Derrick Barnes
Where I come from, no one dreams of becoming an author.
I didn’t know any famous African American male authors. I didn’t actually meet one until I attended college. I wanted to be a football player, the next Sean Combs, or a rapper; anything that would instantly provide me with the riches I would need to “move my mama off of the block”. I was raised in a single parent household by my mother, the lovely Miss Catherine Barnes, along with my big brother, Anthony, in Kansas City, MO.
My first attempt at writing a real story was in the fifth grade. I think it was about a group of stray dogs trekking across the country to find a magic bone or something. I can’t remember. But I do remember what it felt like when I finished and read it. It felt power
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When he is not working on his books, he spends his days as an executive, producer, and artist on animated movies and TV shows. He currently oversees animation production for Nickelodeon.
When he is not writing books or playing animation executive, David's favorite job is husband and dad, with his wife and three favorite critics—er—sons in Los Angeles, California. -
Robert Jones Jr.
Robert Jones, Jr. (formerly known on social media as “Son of Baldwin”) is a Brooklyn, New York-based writer and public speaker. He is the author of The New York Times bestselling novel, The Prophets, which won the 2022 Publishing Triangle Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, and was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction. His writings have been featured in The New York Times, Essence, Variety, and The Paris Review, as well as in the critically acclaimed anthologies Four Hundred Souls and The 1619 Project. The Prophets was named one of “The 25 Most Influential Works of Postwar Queer Literature” by The New York Times. Subscribe to Robert's newsletter, Witness, at https://robertjonesjr.substack.com.
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Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and New York Times Bestselling author of 21 books, including The Crossover, which received the 2015 John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American literature for Children, the Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor, The NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and the Passaic Poetry Prize. Kwame writes for children of all ages. His other works include Surf's Up, a picture book; Booked, a middle grade novel; and He Said She Said, a YA novel.
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Kwame believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people through his PAGE TO STAGE Writing and Publishing Program released by Scholastic. A regular speaker at colleges and confere -
Jacqueline Woodson
I used to say I’d be a teacher or a lawyer or a hairdresser when I grew up but even as I said these things, I knew what made me happiest was writing.
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I wrote on everything and everywhere. I remember my uncle catching me writing my name in graffiti on the side of a building. (It was not pretty for me when my mother found out.) I wrote on paper bags and my shoes and denim binders. I chalked stories across sidewalks and penciled tiny tales in notebook margins. I loved and still love watching words flower into sentences and sentences blossom into stories.
I also told a lot of stories as a child. Not “Once upon a time” stories but basically, outright lies. I loved lying and getting away with it! There was something about telling the lie-story and -
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Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Clinton has always been interested in making the world a better place. When she was a child in Little Rock, Arkansas, one of her favorite books was 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth, and as a teenager in Washington, D.C., she led her school’s service club. While at Stanford, Chelsea worked as a reading and writing tutor and volunteered at the Children’s Hospital. Today, she is Vice Chair of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation where she helps lead the work of the Foundation across its various initiatives, with a particular focus on work related to health, women and girls, creating service opportunities, and empowering the next generation of leaders. Chelsea holds a BA from Stanford University, an MPH from Co
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Misty Copeland
Misty Danielle Copeland (born September 10, 1982) is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history.
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Ibtihaj Muhammad
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Trish Cooke
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Isabel Quintero
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She learned to love reading and the written word from a very young age when her mother used to read to her Amelia Bedelia. That love was fostered by teachers and professors throughout her schooling and she is sure if they hadn't boosted her ego for all those years she would have never dared letting the world see what she had written.
