Jess Hannigan
Jess Hannigan is an illustrator and author living in Hamilton, Ontario. Her debut picture book was Spider in the Well, followed by her second, The Bear Out There. She has also illustrated for the New York Times, Readers Digest Canada, the Washington Post, and more.
If you like author Jess Hannigan here is the list of authors you may also like
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Esmé Shapiro
Esmé Shapiro is an award winning children's book illustrator based out of Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Laurel Canyon, California and Ontario, Canada. A graduate of The Rhode Island School of Design, Esmé is a past recipient of both the Nancy Lee Rhodes Roberts Scholarship and The SILA West 53 Gold Award-Phillip Hayes Scholarship. She has previously written and illustrated Ooko, which was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award in 2016, as well as Alma and the Beast, which received two starred reviews, and, most recently, Carol and the Pickle-Toad. Esmé also illustrated Yak and Dove by Kyo Maclear and Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton by Margaret McNamara. She has exhibited at The Society of Illustrators, and he
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Aimée Sicuro
Aimee Sicuro knew at an early age she wanted to make things, and spent many years trying to figure out how. She is the illustrator of many books including Dancing Through Fields of Color, by Elizabeth Brown and The Stuff Between the Stars both Junior Library Guild selections. If You Find a Leaf, her authorial debut was nominated for the 2022 Ezra Jacks Keats Award. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, NYT Parenting, People Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and two children.
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Greg Pizzoli
Greg Pizzoli is the author and illustrator of The Watermelon Seed, winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, Number One Sam, Templeton Gets His Wish, Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, and coming in April 2016, Good Night Owl. He lives in Philadelphia.
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Karen Obuhanych
Karen Obuhanych was raised in California where she enjoyed the outdoors, sports and doing anything creative. Inspired by annual trips to Hawaii, where her father grew up, Karen moved to Oahu to attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting. Karen currently resides on the Big Island of Hawaii.
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It is the simple element of happiness that drives Karen Obuhanych and her artwork. Nature presents little gifts of joy in amazing compositions and brilliant color every day. Karen strives to capture these moments in her artwork.
kto ART original paintings can be found in a select group of fine art galleries from the Mainland to the Hawaiian Islands. -
Angela DiTerlizzi
Angela DiTerlizzi is a mom, wife, and author who loves writing books for children. Her picture books include Some Pets, Some Bugs, Baby Love, and Just Add Glitter. She and her husband, bestselling author/illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, reside with their daughter in Amherst, Massachusetts.
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Brian Lies
I was born in 1963 in Princeton, New Jersey, which back then was a quiet college town, surrounded by old farmland slowly giving way to housing developments. I spent a lot of time building dams and forts in the woods across the street with my best friend, inventing things, and writing and drawing with my older sister. At various times during my childhood, we had newts, gerbils and rabbits as pets. When I was in fifth grade, an author and illustrator visited my school, and I was amazed that one could have a job writing and drawing. I wished it could be my job! But I didn’t think I was good enough at either writing or drawing to even try.
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I had always liked to draw, though, and kept doing it just for fun. During high school, I also painted with -
Dev Petty
Dev writes books for kids which are also often enjoyed by immature adults.
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She was a senior visual effects artist in film and is now- thanks to her husband, daughters and pets, fully recovered from her chronic workaholism.
She is also good at word jumbles. Really good.
Dev was born in Berkeley, California and now lives pretty much in Berkeley, California. -
Kiah Thomas
Kiah Thomas started telling stories when she was a kid; reimagining the endings in books she read. She rediscovered her love of kids books when she had children of her own, and started writing beginnings as well as endings. Kiah is passionate about books that kids and adults can enjoy together. She lives in Melbourne, Victoria with her husband, three children and at least seven stuffed toy penguins.
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Betsy Bird
Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, undisputed center of the universe, Betsy Bird (nee Elizabeth Ramsey) grew up and promptly left Michigan the moment her legs could propel her southward. She didn't get far. Obtaining a B.A. at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana (home of recorded jazz and don't let anyone tell you otherwise) she set her sights on Portland, Oregon. When that didn't pan out it was Minneapolis, Minnesota. Then New York, New York. In the midst of all this she somehow managed to get a library degree and a job at New York Public Library, eventually becoming their Youth Media Specialist (a.k.a. the person who bought all the kids' books for Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx). She created the children's literary blog A Fuse #8 Prod
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Vicki Johnson
Vicki Johnson's debut picture book Molly's Tuxedo illustrated by Gillian Reid and published by Little Bee Books (June 27, 2023), garnered multiple accolades: 2024 NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children Recommended Book, a CBC Top Ten Teacher Favorites Awards selection, 2024 ALA Rainbow List Selection, and a 2023 Ontario Library Association Top Ten 'Best Bets' Picture Books selection among others. Johnson's second book with the same creative team, Mac Wears a Hat, is available for preorder now. It releases April, 2026.
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Born and raised in rural GA, Johnson is a first-gen graduate of Smith College and Emory Law School, and also studied in the Writing for Children & Young Adults MFA program at VCFA. Follow her on Insta, T -
Don Freeman
Don Freeman was a painter, printmaker, cartoonist, children's book author, and illustrator. He was born in San Diego, California, attended high school in Missouri, and later moved to New York City where he studied etching with John Sloan.
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Frequent subjects included Broadway theatre, politics, and the circus. He was also a jazz musician, and the brother of circus entrepreneur Randy Freeman. -
Emmy Kastner
I've drawn many pictures of dogs and monsters in my life, many of which you could find on the edges of math homework and science tests. I've always been a storyteller, learning the art of exaggeration early on.
