Matthew A. Cherry
Matthew A. Cherry is an American film director, writer, producer, and former American football player. He wrote and directed two independent films, The Last Fall, and 9 Rides, and is currently an executive at Monkeypaw Productions.
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Lois Brandt
Years ago, Lois peeked into her best friend's refrigerator and found empty shelves and one small carton of milk; her friend's mother didn't have enough money to buy food. Maddi's Fridge, Lois's first picture book, is the result of that moment. When she is not working on her own projects, Lois teaches writers of all ages to tell the stories that are close to their hearts. Lois lives near Seattle, Washington, with her husband, assorted kids, two dogs, and a fluffy cat who thinks he's a dog. You can visit Lois at http://www.LoisBrandt.com.
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Jorge Argueta
Jorge Argueta is a celebrated award-winning poet and author of many highly acclaimed bilingual children's books and short stories, covering themes related to Latino culture and traditions, nature, and the immigrant experience.
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A native Salvadoran and Pipil Nahua Indian, Jorge spent much of his childhood in rural El Salvador. He immigrated to the United States in the 1980s during the Salvadoran Civil War.
Jorge lives in San Francisco, California. -
Katherine Locke
Katherine Locke lives and writes in a small town outside Philadelphia, where she’s ruled by her feline overlords and her addiction to chai lattes. She writes about that which she cannot do: ballet, magic, and time travel. She secretly believes all stories are fairytales in disguise. Her YA debut, THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON, arrives September 2017 from Albert Whitman & Comapny.
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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 -
Vashti Harrison
Vashti Harrison, author and illustrator of the bestselling Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, is an artist, author, and filmmaker with a passion for storytelling. She earned her MFA in film and video from California Institute of the Arts, where she snuck into animation and illustration classes to learn from Disney and DreamWorks legends. There she rekindled a love for drawing and painting. Now she uses her love for both film and illustration to craft beautiful stories for children.
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Ibtihaj Muhammad
Ibtihaj Muhammad is a fencer and the first Muslim American woman in hijab to compete for the United States in the Olympic Games. She is also the first female Muslim American to medal at the Olympic Games, winning bronze in the women’s saber team event. An activist, speaker, and entrepreneur, Ibtihaj has written a memoir, Proud, and inspired the first hijabi Barbie in her likeness.
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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 -
Sam McBratney
The 1943 born Northern Ireland native started writing children's books when he was a teacher in his thirties, with the aim of helping out students who had trouble reading. But he continued writing for a more-personal reason: "the act of imagining simply makes me feel good," he says. The fifty-seventh book of Sam McBratney's career, and his first book with Candlewick Press, was the much-loved GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU, which has sold an astonishing 15 million copies worldwide, and is available in 37 languages. "This is not the sort of thing you expect when most of your books have been remaindered," the author admits. "But, as the frog trapped in the milk discovered, if you keep going, sometimes you find yourself walking on cream cheese."
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Isabel Quintero
Isabel Quintero is a writer, poet, teacher, wife, friend, sister, daughter, granddaughter, aunt niece, and a bunch of other things. She lives in the Inland Empire, where she was born and raised by Mexican immigrant parents and Mexican immigrant granddparents; the hospital where she was born in was converted to a Lowe's hardware store. That's how long ago she was born.
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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.
Gabi, A Girl in Pieces is her first young a -
Wendy Ewald
Wendy Ewald (born in 1951) is an American photographer and educator.
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Wendy Ewald was born in Detroit, Michigan, graduated from Abbot Academy in 1969 and attended Antioch College between 1969–74, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied photography with Minor White. She embarked on a career teaching photography to children and young people internationally. In 1969 & 1970, she taught photography to Innu and Mi'kmaq Native-American children in Canada. Between 1976–80 she taught photography and film-making to students in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in association with Appalshop, a media co-op. In 1982, she traveled to Ráquira, Colombia, on a Fulbright fellowship working with children and community groups; spending a furt -
Jairo Buitrago
Jairo Buitrago lives in Mexico City and is the author of Jimmy the Greatest, Two White Rabbits, Walk with Me, Cave Paintings, among others—all of which have earned many starred reviews. His most recent books are Wounded Falcons and Drawing Outdoors.