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Previously, she served as editor of the Yale Law Review, and as Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney's Office from 1979–1984. She then litigated international commercial matters in New York City at Pavia & Harcourt, where she served as an associate and then partner, 1984–1992. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, and she served in that role from 1992–1998. She served as a judge on t -
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Ellen Levine was born in New York City. She received her B.A. degree in Politics from Brandeis University, graduating Magna cum laude. She has a Master's degree in political science from the University of Chicago and a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law. She has worked in film and television, taught adults and immigrant teenagers in special education and ESL pro -
Angeline Boulley
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Jody Jensen Shaffer
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Jessie Oliveros
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Bea is also a former teacher who believes in the awesome power of books to educate, entertain, and empower. Visit her online at beabirdsong.com and connect on social media at @BeaBirdsong. -
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Ashley Bryan (1923–2022) grew up to the sound of his mother singing from morning to night, and he shared the joy of song with children. A beloved illustrator, he was named a Newbery Honoree for his picture book, Freedom Over Me. He also received the Coretta Scott King—Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, was a May Hill Arbuthnot lecturer, a Coretta Scott King Award winner, and the recipient of countless other awards and recognitions. His books include Freedom Over Me; Sail Away; Beautiful Blackbird; Beat the Story-Drum, Pum Pum; Let It Shine; Ashley Bryan’s Book of Puppets; and What a Wonderful World. He lived in Islesford, one of the Cranb -
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Tim Tingle
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Gaia Cornwall
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Fun Facts:
*15 years ago, I appeared on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? with Regis Philbin and won $250,000. This would be my first time tripping on national television.
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Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
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In 2014, she was included among some of the most promising African authors under 39 in the Hay Festival-Rainbow Book Club Project Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara (Bloomsbury). The Africa39 anthology was published in celebration of UNESCO's designation of Port Harcourt, Nigeria as 2014 World Book Capital. Most rece -
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Susannah Buhrman-Deever
Susannah Buhrman-Deever is a biologist with a PhD in animal behavior from Cornell University. In addition to her academic work and writing, she has developed inquiry-based ecology curricula for children. Predator and Prey is her first book for children. She lives with her family in upstate New York.
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Mary Williams
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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(1) various -
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade (born October 29, 1972) is an American actress, activist, and author. She began her career in the 1990s, appearing on television sitcoms, before landing supporting roles in teenage comedic films She's All That and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999).
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James E. Ransome
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When Gág was 15, her father died of tuberculosis; his final words to her were: "Was der Papa nicht thun konnt', muss die Wanda halt fertig machen." ("What Papa couldn't do, Wanda will have to finish.") Following Anton's death the family was on welfa -
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Traci Sorell
Best-selling author and Cherokee Nation citizen Traci Sorell writes inclusive, award-winning fiction and nonfiction in a variety of formats for young people. In 2023, she shares Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series, a Kirkus Reviews starred nonfiction picture book biography illustrated by Arigon Starr, and Mascot, a middle grade fiction novel-in-verse co-authored with Charles Waters. Traci is a two-time Sibert Medal and Orbis Pictus honoree for her nonfiction work. Her first five books have received awards from the American Indian Library Association. Learn more at www.tracisorell.com.
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Janet Taylor Lisle
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After graduation from Smith College, she joined VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). She lived and worked for the next several years in Atlanta, Georgia, organizing food-buying cooperatives in the city’s public housing projects, and teaching in an early-childcare center. She later enrolled in journalism courses at Georgia State University. This was the beginning of a reporting career that extended o -
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Thomishia Booker
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Earning a Masters in Social Work and Doctorate in Education Counseling Psychology she spent the early part of her career working in Early Childhood Mental Health. Her background serves as a foundation for writing books focused on bu -
Kristy Dempsey
Director of Creative Content
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Children's Author:
ME WITH YOU (Philomel)
MINI RACER (Bloomsbury)
SURFER CHICK (Abrams)
A DANCE LIKE STARLIGHT (Philomel)
SUPERHERO INSTRUCTION MANUAL (Knopf)
TEN LITTLE FINGERS, TWO SMALL HANDS (Little Bee)
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Philippa Leathers
Philippa Leathers studied graphic design, illustration, and animation, and currently works as a freelance animator and illustrator. The Black Rabbit is her first picture book, while her animation credits include work on the Charlie and Lola and Peppa Pig TV series. She lives in England with her family, a gray tabby cat named Emmi, and two rabbits named Benji and Kiki, who inspired her to write The Black Rabbit, as where one goes the other follows close behind.
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J.J. Smith
JJ Smith is a nutritionist and certified weight-management specialist, passionate relationship/life coach, and inspirational speaker. She has been featured on The Montel Williams Show, The Jamie Foxx Show, and The Michael Baisden Show. JJ has made appearances on the NBC, FOX, CBS and CW Network television stations, as well as in the pages of Glamour, Essence, Heart and Soul, and Ladies Home Journal. Since reclaiming her health, losing weight, and discovering a “second youth” in her forties, bestselling author JJ Smith has become the voice of inspiration to women who want to lose weight, be healthy, and get their sexy back! JJ Smith provides lifestyle solutions for losing weight, getting healthy, looking younger and improving your love life!