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My husband and I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan with our three young kids. I’m forever looking to be surrounded by books, food and laughter (in any order). I spend my days in my studio that lives above our coffee shop, Factory Coffee.
As a former classroom teacher, I taught high school English Language Arts, Biology, and Integrated Science. I'm cofounder of Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK) — a literacy-focused nonprofit modeled after 826 National. RAWK is devoted to celebrating and amplifying youth voices through the cultivation of readin -
Vikki VanSickle
Everything I need to know in life I learned from children's literature. My work ranges from contemporary middle grade fiction to magical, storytime-ready picture books.
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I am currently living in Toronto where I work in children's publishing in addition to writing. All kids' books, all the time! -
Connie Schofield-Morrison
Connie Schofield-Morrison is a mother, author, and entrepreneur. She spent most of her childhood reading and writing poetry, songs, and fairy tales.
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At the age of 19, Connie married her high school sweetheart Frank D. Morrison, a professional dancer. In 1999 Frank & Connie started their online art gallery, Morrison Graphics, which opened as a physical gallery in 2005 in the Old Fourth Ward of Atlanta, GA. Frank painted and illustrated, while Connie continued to take care of the business, their home, and their children, while writing children’s books in her spare time.
Her debut Bloomsbury Press title, I Got The Rhythm, is her first collaboration with husband and illustrator, Frank Morrison. The book is a rhythmic, soulful affirmation that a d -
Brooke Hartman
Brooke Hartman is an Alaskan mom and award-winning author of books for children. When she isn’t writing, you can find her flying, fishing, and having fun with her family, enjoying all the magic life has to offer.
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Follow her writing adventures at BrookeAHartman.com, or on Instagram and Facebook @BrookesBooksAK. -
Michael B. Sussman
Abandoned by a cackle of hyenas, Michael Sussman endured the drudgery and hardships of a Moldavian orphanage until fleeing with a traveling circus at the age of twelve. A promising career as a trapeze artist was cut short by a concussion that rendered him lame and mute. Sussman wandered the world, getting by on such odd jobs as pet-food tester, cheese sculptor, human scarecrow, and professional mourner while teaching himself the art of fiction. He now lives in Tahiti with Gauguin, an African Grey parrot.
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Barry Timms
Barry enjoys the way that stories bring people together. After many years spent editing children’s books, he is now telling tales of his own. Barry lives by an old water tower in South London and can often be found with pencil in hand, writing or drawing or both. He likes road movies, ghost trains and exploring forgotten side streets.
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Scott Rothman
SCOTT ROTHMAN is a writer of picture books, screenplays, theater, and humor pieces. Scott’s debut picture book ATTACK OF THE UNDERWEAR DRAGON (Random House) and its sequel RETURN OF THE UNDERWEAR DRAGON were both National Indie bestsellers and are being developed into a musical kids TV series by Mercury Filmworks with best-selling illustrator Pete Oswald and Tony-award winning composer Bill Sherman.
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His most recent book KITTYBUNKPORT was featured on the TODAY SHOW and was selected by Jenna Bush Hager for her Summer Reading List. Scott’s book WARM AND FUZZY (Tundra, illustrated by Brian Won) received a starred review from Booklist who called it a “fun and helpful read about overcoming anxieties.”
Scott’s other kid’s books include the Virginia -
Kyle Lukoff
Kyle Lukoff writes books for kids and other people.
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Before becoming a full-time writer, Kyle worked at five bookstores, in four libraries, for three schools, as two genders, through one intersection: people, and books. -
Levi Pinfold
Levi Pinfold was born in the Forest of Dean. From a young age he loved books and comics and spent many of his days drawing and writing his own stories.
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At the age of seven, Levi went to watercolour classes where he was introduced to the medium that he still works in. His love of stories, painting and the work of illustrators such as Maurice Sendak, Alan Lee and Dave McKean led him to study Illustration at the University College Falmouth, where he developed narrative illustrations in his own style - a stunning, stylised realism - creating his imagery from imagination.
Alongside painting, Levi writes stories in his spare time. Since graduating from University in 2006, Levi has worked as a self employed illustrator. The Django, his debut picture -
Edward Lear
Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised.
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His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to make illustrations of birds and animals; making coloured drawings during his journeys, which he reworked later, sometimes as plates for his travel books; and as a (minor) illustrator of Alfred Tennyson's poems.
As an author, he is known principally for his popular nonsense collections of poems, songs, short stories, botanical drawings, recipes and alphabets. He also composed and published twelve musical settings of Tennyson's poetry. -
Andrew Prahin
Andrew Prahin won a partial college scholarship from his hometown of Arlington Heights, Illinois, by detailing his dream of becoming a children’s book illustrator.
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Then he went into advertising.
With the publication of Brimsby’s Hats, Andrew is finally making things right with the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce.
