Sonia Manzano

Sonia Manzano (born June 12, 1950) is an American actress and writer. She is best known for playing Maria on Sesame Street from 1971 until her retirement in 2015.

Manzano was born in New York City and was raised in South Bronx. Her parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico. Manzano attended the High School of Performing Arts, where she began her acting career. She attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh on a scholarship.

In her junior year, she came to New York to star in the original production of the off-Broadway show GodspellManzano joined the production of Sesame Street in 1971, where she eventually began writing scripts for the series. On June 29, 2015, it was announced that Manzano would be retiring from the show after 44 yea

If you like author Sonia Manzano here is the list of authors you may also like

Buy books on Amazon

Total similar authors (21)

Ellen Raskin

Ellen Raskin was a writer, illustrator, and designer. She was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up during the Great Depression. She primarily wrote for children. She received the 1979 Newbery Medal for her 1978 book, The Westing Game.

Ms. Raskin was also an accomplished graphic artist. She designed dozens of dust jackets for books, including the first edition of Madeleine L'Engle's classic A Wrinkle in Time.

She married Dennis Flanagan, editor of Scientific American, in 1965.

Raskin died at the age of 56 on August 8, 1984, in New York City due to complications from connective tissue disease.
Buy books on Amazon
Michael Morpurgo

Sir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested
Buy books on Amazon
Chris Van Allsburg

Chris was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 18, 1949, the second child of Doris Christiansen Van Allsburg and Richard Van Allsburg. His sister Karen was born in 1947.

Chris’s paternal grandfather, Peter, owned and operated a creamery, a place where milk was turned into butter, cream, cottage cheese, and ice cream. It was named East End Creamery and after they bottled the milk (and made the other products) they delivered it to homes all around Grand Rapids in yellow and blue trucks.

When Chris was born, his family lived in an old farm house next door to the large brick creamery building. It was a very old house that, like the little house in Virginia Lee Burton’s story, had once looked over farmland. But by 1949, the house was surrounde
Buy books on Amazon
Ellen Raskin

Ellen Raskin was a writer, illustrator, and designer. She was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up during the Great Depression. She primarily wrote for children. She received the 1979 Newbery Medal for her 1978 book, The Westing Game.

Ms. Raskin was also an accomplished graphic artist. She designed dozens of dust jackets for books, including the first edition of Madeleine L'Engle's classic A Wrinkle in Time.

She married Dennis Flanagan, editor of Scientific American, in 1965.

Raskin died at the age of 56 on August 8, 1984, in New York City due to complications from connective tissue disease.
Buy books on Amazon
Piri Thomas

Piri Thomas (born Juan Pedro Tomas September 10, 1928 in Spanish Harlem in New York City) was a Puerto Rican-Cuban who was influential in the Nuyorican Movement as a writer and poet.

Buy books on Amazon
Julia Rawlinson

I grew up in London, close to Richmond Park - a beautiful deer park big enough to get lost in, where I got to know lots of the animals who have since popped up in my stories.

I have always loved writing poetry - I enjoy the sound and rhythm of words and the first things I published were poems. When I had my children I started writing stories for picture books, and my first book, Fred and the Little Egg, was published in 2005. Since then I have written lots of stories about rabbits, bears, mules, dragons, hedgehogs, squirrels, mice, a kind-hearted but easily confused fox... and a girl called Molly.

I have been lucky enough to work with some wonderful illustrators, and my books have been published in many languages.
Buy books on Amazon
Julia Donaldson

Growing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).

Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.

I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.

Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.

The busking led to a career in singing a
Buy books on Amazon
James Ponti

James Ponti is the New York Times Bestselling author of three Middle Grade book series: the DEAD CITY trilogy about a secret society that polices the undead who live beneath New York City; the Edgar Award-winning FRAMED! series about a pair of Sherlockian tweens who solve mysteries in Washington, D.C.; and the all-new CITY SPIES about an unlikely squad of five kids from around the world who form an elite MI6 spy team.

James grew up in Atlantic Beach, Florida and lives in Orlando. He's a die hard fan of the Boston Red Sox, the USC Trojans, and the Italian National Soccer Team. He loves travel, writing, and spending time with his amazing family.

Buy books on Amazon
Ashley Spires

Ashley has written and illustrated many books, most notably the bestselling The Most Magnificent Thing, which is now a short animated film. She creates books that remind kids that making mistakes is integral to learning. She lives in British Columbia with her dog and a growing army of felines.
Buy books on Amazon
Diana R. Chambers

Diana R. Chambers was born with a book in one hand and a passport in the other. After studying Asian Art History at university, she worked at a Paris translation agency, then it was off to India to open an exporting business. She is an experienced scriptwriter, and her research has led her around the world. Her novel, The Secret War of Julia Child, inspired by Julia's OSS service in WWII Asia, is due out from Sourcebooks Landmark October 22, 2024.