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Robert Burleigh
Over the past 35 years, I have published poems, reviews, essays, many filmstrips and videos, and more than 40 children's picture books.
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Born and raised in Chicago, I graduated from DePauw University (Greencastle, Indiana) and later received an MA in humanities from the University of Chicago. I've published books for children since the early 1990s. My books - including numerous unpublished ones! - run a broad gamut, from stories geared for pre-schoolers to survival stories and biographies aimed at seven to eleven-year-olds. My work is wide-ranging because, basically, I'm a generalist by experience - and inclination!
In addition to writing, I paint regularly under the art name Burleigh Kronquist and have shown work in one-person and group sho -
Christian Robinson
Christian Robinson is an American illustrator of children's books and an animator. He is based in Sacramento, California and has worked with The Sesame Street Workshop and Pixar Animation Studios. He graduated from the California Institute of the Arts.
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Gayle E. Pitman
Gayle E. Pitman, Ph.D. is a professor of psychology at Sacramento City College. Her writing, research, and teaching focuses on issues of gender and sexual orientation. She lives in Northern California.
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Miranda Paul
Miranda Paul has worked as a teacher, volunteer zookeeper, and freelance writer--among other things. She is passionate about creating stories for young readers that inspire, entertain, and broaden horizons. Miranda is also a thrill-seeker, and one of her bravest moments involved reciting poetry from inside a crocodile pit. (Yikes!)
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In addition to being a picture book author, Miranda is a team member of We Need Diverse Books™ and a volunteer for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Learn more at www.mirandapaul.com. -
Diana Murray
Diana Murray is the author of UNICORN NIGHT (an Amazon Best Book of the Year from the bestselling UNICORN DAY series) and GOODNIGHT, VEGGIES (a Jr. Library Guild Selection), as well as many other picture books and early readers. Diana grew up in New York City and still lives nearby with her husband, two creative kids, and a dancing dog. http://www.dianamurray.com
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Lucia M. Gonzalez
Has fond memories of listening to storytellers while growing up in Cuba. Was previously a translator and is now a children's librarian, a storyteller, and a puppeteer. Lives in Miami Florida with her Venezuelan husband and their bilingual daughter, Anna.
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Ruby Bridges
Ruby Nell Bridges Hall is an American civil rights activist. She was the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis on November 14, 1960.
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Robert Coles
Child psychiatrist, author, Harvard professor.
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Robert Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at the Harvard Medical School, a research psychiatrist for the Harvard University Health Services, and the James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard College. -
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Shirley Barber
Shirley Barber grew up in the Channel Islands, where she gained her lifelong love of nature and painting. A third generation artist, she always dreamed of writing and illustrating children's books. But this dream did not come true until she had moved to Australia and her children had grown up.
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Her first picture book Martha B. Rabbit - The Fairies' Cook was published by The Five Mile Press in 1988, and became an instant success. The following year it won first prize in the prestigious Critica Erba awards at the Bologna Children's Fair - an extraordinary achievemnt for a first book.
To date, Shirely Barber books have sold in ecess of 10 million copies. They have been published in over 70 international editions in North America, Europe and Asia. -
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Jessica Herthel
Jessica Herthel is a private consultant for LGBTQ-inclusive school districts and the current president of her local PFLAG chapter. Previously, Jessica was the Education Director of the Stonewall National Museum and Archives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; the primary editor of an LGBTQ handbook for school administrators; and a curriculum advisor for Broward County Public Schools. Jessica is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School.
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Lesléa Newman
Lesléa Newman (born 1955, Brooklyn, NY) is the author of over 50 books including Heather Has Two Mommies, A Letter To Harvey Milk, Writing From The Heart, In Every Laugh a Tear, The Femme Mystique, Still Life with Buddy, Fat Chance and Out of the Closet and Nothing to Wear.
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She has received many literary awards including Poetry Fellowships from the Massachusetts Artists Fellowship Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Highlights for Children Fiction Writing Award, the James Baldwin Award for Cultural Achievement, and two Pushcart Prize Nominations.
Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award finalists.