Andrew currently lives in Chicago, but we'll see about that after this winter. -
Lauren Castillo
Lauren Castillo received her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She is the author and illustrator of the Caldecott Honor winning book Nana in the City, and the new early chapter book series Our Friend Hedgehog. Lauren has also illustrated several critically acclaimed picture books, including Kirkus Prize finalist Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera, Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley, and Yard Sale by Eve Bunting. She currently draws and dreams in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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Kim Jihyun
See also: 김지현
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Kim Jihyun is an illustrator, graphic designer and picture book creator from South Korea. She studied Design and Illustration at the University of Brighton, UK, and Seoul National University, South Korea, and lives in Seoul with her husband and their young daughter. The Depth of the lake and the Height of the Sky is Jihyun's first picture book. It was illustrated using writing ink, which allows Jihyun to express subtle emotions and to illustrate different qualities of light. The story was inspired by her feeling of serenity in nature; a stark contrast to her life in a busy city. -
Isol
Marisol Misenta, known professionally under the mononym Isol, is one of the most famous authors and illustrators of children's books in the world. She has won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, has twice been selected as a finalist for the Hans Christian Andersenn Award and has won a Golden Apple at the Biennial of Illustration, Bratislava. her many publications include It's Useful to Have a Duck, Beautiful Griselda, Nocturne and Petit, the Monster. Isol is also an advertising illustrator, a professional singer and a comic-book writer. She lives with her family in Buenos Aires.
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Helen Docherty
Helen Docherty is an internationally published author of many rhyming picture books, including the highly acclaimed Someone Just Like You, illustrated by David Roberts. Helen's books have been translated into 27 languages and staged as plays and musicals for children, in the UK, Germany and Canada. She often collaborates with her husband, the illustrator and author Thomas Docherty, and together they have produced many award-winning picture books, including The Snatchabook, The Storybook Knight ( The Knight Who Wouldn't Fight), Superwolf, Pirate Nell's Tale to Tell, The Screen Thief and Blue Baboon Finds Her Tune. She has also collaborated with many other illustrators, most recently Daniela Sosa, Steven Lenton and Brizida Magro. Hele
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Richard Jones
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Bea Birdsong
Bea Birdsong is the author of I Will Be Fierce!, Sam’s First Word, How to Spot a Best Friend, Boop!, Goat Is the G.O.A.T., How to Grow a Family Tree, That Is Not a Dog!, and Me Too!
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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. -
Kim Norman
Kim Norman is the author of more than a dozen children’s books published by Sterling, Scholastic and two Penguin imprints. Titles include Ten on the Sled, (Sterling) which spent weeks on Barnes and Noble’s Top Ten bestseller list and has been released in Korean and German editions as well as appearing in Scholastic Book Fairs in schools around North America. I Know a Wee Piggy, was reviewed in the New York Times, and is listed on the Texas “2x2 Reading List,” as well being offered by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
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Kim has a long history of theater & musical performing, which she enjoys including in her school visits and presentations. Songs and videos on her website, kimnormanbooks.com -
Eva Eland
Eva Eland is a Dutch author and illustrator who lives in England. She earned an MA with distinction in children’s book illustration from the Cambridge School of Art, and has also studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and the School of Visual Arts in New York.
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When Sadness Comes to Call is her first picture book. Eva grew up in Delft, Netherlands, and now lives in Cambridge with her fiancé. -
Randy Cecil
Randy Cecil has illustrated many books for children, including LOOKING FOR A MOOSE by Phyllis Root, And HERE'S TO YOU! by David Elliott, He is also the author-illustrator of GATOR and DUCK. Randy Cecil lives in Houston.
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Avery Monsen
Avery Monsen is a writer, actor, and artist who lives in Los Angeles. He illustrated and co-authored the national bestseller, All My Friends Are Dead, as well as I Feel Relatively Neutral About New York and K is For Knifeball. He’s also written for the television shows, Billy On The Street and Trip Tank. His writing and drawings have been published in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Believer, and several newspapers around the country, and he was recently named one of the New Faces of Comedy at the 2017 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. As an actor, he’s appeared on 30 Rock, The Tonight Show, High Maintenance, Maron, Adam Ruins Everything, and Alexa & Katie.
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Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actress who has sold more than forty million albums worldwide. She has received over twenty-six Grammy Award nominations for her work, winning eight, and has been awarded the World Music Legends Award for combining hip hop and soul together like no one else during the early 1990s.
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X. Fang
Hello! I’m X. Fang. I am a visual artist and maker of books for young readers. I was born in Taiwan, raised in Atlanta, Georgia, bounced around Brooklyn and Philly before settling down in Midcoast Maine with my husband, son, and dog.
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Todd Sturgell
Todd Sturgell is an illustrator and author. He lives, draws, and hikes in the North Carolina mountains with his amazing daughters and an overactive rescue dog, Max (named after his favorite picture book character).
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He loves to draw dinosaurs, mysterious creatures, and characters with big dreams. He is drawn to stories that explore childhood imagination, stem-related themes, and journeys full of wonder. -
W. Awdry
Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, better known as the Rev. W. Awdry, was an English clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author, and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, who starred in Awdry's acclaimed Railway Series.
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The characters that would make Awdry famous, and the first stories featuring them, were invented in 1943 to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles. The first book (The Three Railway Engines) was published in 1945, and by the time Awdry stopped writing in 1972, The Railway Series numbered 26 books. Christopher subsequently added further books to the series. -
Dean Robbins
Dean Robbins writes nonfiction children’s picture books about his heroes. His award-winning books have been featured on Public Radio International and praised in The New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and other publications, along with receiving starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and School Library Journal. They’ve been chosen for best-of-the-year honors by the American Library Association, New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, and Children’s Book Council, among others, and "Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass" was adapted as a short film by Weston Wood Studios. As a journalist, Robbins has served as the editor of Isthmus and contributed to USA Today, The New York Daily New
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Tracy Darnton
Tracy Darnton is a writer for young adults who loves writing thought-provoking, intelligent thrillers.
