, you’ll enjoy Thorn the Unicorn. We came up with our Weird Animals because we were wondering what magical creatures could exist within Thorn the Unicorn’s fantasy world. As we continue the series, we’re planning to sneak more and more Weird Animals into the story as easter eggs.
If I had to compare Thorn the Unicorn to a recent title, Tim Probert’s Lightfall, with its humor, heart, and epic adventure, feels appropriate. Nicely, Tim gave the first book in our series a glowing review. So, thank you, Tim!
What else would you like to tell us about your house and the amazing work you all do?
Again, thanks so much for taking the time to learn about our small press. We really value and look to champion community whenever we can, so it’s always a joy to hear from you, whether you’re an author, illustrator, educator, librarian—you name it!
Please feel free to connect with our team on social media (IG and FB: @oaktree_comics) or online: www.oaktreecomics.com
Thank you, Oak Tree Comics!
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