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.
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.
If you like author Yangsook Choi here is the list of authors you may also like
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Irene Vasco
Escritora colombiana nacida en Bogotá en 1952. Su labor profesional la ha mantenido vinculada desde todos los ámbitos al mundo de los libros: la creación, como autora; la promoción de la lectura, como coordinadora de programas de creatividad; y la comercialización, como gerente de una librería especializada en literatura infantil. Trabajó como asistente editorial de Gian Calvi en su taller de Artes Gráficas Casa de la Creación, fue directora de programación infantil y talleres de creatividad en la Fundación Rafael Pombo de Bogotá, y fue socia fundadora de Librería Espantapájaros y de Espantapájaros Taller.
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Ha publicado varios libros infantiles, entre los cuales se destacan Beatriz la lombriz y el ciempiés Andrés, premio Raimundo Susaeta (198 -
Derek Munson
Derek Munson works as a writer, speaker, and all-around daydreamer. His current hobbies include playing with his kids, avoiding his household responsibilities, and crashing on his mountain bike. He lives in Bellingham, Washington with his wife Suzanne, their daughter Abby, their son Zack, and Roger the family dog.
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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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Junot Díaz
Junot Díaz was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Drown; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and This Is How You Lose Her, a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist. He is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, PEN/Malamud Award, Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, and PEN/O. Henry Award. A graduate of Rutgers College, Díaz is currently the fiction editor at Boston Review and the Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor of Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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He is the cofounder of Voices of Our Nation Workshop. -
Ellen Levine
Ellen Levine's books have won many awards and honors, including the Jane Addams Peace Award. Although she enjoys writing both fiction and nonfiction, most of Ellen's books for young readers have been nonfiction. "Writing nonfiction lets me in behind the scenes of the story. I enjoy learning new things and meeting new people, even if they lived 200 years ago."
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Ellen Levine was born in New York City. She received her B.A. degree in Politics from Brandeis University, graduating Magna cum laude. She has a Master's degree in political science from the University of Chicago and a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law. She has worked in film and television, taught adults and immigrant teenagers in special education and ESL pro -
Shannon Olsen
Shannon Olsen is the #1 best-selling author of 5 picture books, all geared toward building community and positive relationships at school: Our Class is a Family, both books in the A Letter From Your Teacher series, Our School is a Family, and Collaboration Station.
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Her newest book, We're So Happy You're Here: A Warm Welcome for our New Student, will be released in fall 2025.
Her first book made the #1 spot for children’s books on Publisher’s Weekly, and several of her titles have reached the overall Top 20 on the Amazon Charts.
Shannon earned her B.A. in English and M.A. in Teaching from the University of California Irvine, and is a wife and a mom of two girls.
Through her fifteen years of experience as a second grade teacher, she found a s -
Margaret Wild
Margaret Wild is one of Australia's most highly respected picture-book creators whose award-winning children's books are loved by children all over the world. Margaret has published over seventy picture books for young children and she has been the recipient of the Nan Chauncy Award and the Lady Cutler Award for her contributions to Australian children's literature.
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Tad Hills
“Whenever I picture myself [as a child],” says Tad Hills, “I am doing art. I spent a lot of time on my own making things, drawing, and painting.” Hills was not consciously trying to become an artist, rather his motives were innocent and pure. “I liked making things,” he says.
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As a graduate of Skidmore College in New York with a degree in art, Hills describes himself as the ultimate freelancer. He’s done some acting, made jewelry, makes fake teeth for stage productions, dabbled in interior renovation, and illustrated book jackets for adult trade books. But Hills’ break into children’s publishing coincided with his wife Lee’s new position as the art director for Simon and Schuster’s children’s book division. “Lee used to ask me to try illustra -
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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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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Maria Dismondy
Maria Dismondy is an award-winning children's book author. To find out more about her books and her school/event programs, visit www.mariadismondy.com
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From the author...
Born and Raised: In a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, I grew up with red shag carpet, The Smurfs and Cabbage Patch Dolls. In my past time, I played flashlight tag with the neighborhood kids and listened to NKOTB aka The New Kids on The Block.