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A former solicitor, she has an MA in Writing for Young People. She enjoys discussing books with YA reading groups or appearing on panels. She teaches creative writing.
She loves board games, puzzles and escape rooms. Bookshops are her happy place.
Tracy lives in the countryside near Bath where she dreams up her killer endings.
Ready or Not
May 2022
The Truth About Lies - reprinted with new cover in 2023
Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize.
World Book Night title 2020
'Thought-provoking and crisply written'
Guardian
The Rules
'Heart-thuddingly nervy thriller' The Financial Times
'This tense, taut novel is chillingly believable' The -
Meghan Wilson Duff
As a kid, Meghan was Eloise if she had no Nanny and grew up living on a dirt road in a small town instead of at The Plaza. They drove adults up the wall by asking a million questions, and they were holding back. In high school and college, they wore a yellow Sony walkman to ward off unplanned conversations just in case people had the temerity to ignore that they were reading.
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Meghan wanted to be a marine biologist for a long time, but somewhere along the way they got distracted by trying to figure out people and decided to study them. A clinical psychologist by training, they full time in the Psychology & Community Studies program at University of Maine at Machias and for the University of Maine's Mental Health & Rehabilitation minor.
They -
Jorge Lacera
Jorge Lacera was born in Colombia, and grew up in Miami, Florida drawing in sketchbooks, on napkins, on walls, and anywhere his parents would let him.
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After graduating with honors from Ringling College of Art and Design, Jorge worked as a visual development and concept artist for major gaming studios and entertainment companies.
As a big fan of pop culture, comics, and zombie movies, Jorge rarely saw Latinx kids as the heroes or leads. He is committed to changing that, especially now that he has a son. He is a co-founder of #LatinxPitch (www.latinxpitch.com)
Jorge is currently helping to create the next chapter in the BioShock franchise as the Art Director at Cloud Chamber Studios in Montreal, Quebec. -
Kiera Wright-Ruiz
Kiera Wright-Ruiz is a writer and recipe developer. She has written for publications like The New York Times, Food52, Serious Eats and The Kitchn. Her work explores the diversity of food and amplifies underrepresented communities. Her first book, I Want To Be Spaghetti!, explores how a little ramen packet finds self-love and belonging in a spaghetti-obsessed world. It will be available on July 2023 from Kokila. And her debut recipe book, The Half-Latinx Cookbook, publishes in 2025 from Harvest. When not writing, she is probably eating onigiri with her husband and dog somewhere in Tokyo, where she is based.
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Find more about her work @kierawrr and kierawrightruiz.com. -
Adam Jay Epstein
I grew up in Great Neck, NY loving all things fantasy and science fiction - from Dungeons and Dragons and the Legend of Zelda to Star Wars and Dr. Strange. I created and imagined new worlds and stories from an early age but never knew that I had the talent to be a writer until seventh grade, when my English teacher assigned our class to write the first ten pages of a sequel to The Good Earth. After that, I was hooked.
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I now live in Los Angeles with my wife, two children and a black and white alley cat with a bite out of his ear. I write with a partner, Andrew Jacobson, who is a much better typist than I will ever be. -
Beatrice Alemagna
Beatrice Alemagna was born in Bologna, Italy in 1973. She graduated from the Istituto Superiore for industrial arts in Urbino, Italy. She has won numerous international awards for her illustration. She now lives in Paris, France, where she works as an author and illustrator as well as a designer of childrens books, posters and collages.
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Buffy Silverman
Author of nonfiction and poetry for young readers. Nature lover with a camera on hand.
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Young Vo
Young Vo learned to draw before he could write. He drew a lot of characters, then began to write stories for them. There were not many job choices that he could make, so he decided to be an anuimator, illustrator, and author. Now he writes and draws his stories before the sun rises, then during the day, he animates.
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Antwan Eady
Originally from Garnett, South Carolina, Antwan Eady is author of the award-winning picture book Nigel and the Moon, illustrated by Gracey Zhang.
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Down the dirt roads of South Carolina’s Low Country is where Eady’s understanding of—and appreciation for—family, community, and nature unfolded. Now he shares those stories with the world. His upcoming titles include: The Last Stand, Poemhood: Our Black Revival (a Young Adult poetry anthology), The Gathering Table, Micah’s Rise, and Before the Bridge.
When he isn’t writing, he’s visiting schools, libraries, and colleges throughout the country.
A graduate of Clemson University, Antwan now lives in Savannah, Georgia. -
Margaux Meganck
Margaux Meganck has lived the world over, in places as far flung as Jamaica, Thailand, Japan, Italy, and The Netherlands.
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Her father was with the United Nations and instilled in Margaux and her two sisters a strong sense of environmentalism, cultural sensitivity, and a thirst for adventure.
Currently Margaux spends her days dodging raindrops and drawing from her imagination in beautiful Portland, Oregon. From nannying, to early childhood art education, to children's bookshops Margaux has always worked with and around children's lit. So it came as no surprise when she started illustrating and writing for children.
She is an active member of SCBWI and has received portfolio awards from SCBWI-OR(2015) and SCBWI-WWA(2017). -
Geena Davis
Two-time Academy Award winner Geena Davis is one of Hollywood’s most respected actors, having appeared in several roles that became cultural landmarks, such as Thelma in Thelma & Louise, Dottie Hinson in A League of Their Own, and Mackenzie Allen in Commander in Chief. She is also a world-class archer and is now recognized for her tireless advocacy of women and girls, as Founder and Chair of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.