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Duncan Tonatiuh
I was born in Mexico City and grew up in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I received my BFA from Parsons School of Design and my BA from Eugene Lang College, both of them divisions of the New School University in New York City.
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My first picture book "Dear Primo, a letter to my cousin" is published by H N Abrams and will be in stores March 1st, 2010.
My illustrations of the AH1N1 in Mexico were selected to be a part of CONACULTA's catalog of Mexican illustrators for children and young adults. They also appeared in the BBC when the pandemic broke out.
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Carole Boston Weatherford
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Lucia M. Gonzalez
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Paul B. Janeczko
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David Alexander Robertson
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Joyce Sidman
The Newbery Honor winner Joyce Sidman is today's foremost nature poet for children. Accolades for her books include two Caldecott Honors, a Lee Bennet Hopkins Award, winner of the Claudia Lews Award, and many stars and best of lists. For her award-winning body of work, she won the Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. She lives in Wayzata, Minnesota. Visit www.joycesidman.com
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Michael James Mahin
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Kevin Noble Maillard
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Matt de la Peña
Matt de la Peña is the New York Times best-selling, Newbery-medal-winning author of six young adult novels and four picture books. Matt received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific, where he attended school on a full athletic scholarship for basketball. de la Peña currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. He teaches creative writing and visits high schools and colleges throughout the country.
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Visit Matt at: mattdelapena.com -
D. Watkins
D. Watkins is Editor at Large for Salon. His work has been published in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and other publications. He holds a Master's in Education from Johns Hopkins University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Baltimore.
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He is a college lecturer at the University of Baltimore and founder of the BMORE Writers Project, and has also been the recipient of numerous awards including the BMe Genius Grant, and the Ford's Men of Courage. Watkins was also a finalist for the Hurston Wright Legacy Award and Books for A Better Life. He has lectured at countless universities, and events, around the world. Watkins has been featured as a guest and commentator on NBC's Meet the Pres -
Mina Javaherbin
Mina Javaherbin was born in Iran and immigrated to the United States, where she is now a practicing architect. She lives in Southern California.
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Doyin Richards
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Cozbi A. Cabrera
Cozbi A. Cabrera received a BFA from Parsons School of Design. She is the illustrator of several acclaimed children’s picture books and she also designs clothes and makes cloth dolls that have garnered the attention of collectors around the world and have been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
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Roda Ahmed
Roda Ahmed is a Norwegian novelist and children's author. Born in Hargaisa, Somalia, she emigrated with her family to Norway, and was educated at the Norwegian University of Technology and Natural Sciences. She speaks Somali, Arabic, Norwegian, English and French. In 2008 her debut novel, Forberedelsen (The Preparation), became a bestseller in Norway. Ahmed was a regular columnist for the Norwegian National newspaper, Dagsavisen and released her first children’s book, Mae Among the Stars, in 2018.
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Hannah V. Sawyerr
Hannah V. Sawyerr was recognized as the Youth Poet Laureate of Baltimore in 2016. Her debut novel in verse All the Fighting Parts was a finalist for the William C. Morris Debut Award, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, a Rise Feminist Book Project Top Ten Title, a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, and an ABA Indies Introduce/Indie Next Pick. Her spoken word has been featured on the BBC’s World Have Your Say program as well as the National Education Association’s “Do You Hear Us?” campaign. Her written word has been included in Essence, xoNecole, and gal-dem.
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Sawyerr holds a BA in English from Morgan State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Her sophomore novel in verse Truth Is (Abrams/Amulet) is slated for release on -
Juana Martinez-Neal
Juana Martinez-Neal is the recipient of the 2019 Caldecott Honor for “Alma and How She Got Her Name” (Candlewick Press), the 2018 Pura Belpré Medal for Illustration for "La Princesa and the Pea" (written by Susan M. Elya, Putnam), and the 2020 Sibert Medal for “Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story” (written by Kevin Noble Maillard, Roaring Brook Press).