Family: I am lucky to have a large family. I have an older sister, Angela, who also ate spaghetti in a hot dog bun (among other crazy concoctions my mom created for us) growing up. I am married to the coolest guy ever and together, we are raising our baby girl Ruby.
Education: There’s a ton of rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State (are -
Michael Slack
Michael is an author, illustrator, and character designer. He uses bold colors, and fun shapes to create his quirky character-driven art. His illustrations can be found in books, magazines and on television. He has designed artwork for various children's products and apparel. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited in the U.S. and Europe.
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Michael is represented by Painted-Words Represents -
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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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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Linda Elovitz Marshall
I have always loved words. My parents said I spoke in full sentences before I was a year old. They also said I didn't walk until I was two.
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I was still a baby when I saw a TV commercial about a vacuum cleaner and its expandable bag. That night, my parents begged me to eat "just one more bite." I refused. Using a phrase I'd learned from the vacuum cleaner commercial, I explained, "My stomach is fully expanded." My parents laughed...and I was saved from having to eat that dreadful "one more bite."
My love of words extended to foreign languages. I was one of those kids who loved school. I loved Hebrew school, too. Learning Hebrew taught me that words can be composed of roots and that those roots can change, often in predictable ways. I noticed s -
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 -
Lou Treleaven
Children's author published by Maverick, Imagine That, Buster Books and Scholastic. Represented by Caroline Wakeman Literary Agency.
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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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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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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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Richard Jackson
Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the database with this name. Not all books on this profile belong to the same person.
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Ntozake Shange
Ntozake Shange (pronounced En-toe-ZAHK-kay SHONG-gay) was an African-American playwright, performance artist, and writer who is best known for her Obie Award winning play for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf.
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Among her honors and awards are fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, and a Pushcart Prize. -
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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Marilyn Singer
Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.
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In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her -
Robin Hall
Robin Hall holds an MFA in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her debut picture book, THE LITTLEST WEAVER, will release Fall 2023 from Familius, an imprint of Hachette Publishing.
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She teaches creative writing to children, yoga to all ages, and lives in North Carolina on a tiny farm with one husband, five children, four dogs, three looms, and too many chickens to count. Visit Robin at www.robinhallwrites.com and instagram/Twitter @robinhallwrites -
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. -
Pleasant DeSpain
Pleasant DeSpain is a world traveler, storyteller and author of 18 published books,and more than 350 stories. He's currently living in Northern Thailand as well as the USA, while working on a collection of stories from his 70 plus years of life and adventures. The goal of the new work is to share his practical as well as spiritual journey. Pleasant does not have answers or truths for others, but he has many good stories to tell!
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His many collections of folk and fairy tales, legends and original tales, most of which are published by August House Publishers, Atlanta, Georgia, continue to be in circulation and used in schools throughout the United States and other countries. These stories endure and will always be relevant in our various cultu -
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. -
Juan Felipe Herrera
Juan Felipe Herrera is the only son of Lucha Quintana and Felipe Emilio Herrera; the three were campesinos living from crop to crop on the roads of the San Joaquín Valley, Southern California and the Salinas Valley. Herrera's experiences as the child of migrant farmers have strongly shaped his work, such as the children's book Calling the Doves, which won the Ezra Jack Keats award in 1997. He is a poet, performer, writer, cartoonist, teacher, and activist who draws from real life experiences as well as years of education to inform his work. Community and art has always been part of what has driven Herrera, beginning in the mid-seventies, when he was director of the Centro Cultural de la Raza, an occupied water tank in Balboa Park converted
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Trudy Ludwig
Trudy Ludwig is a nationally acclaimed speaker and an award-winning author who specializes in writing children's books that help kids connect and engage with their peers in kind, caring ways. She has received rave reviews from educators, experts, organizations, and parents for her passion and compassion in addressing friendship, bullying, and cyberbullying issues at schools and conferences around the country.