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Mike Twohy
MIKE TWOHY
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Cartoonist Mike Twohy has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine for over three decades. He has also drawn cartoons for a wide variety of other publications (from Ranger Rick to The National Law Journal) and created a syndicated panel, That’s Life, which found humor in everyday situations. The most recent of several books he has illustrated is titled Teaching Opera, the Role of the Opera Workshop, a project close to his heart since his wife, Linda, is a violinist in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and he became an opera fan years ago.
A compulsive doodler from an early age, Mike’s career actually began when, as a kid growing up in Northern California, he wrote and illustrated a neighborhood newspaper complete with -
Winsome Bingham
Winsome Bingham is an author and literacy advocate for reading and authentic representation of children and communities in children’s literature. She is a connoisseur of soul food and a master cook (at KidLit dinner parties, reunions, and get-togethers).
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Winsome is a teacher by trade and a US Army war and disabled veteran by circumstance. She received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.
You can find her cooking up soul food on Sundays or taking THE WALK to the polls with friends and family. Winsome can also be found writing on a deck while waiting patiently with a camera to capture a submarine shooting out of the water. She lives on a fictional army post called FORT GOODE whe -
Cynthea Liu
Cynthea spent her formative years in Oklahoma and Texas where she was a Whiz Quiz member, an Academic Decathloner, and a spelling bee champion. (Yes, she was very popular.) After attending college on the East coast, she worked at a corporate job where she mastered PowerPoint and racked up thousands of frequent flyer miles. Eventually, she traded in her suit for sweats to do the fun stuff–writing for children.
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Based in Chicago, Cynthea has spoken to a number of schools in Illinois and across the country. She has also been a guest speaker for national conferences organized by the American Library Association, American Association of School Librarians, Association for Library Services to Children, and the Young Adult Library Services Associatio -
Matt Hunt
Matt Hunt started out as a fine artist and then developed a love for children’s illustration. He works in mixed media and enjoys creating new and interesting characters influenced by old movies, classic illustration, cartoons, and books. He currently shares a house in Worcestershire, England, with his wife, Hayley, and two cats.
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John Parra
John Parra is a best-selling, award-winning artist, illustrator, author, designer, and educator, celebrated for his vibrant, Latino-themed children’s picture books. Over the course of his career, he has garnered numerous accolades, including three American Library Association Pura Belpré Honors, two Golden Kite Awards from SCBWI, two Christopher’s Awards, and the 2023 Américas Award. His illustrated book Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos was named one of the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the Year, while his debut as both author and illustrator, Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son, has earned widespread praise. His recent book, Spanish Is the Language of My Family, has received six starred reviews and
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Nikkolas Smith
Nikkolas Smith is an Artivist, Concept Artist, Children's Books Author, Film Illustrator, and Movie Poster Designer.
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He is also a Master of Architecture recipient from Hampton University. After designing theme parks at Walt Disney Imagineering for 11 years, he has written and illustrated picture books such as The Artivist , The Golden Girls of Rio (nominated for an NAACP Image Award), My Hair Is Poofy And That's Okay, and World Cup Women.
Nikkolas is a proud 2016 White House Innovators of Color fellow, and he is the creator of the "2023 Marvel Artist Series," an apparel line featuring Black superheroes, in collaboration with Target.
As an illustrator of color, Nikkolas creates captivating art that can spark important conversations in today's w -
Kenard Pak
Kenard Pak has illustrated several acclaimed picture books, including Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rits Gray and a sequence of seasonal books that began with Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, which he also wrote. He has worked as an aimator on many films with Dreamworks, Walt Disney Feature Animation, and Laika. Pak lives and works in San Francisco, California.
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Sean E. Avery
Sean E Avery is an internationally acclaimed sculptor, author and illustrator best known for his animal sculptures made from CDs and electronic waste, some of which are featured in the SciTech (Perth) and Ripley’s Believe It or Not (USA) exhibitions. He has presented at various Writers festivals and represented Australia at the International Waste To Art exhibition in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2014.
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Nancy Tafuri
Nancy Tafuri is probably best known as the creator of Have You Seen My Duckling?, a 1985 Caldecott Honor Book described by Parent’s Choice as “beautifully precise yet emotionally affecting.” Trained as a graphic designer, Tafuri has authored more than 45 books over 30 years for the very young.
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When Tafuri first attempted picture book illustration in the late 1970’s picture books were aimed at five-, six-, and seven-year-olds. Tafuri’s images were considered “too graphic” for children that age. “The pictures are too big,” she was told over and over about the large, colorful shapes she drew. Finally, Tafuri’s talent was recognized and tapped at Greenwillow Books, Harper Collins Publishers.
Since then she has had the opportunity to work with Sch -
Emily Arrow
My journey began with a profound love for both music and education. With an undergraduate degree from Berklee College of Music and currently earning my Master of Arts in Teaching, I’ve dedicated my career to merging these passions. My goal is to create engaging, innovative experiences that inspire children to embrace literacy through the joyful power of music. Through my work as an experienced teacher, author, and award-winning songwriter, I strive to ignite a love of reading and self-expression in the next generation.
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I am a consultant for children’s film and television programming and I offer teaching residencies and workshops around the country at schools, libraries, and arts-based organizations. I am also a Writing Instructor for Litera -
Gabi Snyder
Gabi Snyder is the author of TWO DOGS ON A TRIKE (Abrams/Appleseed, 2020) and LISTEN (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, July 2021).