Diana lives in Northern California and Aix-en-Provence, France with her fellow-traveler husband and artist daughter. Marco Polo, their feral cat, comes and goes. She is still searching for the perfect suitcase. Join her at DianaRChambers.com. Instagram @dianarc1.
facebook.com/DianaChambersAuthor. tw
Buy books on Amazon
Pam Muñoz Ryan

Pam Muñoz Ryan is the author of the New York Times Best Seller, ECHO, a 2016 Newbery Honor Book, and winner of the Kirkus Prize. She has written over forty books for young people—picture books, early readers, and middle grade and young adult novels. She the author recipient of the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Award, the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, the Willa Cather Award, the Pura Belpré medal, the PEN USA award, and many others. Her novels include Esperanza Rising, Riding Freedom, Becoming Naomi León, Paint the Wind, The Dreamer, and Echo. She was born and raised in Bakersfield, California, holds a bachelor's and master's degree from San Diego State University and lives in north San Diego county with her family.
Buy books on Amazon
Patricia Toht

Patricia Toht once owned a children’s bookshop called Never Never Land before turning a love of books into a love of writing. Pick a Pine Tree is her debut picture book. Patricia Toht lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Buy books on Amazon
Cori Doerrfeld

Cori Doerrfeld lives in Minneapolis, MN with her husband and two children. She received her undergrad degree in Studio Art from St. Olaf College and her Post Baccalaureate from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She has several published titles including many self authored/self illustrated books.
Buy books on Amazon
Pat Zietlow Miller

Pat Zietlow Miller knew she wanted to be a writer ever since her seventh-grade English teacher read her paper about square-dancing skirts out loud in class and said: “This is the first time anything a student has written has given me chills.” (Thanks, Mrs. Mueller! You rock!)

Pat started out as a newspaper reporter and wrote about everything from dartball and deer-hunting to diets and decoupage. Then, she joined an insurance company and edited its newsletter and magazine.

Now, she writes insurance information by day and children’s books by night. She has 11 picture books available and 12 more that will be coming out in the next few years.

Her books in print are: SOPHIE’S SQUASH, WHEREVER YOU GO, SHARING THE BREAD, THE QUICKEST KID IN CLARKSVI
Buy books on Amazon
Jennifer Pepito

Jennifer Pepito is the author of Mothering by the Book and the founder of The Peaceful Press (http://thepeacefulpress.shop). Jennifer is on a mission to help moms overcome fear and love their life, and her homeschool curriculum empowers this through heroic stories, heartwarming poetry, and engaging life skills development. Her resources help create joyful memories among families, which leads to deeper connections and lasting relationships. Jennifer’s writing has been featured in several online and print journals, including Wild and Free, Commonplace Quarterly, and Home Educating Family. She’s a Wild and Free podcast host and has made guest appearances on popular podcasts such as 1000 Hours Outside, At Home with Sally, and Charlotte Mason Po
Buy books on Amazon
Samuel Teer

Samuel Teer was born to a deaf maintenance worker and an immigrant that spoke English as a distant second language. Obviously he became a writer. He was raised outside of St. Louis, MO. He currently lives outside of Denver, CO with his wife Andrea (an educator) and their two dogs Roxie and Olive.
Buy books on Amazon
Beth Ferry

Beth Ferry is the author of the picture books Stick and Stone and Land Shark. Her family has cared for myriad pets, including two land sharks, a hedgehog, a blue-tongued skink, and a heap of hamsters, but her absolutely perfect pet is an English bulldog named Winston. She lives in New Jersey.
Buy books on Amazon
Aimée M. Bissonette

Aimée Bissonette was born the sixth of seven children. She grew up with her suitcase never fully unpacked - her family moved many times and she attended 8 different schools before graduating from high school. Aimée earned her Bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and her Law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. She has worked as an occupational therapist, teacher, lawyer, and small business owner. In addition to her books for children, Aimée has published a book for K-12 teachers and administrators on the legal issues associated with technology in the schools. She lives with her husband, family, and dogs in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Buy books on Amazon
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.
Buy books on Amazon
Roselle Lim

Roselle Lim was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as a child. She lived in north Scarborough in a diverse, Asian neighbourhood.

She found her love of writing by listening to her lola (paternal grandmother's) stories about Filipino folktales. Growing up in a household where Chinese superstition mingled with Filipino Catholicism, she devoured books about mythology, which shaped the fantasies in her novels.

An artist by nature, she considers writing as "painting with words."
Buy books on Amazon
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.

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
Buy books on Amazon