Ms. Newman wrote Heather Has Two Mommies, the first children's book to portray lesbian families in a positive way, and -
Meg Medina
Meg Medina served as the 2023-2024 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She is the author of the Newbery Medal–winning book Merci Suárez Changes Gears, which was also a 2018 Kirkus Prize finalist, and which was followed by two more acclaimed books about the Suárez family: Merci Suárez Can’t Dance and Merci Suárez Plays It Cool. Her young adult novels include Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, which won the 2014 Pura Belpré Author Award, and which was published in 2023 as a graphic novel illustrated by Mel Valentine Vargas; Burn Baby Burn, which was long-listed for the National Book Award; and The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind. She is also the author of picture books No More Señora Mimí / No más Señora Mimí, Evelyn Del Rey
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Bernard Wiseman
Bernard Wiseman was an American author of children's books. He was best known for his Morris and Boris books. He wrote actively from 1958 to 1995.
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Shane W. Evans
Shane W. Evans is the illustrator of several children's books, including Homemade Love by bell hooks and Osceola: Memories of a Sharecropper's Daughter by Alan Govenar. He lives in Missouri.
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Stacey Abrams
Stacey Abrams is an American politician, lawyer, author, and businesswoman who was the house minority leader for the Georgia General Assembly and state representative for the 89th House District. She is a Democrat.
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Abrams, one of six siblings, was born to Robert and Carolyn Abrams in Madison, Wisconsin and raised in Gulfport, Mississippi. The family moved to Atlanta where her parents pursued graduate school and later became Methodist ministers. She attended Avondale High School and was the school's first African-American valedictorian. While in high school, she was hired as a typist for a congressional campaign and was later hired as a speechwriter at age 17 based on the edits she made while typing.
In 1995, Abrams earned a Bachelor of Arts -
Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Vanessa Brantley Newton attended both SVA and FIT of New York, where she studied fashion and children’s illustration. An artist swathed in retro chic, she loves all things vintage – especially books and clothes from the 40s through the 60’s – and it shines through in her designs, which run the gamut of fun and whimsical to stylish and sophisticated. She loves to add unique touches to her work, including mixed media accents, collage, and hand lettering.
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Vanessa was born during the Civil Rights movement, and attended school in Newark, NJ. Being part of a diverse, tight-knit community during such turbulent times, Vanessa learned the importance of acceptance and empowerment in shaping a young person’s life. When she read Snowy Day by Ezra Jack K -
Katie Yamasaki
Katie Yamasaki is an artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She works primarily as a muralist, children’s book author / illustrator and teaching artist.
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Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson Lee, better known as Spike Lee, is an Emmy Award - winning, and Academy Award - nominated American film director, producer, writer, and actor noted for his films dealing with controversial social and political issues. He also teaches film at New York University and Columbia University. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.
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Margarita Engle
Margarita Engle is a Cuban-American poet, novelist, and journalist whose work has been published in many countries. She lives with her husband in northern California.
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Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie is a Native American author, poet, and filmmaker known for his powerful portrayals of contemporary Indigenous life, often infused with wit, humor, and emotional depth. Drawing heavily on his experiences growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, Alexie's work addresses complex themes such as identity, poverty, addiction, and the legacy of colonialism, all filtered through a distinctly Native perspective.
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His breakout book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, is a semi-autobiographical young adult novel that won the 2007 National Book Award and remains widely acclaimed for its candid and humorous depiction of adolescence and cultural dislocation. Earlier, Alexie gained critical attention with The Lone Ranger and -
Yangsook Choi
Yangsook Choi is the author of the beloved classic THE NAME JAR. Growing up in Korea, she began drawing at age four and delighted in telling her grandmother scary stories at night. After moving to New York to pursue her art, she has written and illustrated many books for young readers.
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Her books have been acclaimed as a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, an American Library Association Notable Book, and with an International Literacy Association's Children's Book Award. She has also received 200+ rejection letters until she lost count.
Her past jobs include waiting tables at a smoky Korean BBQ restaurant, flying as a flight attendant, and drawing tiny pictures on fake nails. -
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 -
Margarita Engle
Margarita Engle is a Cuban-American poet, novelist, and journalist whose work has been published in many countries. She lives with her husband in northern California.
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William Bee
William Bee was born in London but now lives in the English countryside. In addition to writing children’s books, he races a vintage sports car, is an international skier, and when at home tends his lawns and meadows.
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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 -
Derrick Barnes
Where I come from, no one dreams of becoming an author.