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An active member of the International Bullying Prevention Association, Trudy collaborates with leading US experts and organizations and has been profiled on national/regional media outlets. She has also served as content advisor for Sesame Workshop's "Good Birds Club" TV episode and as an expert panel member on Sesame Workshop's video s -
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 -
Candace Fleming
I have always been a storyteller. Even before I could write my name, I could tell a good tale. And I told them all the time. As a preschooler, I told my neighbors all about my three-legged cat named Spot. In kindergarten, I told my classmates about the ghost that lived in my attic. And in first grade I told my teacher, Miss Harbart, all about my family's trip to Paris, France.
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I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calli -
Bob Sornson
Bob Sornson, PhD, was a classroom teacher and school administrator for over thirty years and is the founder of the Early Learning Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping schools and parents give every child an opportunity to achieve early learning success. His implementation of programs and strategies for early learning success, the Early Learning Success Initiative, serves as a model for districts around the country. He is committed to the belief that practically every child can have a successful early learning experience.
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Bob is the author of numerous articles, books, and audio recordings. To contact Bob or learn more about his books, please visit www.earlylearningfoundation.com.
Bob is also the author of the Stand Up/ Speak Up Pr -
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. -
Alex Killian
Alex Killian is a picture book author whose debut picture book, This Table, will be followed by In-Between Places. She comes from a film background, and she has worked in both film production and creative development. Alex still has a handmade wooden table she picked up after college, which has occupied a special spot in her living places in San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as in her current home in Long Beach, California.
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Bill Thomson
Bill Thomson lives in Southington, Connecticut with his wife, Diann, and their three sons, Billy, Nik, and Ethan. Bill has illustrated Karate Hour, Building With Dad, Baseball Hour, and Soccer Hour, all written by Carol Nevius. Bill's also created the wordless books, CHALK, FOSSIL, and THE TYPEWRITER. Bill is a Professor of Illustration at the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford.
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Most of my book ratings are books that I own... and a couple of others that I have seen and enjoyed. -
Ellen Levine
Ellen Levine's books have won many awards and honors, including the Jane Addams Peace Award. Although she enjoys writing both fiction and nonfiction, most of Ellen's books for young readers have been nonfiction. "Writing nonfiction lets me in behind the scenes of the story. I enjoy learning new things and meeting new people, even if they lived 200 years ago."
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Ellen Levine was born in New York City. She received her B.A. degree in Politics from Brandeis University, graduating Magna cum laude. She has a Master's degree in political science from the University of Chicago and a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law. She has worked in film and television, taught adults and immigrant teenagers in special education and ESL pro -
Trudy Ludwig
Trudy Ludwig is a nationally acclaimed speaker and an award-winning author who specializes in writing children's books that help kids connect and engage with their peers in kind, caring ways. She has received rave reviews from educators, experts, organizations, and parents for her passion and compassion in addressing friendship, bullying, and cyberbullying issues at schools and conferences around the country.
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An active member of the International Bullying Prevention Association, Trudy collaborates with leading US experts and organizations and has been profiled on national/regional media outlets. She has also served as content advisor for Sesame Workshop's "Good Birds Club" TV episode and as an expert panel member on Sesame Workshop's video s -
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 -
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 -
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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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 -
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. -
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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Andrea Wang
Andrea Wang is the award-winning author of Watercress (Caldecott Medal, Newbery Honor, APALA Award, Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, JLG Gold Standard Selection, seven starred reviews), The Nian Monster (APALA Honor), Magic Ramen (Freeman Book Award Honor). Her debut middle grade novel, The Many Meanings of Meilan, was reviewed by the New York Times, has two starred reviews, and is also a JLG Gold Standard Selection. Her work explores culture, creative thinking, and identity. She is also the author of seven nonfiction titles for the library and school market. Andrea holds an M.S. in Environmental Science and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing for Young People. She lives in the Denver area with her family.
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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 -
Kirsten Hall
Kirsten is a native New Yorker. After college, where she majored in English and minored in Child Development, Hall taught preschool and then Kindergarten while studying Early Childhood Education in NYU’s masters program. Her first easy reader book was written (and published) when she was in the 7th grade. Since then she has written approximately 150 early reader and chapter books for children, on a broad range of topics, for publishers including Scholastic, HarperCollins, Barnes & Noble, Random House, and Chronicle.