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Juana was named to the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Honor list in 2014, and was awarded the SCBWI Portfolio Showcase Grand Prize in 2012. She was born in Lima, the capital of Peru, and now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her husband, two sons, and daughter. -
Jane Park
Jane Park (formerly Bahk) won Lee & Low's New Voices Award for Juna's Jar, which was also recognized with the Asian/Pacific American Library Association Award for Literature and as a Notable Book for a Global Society by the International Literacy Association. Juna and Appa was inspired by her memories of growing up in her family's dry-cleaning shop. Park lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Kelly Starling Lyons
Kelly Starling Lyons is an award-winning author whose 17 titles for children span easy readers, picture books, chapter books, fiction, nonfiction, and series. For more than a decade, Lyons has been creating inspiring books that center Black heroes, celebrate family, friendship and heritage and show all children the storyteller they hold inside. Her acclaimed titles include Going Down Home with Daddy, Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice & Sing Inspired Generations, Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon, Tiara's Hat Parade and the Jada Jones chapter book series. Her new easy reader series with illustrator Nina Mata, Ty's Travels, debuts September 1. The first book, All Aboard, earned a starred Kirkus review.
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Lyons counts Notable S -
Kiese Laymon
Kiese Laymon is a black southern writer, born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon attended Millsaps College and Jackson State University before graduating from Oberlin College. He earned an MFA from Indiana University and is the author of the forthcoming novel, Long Division in June 2013 and a collection of essays, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America in August 2013. Laymon is a contributing editor at gawker.com. He has written essays and stories for numerous publications including Esquire, ESPN.com, NPR, Gawker, Truthout.com, Longman’s Hip Hop Reader, Mythium and Politics and Culture. Laymon is currently an Associate Professor of English, Creative Writing and co-director of Africana Studies at Vassar College.
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Bao Phi
Bao Phi is a Vietnamese-American spoken word artist,[1][2] writer and community activist living in Minnesota. Bao Phi's collection of poems, Sông I Sing, was published in 2011[3] and, Thousand Star Hotel, was published in 2017[4] by Coffee House Press. He has written three children’s books published by Capstone Press. First book, A Different Pond received multiple awards, including the Caldecott Award,[5] Charlotte Zolotow Award,[6] the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature for best picture book, the Minnesota Book Award for picture books.[7]
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LaTashia M. Perry
LaTashia Perry is the Founder and CEO of Kids Like Mine and the author of the 'Like Mine' children's picture book series.
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LaTashia is committed to enriching and empowering the lives of children through positive affirmations and self-imagery. Kids Like Mine inspires children of color to embrace and love their true selves through the brand's products, which feature black and brown characters.
LaTashia is a native of Flint, MI and a product of Flint Community Schools. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Virgil Perry and they share 5 children together. -
Emily Tetri
Emily Tetri is a Design and Color Supervisor, Background Painter and Visual Development Artist.
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Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter.
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Nicknamed Lady Day by her sometime collaborator Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz, and pop singers' critic John Bush wrote that she "changed the art of American pop vocals forever." Her vocal style — strongly inspired by instrumentalists — pioneered a new way of manipulating wording and tempo, and also popularized a more personal and intimate approach to singing.
She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably "God Bless the Child," "Don't Explain," and "Lady Sings the Blues." -
Jane Bahk
Jane Park (formerly Bahk) won Lee & Low's New Voices Award for Juna's Jar, which was also recognized with the Asian/Pacific American Library Association Award for Literature and as a Notable Book for a Global Society by the International Literacy Association. Juna and Appa was inspired by her memories of growing up in her family's dry-cleaning shop. Park lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Keila V. Dawson
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Keila V. Dawson worked as a community organizer, educator, and advocate for children with disabilities before becoming a children’s book author. A two-time Ohioana finalist, Dawson writes fiction and nonfiction picture books. Her 2024 Green Earth Book Award winning title, NO WORLD TOO BIG: YOUNG PEOPLE FIGHTING GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE is a companion title to the Special Interest Group International Reading Association Book Award-winning title, NO VOICE TOO SMALL: FOURTEEN YOUNG AMERICANS MAKING HISTORY and the forthcoming NO BRAIN THE SAME: YOUNG NEURODIVERGENT ACTIVISTS SHAPING OUR FUTURE. (2026) She is the author of OPENING THE ROAD: VICTOR HUGO GREEN AND HIS GREEN BOOK, THE KING CAKE BABY, and YUMBO GUMBO which also includes a Spanish edit -
Tony Fucile
Tony Fucile has spent over twenty years designing and animating characters for cartoon feature films. During the first fifteen years, he put pencil to paper to help bring life to characters from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Iron Giant. And in the last six years, he put mouse to mouse pad for the Oscar-winning Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, for which he was a Supervising Animator. Tony's first picture book for children, Let's Do Nothing!, will be released by Candlewick Press in Spring 2009. He's currently working on a chapter book series by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee about two friends named Bink and Golly. He's also excited to begin work on Mitchell's License, a picture book by Hallie Durand to be published by
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Maribeth Boelts
Maribeth Boelts is a former teacher who has written 40 books for children. She lives in Iowa and enjoys all things nature and family.