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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 -
Yuyi Morales
Yuyi Morales is the illustrator of Kathleen Krull’s Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, whose accolades include a Pura Belpré Award and a Christopher Medal, as well as the Pura Belpré Award-winning Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes. Born and raised in Mexico, she now lives in northern California.
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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 -
Mac Barnett
Born to non-farmers in a California farming community, Mac Barnett now lives near San Francisco. He's on the board of directors of 826LA, a nonprofit writing center for students in Los Angeles, and he founded the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a convenience store for time travelers.
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Christian Robinson
Christian Robinson is an American illustrator of children's books and an animator. He is based in Sacramento, California and has worked with The Sesame Street Workshop and Pixar Animation Studios. He graduated from the California Institute of the Arts.
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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. -
Elana K. Arnold
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ELANA K. ARNOLD writes books for and about children and teens. She holds a master’s degree in Creative Writing/Fiction from the University of California, Davis where she has taught Creative Writing and Adolescent Literature. Her most recent YA novel, DAMSEL, is a Printz Honor book, Her 2017 novel, WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and her middle grade novel, A BOY CALLED BAT, is a Junior Library Guild Selection. A parent and educator living in Huntington Beach, California, Elana is a frequent speaker at schools, libraries, and writers’ conferences. Currently, Elana is the caretaker of seven pets, only three of which have fur. Sign up for her newsletter here: https://elanakarnold.us10.list-manage... -
Kevin Noble Maillard
Kevin Maillard is Professor of Law at Syracuse University, a contributor to the New York Times and a co-founder of Black Stream Partners LLC. He has written for The Atlantic and has provided on-air commentary to ABC News and MSNBC. He is the debut author of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, a picture book illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, which won the Sibert Medal and the American Indian Youth Literature Honor. An enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, he is based in Manhattan, NY.
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Aaron Becker
Aaron Becker has worked as an artist for such film studios as Lucasfilm, Disney, and Pixar, where he helped define the look and feel of characters, stories, and the movies they become a part of. With Journey, he has created characters and worlds of his very own, using traditional materials and techniques. Aaron Becker lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife, daughter, and cat. This is his first book.
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"I’ve made several memorable journeys in my lifetime. I’ve lived in rural Japan and East Africa and backpacked through the South Pacific and Sweden. But to this day, my favorite destination remains my imagination, where you can often find me drawing secret doorways and magic lanterns." — Aaron Becker -
Lupita Nyong'o
Lupita Nyong’o is a Kenyan actress and producer. Her first feature film role was in the film 12 Years a Slave, for which she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as multiple accolades, including the Screen Actors Guild Award, the Critics’ Choice Award, the Independent Spirit Award, and the NAACP Award. She has since starred in Mira Nair’s Queen of Katwe, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ryan Coogler’s record-breaking box office hit Black Panther, and in Jordan’s Peele’s critically acclaimed horror film Us. Nyong’o earned a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in Danai Gurira’s play Eclipsed. She lives in Brooklyn.
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Isabel Quintero
Isabel Quintero is a writer, poet, teacher, wife, friend, sister, daughter, granddaughter, aunt niece, and a bunch of other things. She lives in the Inland Empire, where she was born and raised by Mexican immigrant parents and Mexican immigrant granddparents; the hospital where she was born in was converted to a Lowe's hardware store. That's how long ago she was born.
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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.
Gabi, A Girl in Pieces is her first young a -
Ibtihaj Muhammad
Ibtihaj Muhammad is a fencer and the first Muslim American woman in hijab to compete for the United States in the Olympic Games. She is also the first female Muslim American to medal at the Olympic Games, winning bronze in the women’s saber team event. An activist, speaker, and entrepreneur, Ibtihaj has written a memoir, Proud, and inspired the first hijabi Barbie in her likeness.
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Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman was the first Youth Poet Laureate of the United States. She is also an activist. Gorman's work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. In January 2021, she became the youngest poet to read at a presidential inauguration, reading her poem "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of Joe Biden.
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Ashley Franklin
Ashley Franklin is the author of NOT QUITE SNOW WHITE (2019), “Creative Fixes” from the anthology ONCE UPON AN EID (2020), “Situationally Broke” from the anthology WHAT WE DIDN’T EXPECT (2020), BETTER TOGETHER, CINDERELLA (2021) and more. Ashley received her master’s degree in English literature from the University of Delaware. She is an adjunct college instructor, freelance writer, and proud mom. Ashley currently resides in Arkansas with her family.