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In addition to writing, Hall operates her own boutique illustration and literary agency, Catbird Productions. Hall currently resides in New York City. -
Ibram X. Kendi
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News racial justice contributor. He is the host of the new action podcast, Be Antiracist.
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Dr. Kendi is the author of many highly acclaimed books including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, making him the youngest ever winner of that award. He had also produced five straight #1 New York Times bestsellers, including How to Be an Antiracist, Antiracist Baby, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored by Jason Reynolds. In 2020, T -
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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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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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. -
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 -
Sarah Kurpiel
Sarah Kurpiel is a librarian and picture book author/illustrator from the Midwest. Her stories are inspired by animals, nature, and everyday life. Instagram: @sarah.kurpiel
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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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Cherry Mo
Cherry Mo grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the United States at the age of ten. HOME IN A LUNCHBOX is her debut picture book and was inspired by her first days of school in America. Cherry writes and illustrates stories that she hopes bring young readers a sense of comfort and belonging.
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Praises for HOME IN A LUNCHBOX:
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
July/August 2024 Kids' Indie Next List Pick
"In an exceptional debut, Mo deploys digital illustrations that expertly use selective coloring to depict an experience of finding common ground." — Starred review from Publisher's Weekly
"Inspired by Mo's move from Hong Kong to the United States at the age of 10, this remarkable story about finding comfort in a new home by bringing along fam -
Toni Collier
Toni Collier is the founder of a global women’s organization called Broken Crayons Still Color and helps women process through brokenness and get to healing and hope. Toni is a speaker, host of the Still Coloring podcast, and author of several books: Don't Try This Alone, Brave Enough to be Broken, and a children's book, Broken Crayons Still Color. Toni is teaching people all over the globe that you can be broken and still worthy, or feel unqualified and still be called to do great things.
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Ai-Ling Louie
Ai-Ling Louie is the author of the children’s classic, Yeh-Shen; A Cinderella Story from China (Philomel/Putnam). Her children’s biography series, "Amazing Asian Americans" currently contains three books: "Vera Wang, Queen of Fashion", "Yo-Yo and Yeou-Cheng Ma, Finding Their Way", and her book, the first children's biography published in the US about a South Asian American, "Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, Reaching for the Stars." In December 2018, "Patsy Mink, Mother of Title 9" will be published. All her books are for the elementary school child. The reading level is 4th grade
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Ms. Louie was born in New York and became an elementary school teacher and children's librarian. Her pets are her aquarium fish. -
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 -
Patricia de Arias
Patricia de Arias was born in Spain in 1973. She began her career as an actress before publishing a number of children’s books in Brazil, where she now lives. Her work has received international recognition, including Marwan’s Journey, which received a Special Mention at the Bologna Ragazzi Awards in Italy in 2017.
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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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Hayley Long
Hayley Long is the author of several award-winning books for teenagers, including What’s Up with Jody Barton? and the Lottie Biggs books. She also works as an English teacher. Hayley Long lives in England.
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Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore-Young
Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young is a sought-after speaker, podcaster at Eat Pray Run, teacher, coach, runner and foodie. Dorina is also the author of the award-winning picture book, Cora Cooks Pancit and has an MFA in Children’s Literature. She has published additional children's books, devotionals, Bible studies, non-fiction and poetry.
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Dorina specializes in helping people discover God's glory through unexpected life circumstances. She writes about faith, food, culture, grief and running. Her articles and essays have been published at (in)courage, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Propel Sophia, Everyday Faith magazine, The MOPS blog, and in more than 20 newspapers. Dorina also leads as the president of Redbud Writers Guild and director of Lead Loved minis -
Jennifer Fosberry
Jennifer Fosberry is a science geek turned children's book author. After working in the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley and running away to Costa Rica for a few years, she returned to the San Francisco Bay area to read, write, raise kids, and get out of doing the housework. She lives with her patient husband, her three darling children, and her two little dogs, too.
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