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Marie Bradby
I grew up in the suburbs on the East Coast, the sixth of seven children. I attended public schools, I was a Girl Scout, played soccer, was a majorette and played the clarinet and oboe through college. After I graduated from Hampton University, I worked as a journalist for newspapers and magazines for years.
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My husband and I have one child -- a teen-age son -- and I became interested in writing children's literature when he was an infant. I began seriously studying children's literature by reading, attending writing workshops, writing, and joining professional writers' organizations and a critique group. To pay for books on writing, attending workshops and organizational memberships, I worked as a free-lance writer for various magazines.
It to -
Carmen Agra Deedy
Carmen Agra Deedy is an internationally known author of children’s literature, a storyteller and radio contributor. Born in Havana, Cuba, she immigrated to the United States with her family in 1963 after the Cuban Revolution. Deedy grew up in Decatur, Georgia and currently lives in Atlanta and has three daughters.
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M.G. King
I became a writer in the third grade, when my best friend started the illustrious Cat Courier and needed reporters to capture feline news around the Jeffersonville, Indiana neighborhoods where we lived. We sold copies up and down the block for 5 cents each.
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I've held a few jobs since then. I've been a camp counselor, ESL instructor in Japan, and a registered nurse who has worked critical care, transplant, and surgical recovery. The only job I've ever been fired from was my brief stint as a short order breakfast cook -- I've never been able flip fried eggs over easy without breaking the yolks.
Now I live in Texas with my husband and two sons, a Labrador named Bowzer and a cat named Mews, who all keep me laughing. We spend a lot of time looking -
Taiye Selasi
Born in London to Nigerian and Ghanaian parents, Taiye Selasi was raised in Massachusetts. She graduated summa cum laude from Yale before returning to England to earn an M.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford. In 2006 Taiye joined the WGAE Screenwriting Lab at Colubmia University, studying under Oscar nominee Zach Sklar (JFK). Sid Ganis will produce her first feature WHITE GIRL, co-written with policy expert and MSNBC contributor Heather McGhee, with Kasi Lemmons (ON BEAUTY) attached to direct, Keke Palmer (AKEELAH & THE BEE) to star. Taiye worked in television production before committing full-time to fiction, screenwriting, and photography. An avid traveler, she aims to visit 100 countries by the age of 50. She lives in Rome.
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Brenda J. Child
Brenda J. Child is Northrop Professor and Chair of the Department of American Studies
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at the University of Minnesota, and former Chair of the Department of American Indian
Studies. She is the author of several books in American Indian history including
Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940 (1998), which won the North American Indian Prose Award; Holding Our World Together: Ojibwe Women and the Survival of Community (2012); Indian Subjects: Hemispheric Perspectives on the History of Indigenous Education (with Brian Klopotek, 2014). Her 2014 book My Grandfather’s Knocking Sticks: Ojibwe Family Life and Labor on the Reservation won the American Indian Book Award and the Best Book in Midwestern History Award.
She is a member -
Kristy Everington
Kristy Everington is a children's book author. Originally from Perth, Australia, she now lives in the Bay Area where she enjoys exploring the California coastline and visiting as many lighthouses as she can. Kristy holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
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Kirbi Fagan
Kirbi Fagan is a Metro Detroit based illustrator who specializes in creating art for book covers and comics. Her illustrations are known for their magical themes, nostalgic mood and feminine heroines. She received her bachelor’s degree in Illustration from Kendall College of Art and Design.