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Gabi lives in Oregon with her family. -
Maisha Oso
Maisha Oso writes stories to empower, entertain, and encourage emotional intelligence in young children. A former strategy & analytics professional from New York City, Maisha is currently working in her most challenging role to date: a stay-at-home mom of three tiny humans.
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When she’s not writing, you can find her wrangling her kids, binge-watching an unhealthy amount of reality television, or belting out lyrics from the Hamilton soundtrack. After living abroad for several years in Africa, Maisha and her family have recently moved back stateside to Alpharetta, Georgia. -
LeVar Burton
Levardis Robert Martyn "LeVar" Burton Jr. is an actor, director, and educator who has been an icon for more than 35 years. He was the host and producer of the influential television program Reading Rainbow for more than three decades, and starred in the TV miniseries Roots and on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He lives in Sherman Oaks, California.
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Jelani Memory
Jelani Memory (he/him) is a constantly curious writer, entrepreneur, and storyteller. He's the founder and CEO of a kids co. and lives in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, with his wife and 6 kids.
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Matthew Forsythe
Matthew Forsythe is an author and illustrator living in Los Angeles.
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His first book, Pokko and the Drum, won the Charlotte Zolotow Honor for picture book writing and his second book, MINA, was a Governor General Awards finalist.
He was also a designer on several animated shows including Adventure Time, The Midnight Gospel and the Oscar-nominated film, Robin Robin. -
Joanna Ho
Joanna Ho Bradshaw is the author of Eyes that Kiss in the Corners (HarperCollins, Jan 2021), Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma (HarperCollins, Fall 2021), and One Day (Winter 2023). She is a writer and educator with a passion for anti-bias, anti-racism and equity work. She holds a BA in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s from the Principal Leadership Institute at Berkeley. She has been an English teacher, a dean, the designer of an alternative-to-prison program, and a professional development mastermind. She is currently the vice principal of a high school in the Bay Area, where she survives on homemade chocolate chip cookies, outdoor adventures, and dance parties with her kids. Keep your eyes open for m
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Lian Cho
Lian Cho is a Brooklyn-based illustrator born in Taiwan. She is the author and illustrator of many goofy books for children.
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X. Fang
Hello! I’m X. Fang. I am a visual artist and maker of books for young readers. I was born in Taiwan, raised in Atlanta, Georgia, bounced around Brooklyn and Philly before settling down in Midcoast Maine with my husband, son, and dog.
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Andrea L. Rogers
Andrea L. Rogers is a writer from Tulsa, Oklahoma and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from the Institute of American Indian and Alaskan Arts with an MFA in Creative Writing. Currently, she is splitting time between Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she is a Ph.d. student at the University Arkansas and Fort Worth, Texas, where her family lives. Her book Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story was named an NPR Best Book of 202) by both NPR and American Indians in Children’s Literature.
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Ms. Rogers is on the Board of the Fort Worth Public Library.
A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, she is currently revising a middle grade mystery, writing an adult literary horror nov -
Corey R. Tabor
Corey R. Tabor grew up in Wyoming, where he once spent the night in a cave by an underground waterfall. He now lives with his wife in Seattle, where he draws and reads and explores. Please visit him at coreyrtabor.com.
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from https://www.readbrightly.com/meet-ill... -
Greg Pizzoli
Greg Pizzoli is the author and illustrator of The Watermelon Seed, winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, Number One Sam, Templeton Gets His Wish, Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, and coming in April 2016, Good Night Owl. He lives in Philadelphia.
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Ben Clanton
Ben Clanton is the author/illustrator of the Narwhal and Jelly series as well as a number of other books as IT CAME IN THE MAIL, MO'S MUSTACHE, and TATER TALES. When Ben isn't doodling up stories (and often when he is) he likes to cook, explore outdoors, and play basketball. Ben lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and kids. Find out more about Ben at www.benclanton.com.
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Kyle Lukoff
Kyle Lukoff writes books for kids and other people.
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Before becoming a full-time writer, Kyle worked at five bookstores, in four libraries, for three schools, as two genders, through one intersection: people, and books. -
Shawn Harris
Librarian Note:
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There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name. -
Matthew Forsythe
Matthew Forsythe is an author and illustrator living in Los Angeles.
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His first book, Pokko and the Drum, won the Charlotte Zolotow Honor for picture book writing and his second book, MINA, was a Governor General Awards finalist.
He was also a designer on several animated shows including Adventure Time, The Midnight Gospel and the Oscar-nominated film, Robin Robin. -
Kyo Maclear
Kyo Maclear is an essayist, novelist and children’s author. She was born in London, England and moved to Toronto at the age of four with her British father (a foreign correspondent and documentary filmmaker) and Japanese mother (a painter and art dealer).
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Her books have been translated into eighteen languages, published in over twenty-five countries, and garnered nominations from the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the National Magazine Awards, among other honours.
Unearthing: a Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets (2023) was a national bestseller and awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award for No -
Bob Shea
Bob Shea has written and illustrated over a dozen picture books including the popular Dinosaur vs. Bedtime and the cult favorite Big Plans illustrated by Lane Smith.
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His characters and animations have appeared on Nick Jr, Playhouse Disney and PBS Kids.