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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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Dane Liu
Dane Liu believes in the power of stories to affirm, transport, and transform. Her debut for young readers FRIENDS ARE FRIENDS, FOREVER is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, a Kids Indie Next Pick, and a Best of the Year from The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. It has been selected for national and international reading programs, including the Forest of Reading in Canada, the Panda Book Award in Asia, and the Gold House Book Club. Dane was born in China and grew up in the US and Canada. She received her BA from the University of Toronto and her M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. As a writer, she hopes to empower young people to see the importance of their own stories and the beauty of sharing them.
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Amanda Doering Tourville
Amanda Doering Tourville is the author of books for children. Amanda lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. She loves animals and would have an entire zoo if she could.
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Also writes as Amanda F. Doering -
Anne Renaud
Anne Renaud is a life-long Quebecker. She received her Bachelor of Translation from Concordia University in Montreal. Anne is the author of several picture books, as well as historical non-fiction books for children, including, A Bloom of Friendship: The Story of the Canadian Tulip Festival, Island of Hope and Sorrow: The Story of Grosse Île, Pier 21: Stories from Near and Far, and Into the Mist: The Story of the Empress of Ireland. Her work has been nominated for several awards, including the Silver Birch Award, the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award, the Red Cedar Book Award, the Red Maple Award and the Quebec Writers’ Federation Prize for Children's & Young Adult Literature. Anne is also a regular contributor to children’s magazines, suc
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Caron Levis
Caron Levis is the author of the picture books, May I Have A Word? (FSG) Stuck with the Blooz (HMH) and Ida, Always (Atheneum) which the New York Times Book Review calls, "an example of children's books at their best." Forthcoming titles include Stop That Yawn! (Atheneum, 2018) and Mama's Shoes (Abrams 2019) Caron is an adjunct professor and the coordinator for The New School's Writing for Children/YA MFA program, where she earned her degree. She has an LMSW from Hunter College; after many years as an arts educator, Caron now loves using acting and writing to teach social, emotional, and literacy skills to students of all ages through her author workshops. Having trained in acting and dabbled in playwriting, Caron enjoys turning theatre tec
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Chris Haughton
Chris Haughton is an Irish illustrator and author living in London. He was listed in Time magazine's 'DESIGN 100' for the work he has been doing for fair trade clothing company People Tree. His debut book 'A Bit Lost' was first published in English in September 2010. It has been translated into 15 languages and won 9 awards in 7 countries including the Dutch Picturebook of the Year.
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'Oh No George' came out in March 2012 and has been nominated for 6 awards in 4 countries including the Roald Dahl Funny award. -
Nabela Noor
Nabela Noor is a first-generation Bangladeshi American creator, activist, and entrepreneur. As a self-love advocate, Nabela utilizes her platforms to empower and inspire millions of people around the world to love the skin they’re in. Her work centers around her passion for representation and diversity with a commitment to uplifting stories and characters who are often unseen and underrepresented. Globally recognized for her “Pockets of Peace” content, you can learn more about the power of self-love through self-care on Nabela’s TikTok and Instagram @Nabela.
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Georgia Heard
Georgia Heard is the NCTE 2023 Excellence in Poetry for Children Award Winner which honors an American poet for their aggregate work for children. She is the author of many children’s books including her most recent Welcome to the Wonder House, (co-authored with Rebecca Kai Dotlich), My Thoughts Are Clouds: Poems for Mindfulness, and Boom! Bellow! Bleat!: Animal Poems for Two Or More Voices.
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She received her M.F.A. in poetry writing from Columbia University. She is a founding member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in New York City. Currently, she visits schools in the United States and around the world teaching writing and poetry. She is the author of Heart Maps: Helping Students Create and Craft Authentic Writing and a -
Jane Lynch
Jane Marie Lynch is an American comedienne, actress and singer. Since 2009, she has played the role of Sue Sylvester in the Fox musical-comedy series Glee for which she has won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. She has also played roles in comedies such as Best in Show, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Role Models, as well as for her recurring roles as lawyer Joyce Wischina in The L Word, Dr. Linda Freeman, Charlie's sarcastic therapist on Two and a Half Men and as Spencer Reid's mother, Dr. Diana Reid on Criminal Minds. She has appeared on iCarly as Sam's mother. She was also a regular on the comedy-drama series Party Down as Constance Carmell; the role garnered her positive critical response.