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Kirbi is passionate about participating in the illustration community both online and at large. Currently, she teaches illustration at College for Creative Studies in Downtown Detroit. Kirbi's work has been acknowledged by organizations such as Spectrum, Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles and New York, ImagineFX and the International Writers & Illustrators of the Future. Recent clients include, Orbit Books, Marvel, Stone Arch Books and Dark Horse Com -
Dovey Johnson Roundtree
Dovey Johnson Roundtree (April 17, 1914 – May 21, 2018) was an African-American civil rights activist, ordained minister, and attorney. Her 1955 victory before the Interstate Commerce Commission in the first bus desegregation case to be brought before the ICC resulted in the only explicit repudiation of the "separate but equal" doctrine in the field of interstate bus transportation by a court or federal administrative body.[1] That case, Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company (64 MCC 769 (1955)), which Dovey Roundtree argued with her law partner and mentor Julius Winfield Robertson, was invoked by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy during the 1961 Freedom Riders' campaign in his successful battle to compel the Interstate Commerce Commission t
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Vincent Kelly
I'm a husband, father, and an award-winning author. My wife and I two sons and are based in the entertaining city of Nashville, Tennessee. I love writing stories that are filled with fun, color, life lessons, and that focus on promoting positive behavior and early learning in children. The Awesome Things I Love is my debut children's book and All People Are Beautiful is my second book to be released April 2, 2021. There are more works to follow as I seek to pen books that children all over the world will grow to love.
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Diana Farid
Diana Farid is an award-winning author and poet. Her picture book, WHEN YOU BREATHE, https://store.abramsbooks.com/product... was a 2021 National Council of Teachers of English Notable Poetry Book and a 2022 EUREKA! Gold Award winner for nonfiction. Her novel in verse, WAVE https://store.abramsbooks.com/product... was a 2022 School Library Journal Best Middle Grade Book, the Cybils Award Winner for Novel in Verse, a Middle East Book Award Honoree, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, and a Golden Poppy Award Finalist in both the Middle Grade and Mirrors & Windows categories. Her forthcoming books, THE LIGHT OF HOME (Scholastic) https://bookshop.org/p/books/where-wa... and ALREADY ALL THE LOVE (Little Bee) https://bookshop.org/p/b
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Debbie Allen
Actor, director, dancer/choreographer and singer, Debbie Allen's career has touched nearly every facet of the entertainment industry.
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Allen's Broadway career as a dancer, singer and actor began in the chorus of "Purlie". She next appeared in "Raisin", then in the 1979 production West Side Story", for which she won a prestigious Drama Desk Award, as well as, her first Tony Award nomination. Allen received another Tony Award nomination in 1986 for her role as Bob Fosse's "Sweet Charity".
Allen's choreography career soared in 1980 with the international hit TV series "Fame". In 1988 she went behind the scenes to choreograph the new American Musical "Carrie with the Royal Shakespeare Company" and has continued to devote herself to that discipline -
Mylo Freeman
Mylo Freeman grew up in The Hague and lives in Amsterdam. She attended the art-academy in Amsterdam and majored in illustration and painting. She has been a full-time writer-illustrator since 1993 and has published over 50 picture books. Her debut book Potty! was awarded the Kiek Book Prize and has been translated into many languages. The Princess Arabella series is one of her most well-known books and has been published in Holland, Nigeria and the UK.
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Karen Ehrhardt
Karen Ehrhardt doesn’t play an instrument and can’t sing a lick. But she’s probably listening to music right now at her home in the California redwoods, with her husband, their bouncing baby boy, and their dog.
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Karen does assemblies for Preschool, and Kindergarten through 6th grade. Karen does writing workshops with students in grades 3-6. Karen is available to travel to schools throughout California and the U.S. Please contact Connecting Authors for specific dates (866-528-9269 - www.connectingauthors.com).
Karen's most recent mention in Publisher's Weekly :
"Jazzed About Reading - Every student at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School in Oakland, Calif...received an early holiday present a few weeks ago: a signed copy of This Jazz Man -
Robert Herrick
Robert Herrick has self-published three picture books, one grammar book, and three books that help authors on their self-publishing journey. He is an award-wining screenwriter and worked for 20 years as a software developer. He helped create over fifty commercially released games and educational titles: including the best-selling Cabela’s Big Game Hunter Series. He lives in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
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Jade Orlando
I’m Jade, an illustrator living in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2018, I left my job of seven years as a staff children’s apparel artist to freelance full-time. My work can be found in books, apparel, advertising and licensing, with clients from Hallmark to the ACLU. I live in the ‘burbs with my husband, three cats, and a Greyhound named Petra. When I’m not illustrating, you can usually find me curled up with my pets and a really good book.
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