Bob spends his days writing, drawing and having “conversations” with NPR. -
Loren Long
I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky in the 1970’s. We had no artists of any kind in the family. We didn’t know any artists. I liked sports, especially baseball. My mother read to me a lot. But I have to admit, my favorite subject in school was gym class. I also liked to draw. My parents encouraged me to keep drawing.
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Rebecca Stead
Rebecca Stead is the New York Times bestselling author of When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy, First Light, Goodbye Stranger, Bob, and, most recently, The List of Things That Will Not Change. Her books have been awarded the Newbery Medal, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Fiction and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
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Rebecca lives in New York City, where she is always on the lookout for her next story idea. -
Gina Bellisario
Gina Bellisario is the author of many super books for kids, including her early chapter book series ELLIE ULTRA (Capstone/Stone Arch Books, 2016), which is about a third-grade superhero! Her first book, THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN ILLINOIS (Sterling Children's Books, 2012), was nominated for a Lincoln Award from the Illinois Office of Tourism, and her books in the series Cloverleaf Books™ - Community Helpers (Lerner/Millbrook Press, 2013) won a Learning Magazine Teachers' Choice Award.
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When Gina isn't crafting a story, she is visiting schools to share her books and celebrate young readers and writers. She also mentors budding authors who want to learn more about writing for children. For writing tips and news about her forthcoming books, -
Lauren Emmons
Lauren Emmons (they/them) is an illustrator and author of children’s books. They grew up in Minnesota exploring forests and learning important skills like turning the top of an acorn into a loud whistle. While they now live in North Dakota, they have lived all over the place - from California to Wisconsin to England.
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They have a Masters Degree in Children’s Book Illustration from the prestigious Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England; and was an award winner in the World Illustration Awards. The first book they illustrated, Prak Fills The House, was published by Peachtree Publishing in 2023; and their debut author illustrated book, No Cats In The Library, was published by Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster in 2024.
They create thei -
Robert Bright
Robert Bright was born on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1902 and passed away in San Francisco in 1988. He spent his childhood in Europe and completed his education at Phillips Academy, Andover, and Princeton University.
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His vocations included those of newspaper reporter in Baltimore and Paris, art and music critic in Sante Fe, New Mexico, teacher in Boston, and novelist. Believing that "the imaginative child in the imaginative man is fortunately never far away," Mr. Bright has delighted in writing his numerous books for children. Many of these star Georgie, the friendly little ghost who first appeared in 1944 and has been charming young readers on both sides of the Atlantic ever since. -
Natalia Shaloshvili
Natalia Shaloshvili is an artist, children's book author and illustrator.
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Natalia started her creative career as a fashion and editorial illustrator, having worked with several established international magazines and creative agencies. Later she found her true passion in children's books and paintings. Currently, she works with some top publishing houses to release new, exciting and rather peculiar stories to the world. Her characters are cute, calm, humble and amusing, living their ordinary lives in a strange and curious world out there. Her paintings can be found in private galleries and many homes all around the globe. She lives with her family in London, UK. -
Charles Ghigna
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Charles Ghigna - Father Goose® lives in a treehouse in the middle of Alabama. He is the author of more than 100 books from Random House, Disney, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Time Inc. and other publishers. He has written more than 5,000 poems for children and adults that have appeared in anthologies, newspapers and magazines ranging from The New Yorker and Harper’s to Highlights and Cricket magazines. He served as poet-in-residence and chair of creative writing at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, instructor of creative writing at Samford University, poetry editor of English Journal for the National Council of Teachers of English, and as a nationally syndicated poetry feature writer for Tribune Media Services. He speaks at schools, conferen -
Constance Lombardo
I an the author/illustrator of the middle grade series starring Mr. Puffball. My first picture book, Everybody Says Meow, has cats AND a dog, a duck, and more (and I drew them!) My other two picture books are Tiny Spoon vs Little Fork (illustrated by Dan and Jason,) and Itty Bitty Betty Blob (illustrated by Micah Player.)
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I like bookstores, museums non-scary movies, swimming holes, and taking walks with my old beagle, Louie. -
Nelly Buchet
Lover of dogs and dance. Author of 2021 Irma Black Award Winner and ALA Notable Children's Book CAT DOG DOG: The Story of a Blended Family (Random House Studio, with art by Andrea Zuill, 2020), the CAN'T DO board book series (Studio Press/ Bonnier UK, with art by Pau Morgan, 2021), HOW TO TRAIN YOUR PET BRAIN (Beaming Books, with art by Amy Jindra, 2022), ABUELITO (with David Corredor Benavides, Kind World Publishing, with art by Ana Sanfelippo, 2023) and A FRIEND LIKE NO OTTER (Union Square Kids, with art by Andrea Zuill, 2023).
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Helen Yoon
Helen Yoon is a freelance illustrator and creative consultant operating in the greater Los Angeles area. Sheepish is her first picture book.
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Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic
Stephanie has done a few things in life. She has sold women shoes and frozen yogurt as well as smelly, expensive body lotion and smellier, even more expensive cheese. She has worked on a Jacques Pepin cooking show and been a cookbook editor. She has written about books, food, parenting, TV, vampire dating habits, cocktail trivia, and picky eating.
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She has lived in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Ann Arbor, England, Boston, and San Francisco.
She has attended a swank ball at University of Cambridge with Prince Charles (not that he was her date or anything just that he was also invited) and rebuilt trails with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
Now she writes children's books surrounded by a few kids, a few cats, and one husband. She lov -
Chad Otis
Chad is the author & illustrator of OLIVER THE CURIOUS OWL, A LITTLE FERRY TALE, and THE BRIGHT SIDE. He's also the illustrator of CUDDLE MONKEY, and COLD TURKEY.