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Lynch, who is openly gay, married clinical psyc -
Rob Kearney
Rob Kearney is a retired American professional strongman competitor. He won the Giants Live North American Open in 2017 and the Arnold International World Series Australia in 2019. He is also a four time qualifier for the World's Strongest Man competition, and a three time participant in the Arnold Strongman Classic. He is also a one-time American log lift record holder, lifting 475 lbs (215.8 kg) in 2020.
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Kearney retired after the 2024 World's Strongest Man in May 2024. -
Dane Liu
Dane Liu believes in the power of stories to affirm, transport, and transform. Her debut for young readers FRIENDS ARE FRIENDS, FOREVER is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, a Kids Indie Next Pick, and a Best of the Year from The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. It has been selected for national and international reading programs, including the Forest of Reading in Canada, the Panda Book Award in Asia, and the Gold House Book Club. Dane was born in China and grew up in the US and Canada. She received her BA from the University of Toronto and her M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. As a writer, she hopes to empower young people to see the importance of their own stories and the beauty of sharing them.
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Matthew Paul Turner
Matthew Paul Turner has made his mark as a force in the Christian children's book publishing market. With his unmatched gift for rhyme blended with deliberate messages of hope and empowerment, Turner's books When God Made You and When God Made Light have become bedtime favorites for families across America. His latest anticipated release is When I Pray for You, which will debut in February 2019.
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Turner's storied writing career started nearly 20 years ago, and he has published a book every year. Called “one of Christianity’s fresh voices” by Publisher’s Weekly, Turner's other notable works include Our Great Big American God, Churched, Coffeehouse Gospel and The Christian Culture Survival Guide.
When God Made You was an Evangelical Christian -
Leah Henderson
Leah has always loved getting lost in stories. When she is not scribbling down her characters’ adventures, she is off on her own, exploring new spaces and places around the world.
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Leah holds an MFA in Creative Writing. She teaches in Spalding University's graduate writing program and is visiting faculty in Hollins University's MFA program. -
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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Grace Byers
Grace Byers is an actor and activist who stars in Fox’s hit series Empire. As a multiracial young girl and a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Grace was bullied throughout her childhood. This book was born out of her desire to empower young girls against the effects of bullying. In her spare time, she volunteers with the nonprofit antibullying organization Saving Our Daughters. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor Trai Byers. I Am Enough is her first book.
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Rania al-Abdullah
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah (Arabic: الملكة رانيا العبد الله Rānyā al-‘abdu l-Lāh; born Rania al Yassin) is the current Queen consort of Jordan as the wife of King Abdullah II of Jordan.
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As a global figure, and considered by some to be one of the world’s most powerful women, Queen Rania has focused her energy, at home and abroad, on a variety of causes, notably education.
In Jordan, her work focuses on the caliber and quality of education for Jordanian children, while abroad she advocates for global education and for world leaders to fulfill their commitments towards the second Millennium Development Goals, Universal Primary Education. -
Yuyi Morales
Yuyi Morales is the illustrator of Kathleen Krull’s Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, whose accolades include a Pura Belpré Award and a Christopher Medal, as well as the Pura Belpré Award-winning Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes. Born and raised in Mexico, she now lives in northern California.
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Kevin Noble Maillard
Kevin Maillard is Professor of Law at Syracuse University, a contributor to the New York Times and a co-founder of Black Stream Partners LLC. He has written for The Atlantic and has provided on-air commentary to ABC News and MSNBC. He is the debut author of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, a picture book illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, which won the Sibert Medal and the American Indian Youth Literature Honor. An enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, he is based in Manhattan, NY.
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Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman was the first Youth Poet Laureate of the United States. She is also an activist. Gorman's work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. In January 2021, she became the youngest poet to read at a presidential inauguration, reading her poem "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of Joe Biden.
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Cheri J. Meiners
Cheri has her master's degree in elementary education and gifted education. A former first-grade teacher, she has taught education classes at Utah State University and has supervised student teachers. She is the author of the award-winning children's series, 'Learning to Get Along', and the new series, 'Being the Best Me.' Cheri and her husband, David, have six children and three grandchildren.
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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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Tammi Sauer
Tammi Sauer is the author of Cowboy Camp (Sterling, 2005), Chicken Dance (Sterling, 2009), Mostly Monsterly (Paula Wiseman/S&S, 2010), the forthcoming Princess-in-Training (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and something that's currently Top Secret.
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Tammi and her family live in Oklahoma with one dog, two geckos, and a tank full of random fish. -
Chris Raschka
Chris Raschka is the illustrator of The Hello, Goodbye Window, which was awarded the Caldecott Medal. He is also the illustrator of the Caldecott Honor Book Yo! Yes?; Charlie Parker Played Be Bop; Mysterious Thelonious; John Coltrane’s Giant Steps; Can’t Sleep; and The Magic Flute. He lives with his wife and son in New York City.
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Sharee Miller
Sharee Miller has a BFA in communication design from Pratt Institute. She lives in Brooklyn, where she enjoys spending time with her two cats and illustrating fun stories.
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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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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. -
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 -
Lily Williams
Lily Williams is the author and illustrator of the If Animals Disappeared nonfiction picture book series and graphic novels Go With The Flow and Look On The Bright Side (co-written with Karen Schneemann). Lily seeks to inspire change, engage audiences, and educate people of all ages with her artwork. Her work can be seen in films and books and on the web at lilywilliamsart.com.
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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. -
Amy MacDonald
Amy MacDonald is an American author of children's books. Her works include Little Beaver and the Echo, which has been translated into many languages around the world, and Rachel Fister's Blister. Her first book, a satire of Jill Krementz's children's books, was A Very Young Housewife.
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Meghan Markle
Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, is a mother, wife, feminist, and activist. Through the nonprofit work of Archewell Foundation, she and her husband are committed to activating compassion in communities across the world. She currently resides in her home state of California with her family, two dogs and a growing flock of rescue chickens.
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Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Laura Vaccaro Seeger is a New York Times best-selling author and illustrator and the recipient of a 2008 Caldecott Honor, Theodor Seuss Geisel Honors for both 2009 and 2008, a 2007 New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award, and the 2007 Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Best Picture Book. Her books include First the Egg, The Hidden Alphabet, and Dog and Bear, among others.
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Raised on Long Island, New York, Seeger began drawing at two years old and never stopped. For as long as she remembers, she wanted to write picture books. She received her B.F.A. degree at the School of Fine Art and Design at SUNY Purchase in Westchester, New York, and then moved to Manhattan, where she worked as an animator, artist, and editor in the network television b -
Nancy Redd
Nancy Redd is an award-winning on-air host, a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, a two-time Mom's Choice Award winner, an NAACP Image Award nominee for outstanding literary work, and a GLAAD Media Award nominee for outstanding digital journalism. She is also the author of BEDTIME BONNET. Called "the perfect combination of style and substance" by Essence magazine, Nancy holds an honors degree in women's studies from Harvard University. THE REAL SANTA was inspired by Nancy's family's own beloved Christmas traditions. Find Nancy online at www.nancyredd.com.
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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.
*I also -
Jeffrey Brown
Jeffrey Brown was born in 1975 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and grew up reading comic books with dreams of someday drawing them, only to abandon them and focus on becoming a 'fine artist.' While earning his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brown abandoned painting and began drawing comics with his first autobiographical book 'Clumsy' in 2001. Since then he's drawn a dozen books for publishers including TopShelf, Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, McSweeney's and Chronicle Books. Simon & Schuster published his latest graphic memoir 'Funny Misshapen Body.' In addition to directing an animated video for the band Death Cab For Cutie, Brown has had his work featured on NPR's 'This American Life' His art has been shown at gallerie
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Daniel Beaty
Daniel Koa Beaty is a visionary actor, singer, writer, and social entrepreneur who lives at the intersection of art, spirit, and social change. Raised in Dayton, Ohio, Daniel grew up the child of a heroin addicted, incarcerated father, and younger sibling to a brother addicted to crack cocaine. Daniel learned early on that the arts can help heal childhood trauma, transform pain into power, and inspire a new generation of change makers to dismantle the systemic racism and oppression at the core of the challenges Daniel, his father, brother, and so many Americans face.