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Chad spent part of his formative years living on a school bus that zig-zagged its way from Iowa to California. Then he got a BFA in Design from the University of Washington and spent years working with Disney, Nickelodeon, Mattel, Hasbro, and others as a game designer, creative director and animator for digital content before coming to picture books. Chad thrives on heartfelt, humorous stories - with unique, vibrant characters at their core.
Chad lives at the edge of the Rocky Mountains in Idaho (in a house without wheels) - with his wife Cathy and their Cockapoo, Riley. -
Karen Gray Ruelle
I'm a professional writer and illustrator, with 23 children’s books published so far and several others in the works. I write for all ages, from toddlers to adults, and enjoy working on my own, as well as in collaboration with other authors and illustrators.
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In terms of style, my illustrations tend to be more whimsical than realistic, and I've worked in watercolor, oils, pastels, pen and ink, and collage. Lately, I've been experimenting with layering colors in oils and using the resulting swatches to create collage. It makes me happy to work with so many gorgeous, rich colors.
My writing ranges from extensively researched, powerful non-fiction narrative to humorous fiction and poetry, with some folktales and other stories thrown in for fun. I -
Cat Min
Cat Min is an illustrator, animator, and writer. Cat grew up as a shy kid in Hong Kong, where she spent most of her childhood drawing and making comic books out of printer paper and staples with her best friend. She studied animation and film at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, and completed the Illustration & Visual Storytelling Summer Residency Program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She is also a member of SCBWI. Her (not so) guilty pleasures are: McDonald's french fries, sappy romance comics, mobile escape game apps, visual novels, and all things cheese.
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Shawn Harris
Librarian Note:
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There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name. -
Sam Usher
Sam Usher’s first book, Can You See Sassoon?, was long-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal. He is also the author and illustrator of Snow, Rain, and Sun, the companion books to Storm, the first of which was long-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal. He lives in England.
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Andrea L. Rogers
Andrea L. Rogers is a writer from Tulsa, Oklahoma and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from the Institute of American Indian and Alaskan Arts with an MFA in Creative Writing. Currently, she is splitting time between Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she is a Ph.d. student at the University Arkansas and Fort Worth, Texas, where her family lives. Her book Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story was named an NPR Best Book of 202) by both NPR and American Indians in Children’s Literature.
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Ms. Rogers is on the Board of the Fort Worth Public Library.
A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, she is currently revising a middle grade mystery, writing an adult literary horror nov -
Brendan Wenzel
Brendan Wenzel is an author and illustrator based in upstate New York. His debut picture book, They All Saw a Cat, was a New York Times bestseller and the recipient of a 2017 Caldecott Honor. An ardent conservationist, he is a proud collaborator with many organizations working to ensure the future of wild places and threatened species.
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Megan Woodward
As a child, Megan Woodward lived and traveled all over the world, but always felt at home with her head in a book. She’s a comedy screenwriter and a freelance writer and editor, but her true love is writing for kids. She loves all things food and humor related, which is why she can often be found laughing with her mouth full. She cannot whistle, but she CAN make a sound like a baby dinosaur (or so she believes). She lives with her son and two cats in Portland, Oregon, where it rains all the time, but never on her parade.
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Her debut picture book THIS BOOK IS DEFINITELY NOT CURSED (Simon and Schuster) will be released June 25, 2024.
For more info, sign up for her newsletter:
http://eepurl.com/iBb7vc -
Lindsay H. Metcalf
Lindsay H. Metcalf is a journalist and award-winning author of nonfiction picture books: BEATRIX POTTER, SCIENTIST, a Mighty Girl Best Book of 2020 and Young People’s Literature Award winner from the Friends of American Writers Chicago; FARMERS UNITE! Planting a Protest for Fair Prices, a Kansas Notable Book, Friends of American Writers honoree, NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book, and Junior Library Guild selection; and NO VOICE TOO SMALL: Fourteen Young Americans Making History, a Kirkus and Chicago Public Library Best Book, Notable Social Studies Trade Book, and NCTE Notable Poetry Book. NO WORLD TOO BIG: Young People Fighting Global Climate Change, a poetry anthology from the team behind No Voice Too Small, is forthcoming in spri
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Corey R. Tabor
Corey R. Tabor grew up in Wyoming, where he once spent the night in a cave by an underground waterfall. He now lives with his wife in Seattle, where he draws and reads and explores. Please visit him at coreyrtabor.com.
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from https://www.readbrightly.com/meet-ill... -
Loren Long
I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky in the 1970’s. We had no artists of any kind in the family. We didn’t know any artists. I liked sports, especially baseball. My mother read to me a lot. But I have to admit, my favorite subject in school was gym class. I also liked to draw. My parents encouraged me to keep drawing.
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Sid Sharp
Sid is an artist and illustrator from Toronto who makes drawings, paintings, and comics. Their interests include folklore, horror stories, mysterious and unknowable things, and finding good sticks for their stick collection. Sid went to OCAD University, works in a bookstore, and published The Wolf Suit, their first graphic novel for kids, with Annick Press in 2022. Their new book with Annick, Bog Myrtle, comes out in October 2024.
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Alex Latimer
Alex Latimer lives near the border of a national park so when not writing or drawing, he spends his free time shooing baboons out of his lounge. The Boy Who Cried Ninja is his first book for children. He lives in South Africa.
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