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Daniel Koa Beaty has spent his life telling stories that share both the truth of who we are as people and his hope for a better world. He believes these stories have the power t -
Verna Aardema
A prolific American children's author and teacher, Verna Norberg Aardema Vugteveen - more commonly known as Verna Aardema - was born in 1911 in New Era, Michigan. She was educated at Michigan State University, and taught grade school from 1934-1973. She also worked as a journalist for the Muskegon Chronicle from 1951-1972. In 1960 she published her first book, the collection of stories, Tales from the Story Hat. She went on to write over thirty more books, most of them folkloric retellings. Her picture-book, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, won co-illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon a Caldecott Medal. Aardema was married twice, and died in 2000 in Fort Myers, Florida. (source: Wikipedia)
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Yangsook Choi
Yangsook Choi is the author of the beloved classic THE NAME JAR. Growing up in Korea, she began drawing at age four and delighted in telling her grandmother scary stories at night. After moving to New York to pursue her art, she has written and illustrated many books for young readers.
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Her books have been acclaimed as a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, an American Library Association Notable Book, and with an International Literacy Association's Children's Book Award. She has also received 200+ rejection letters until she lost count.
Her past jobs include waiting tables at a smoky Korean BBQ restaurant, flying as a flight attendant, and drawing tiny pictures on fake nails. -
Joni and Friends
Joni and Friends is an organization that accelerates Christian outreach in the disability community. Founded in 1979, their mission is to communicate the gospel and equip Christ-honoring churches worldwide to evangelize and disciple people affected by disability. The organization authors numerous books including titles such as the Beyond Suffering Bible, Real Families, Real Needs, and a series of church resources entitled The Irresistible Church.
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Mitali Perkins
Mitali Perkins has written many books for young readers as well as a couple for adults, including You Bring the Distant Near (nominated for the National Book Award) Rickshaw Girl (a NYPL best 100 Book for children in the past 100 years, film adaptation at rickshawgirlmovie.com), Bamboo People (an ALA Top 10 YA novel), and Forward Me Back to You, which won the South Asia Book Award for Younger Readers. Her newest novel, Hope in the Valley, received five starred reviews and was selected as a Best Book for Young Readers by Kirkus and Book Page. She currently writes and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area: mitaliperkins.com.
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Janice N. Harrington
Harrington’s writing reflects her beginnings in rural Alabama and her life in the Midwest. A former librarian and professional storyteller, Harrington now teaches creative writing in the Department of English at the University of Illinois.
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-from janiceharrington.com -
Joanna McClintick
Joanna McClintick is a debut children's book author and a licensed social worker at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center in Manhattan. When she was dreaming about building her family, she wrote this poem to honor Pride's history of resistance and imagined sharing it with her future child one day. It has become a tradition to read it at their annual brunch the day before the Pride March with family and friends. Joanna McClintick lives with her wife and child in Brooklyn.
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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 -
Hena Khan
Hena Khan writes books in a multitude of formats, including picture books, middle grade fiction, pick-your-path adventures, and graphic novels. Her stories are often centered around community, friendship, and family, and draw from her own experiences and culture. Hena’s novels include AMINA'S VOICE, MORE TO THE STORY, and DRAWING DEENA. She is the author of the Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream, Zara’s Rules, and Super You! series. Hena’s picture books include GOLDEN DOMES AND SILVER LANTERNS, UNDER MY HIJAB, and IT'S RAMADAN, CURIOUS GEORGE, among others.
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Nancy Coffelt
Nancy Coffelt is an author and artist from Portland, Oregon - best known for her work on childrens' and young adult books, including Fred Stays With Me and Listen.
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She often features dogs in her work, and a lot of her stories revolve around dogs. Her art has been featured in galleries, and she illustrates several of her own books. -
Holly Hatam
Holly Hatam is a picture book maker, greeting card designer, and a textile engineer. She is also the #1 New York Times Bestselling illustrator of Dear Girl. Her other books include, Made by Maxine, Tree Song, Jack (Not Jackie) and The Acadia Files. Holly lives in Whitby, Ontario where she can be found hugging trees with her husband Stephen and son Linden, stuffing her pantry full of tea and sticking her nose in a book.
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