Alyeah McAllister
Alyeah McAllister is a Fellow for the Brooklyn Public Library’s Intellectual Teen Freedom Council, working to oppose book bans. She is in her first year of college and passionate about literature, biochemistry, the arts, science communication, and advocacy work.
Amy Herrick
Amy Herrick grew up in Queens, New York, then went off to SUNY Binghamton and later to the University of Iowa. When she returned from these adventures, she settled in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, where she has lived for thirty years, raising two sons, teaching pre-K and grade school, slowly writing books, and keeping company with […]
Jay Davis
Jay Davis is a writer and illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Parsons School of Design with a degree in illustration. Jay loves bossa nova, boxing, and intersectional feminism. Although her relationship with her own father was long distance for most of her childhood, Jay is proud to have her girl dad and […]
Jane Sanders
I live in a little wood frame house nestled in the heart of Forest Hills, Queens along with my red-headed son, French Bulldog, Hemingway cat, and Poodle. I like working with art directors and designers to solve problems using an illustrative and graphic style. I work for a myriad of clients like Sterling Publishers, Easter […]
Stephen Savage
Stephen Savage is an award-winning children’s book author and illustrator whose accolades include a New York Times Best Illustrated Book (Polar Bear Night) and a Geisel Honor (Supertruck). Polar Bear Night was a New York Times bestseller. He also wrote and illustrated And Then Came Hope and Babysitter from Another Planet. He teaches at the School of Visual Arts and lives in Brooklyn with his […]
David Barclay Moore
David Barclay Moore, an author and filmmaker, won a John Steptoe New Talent Author Award for his debut novel, The Stars Beneath Our Feet, which was optioned as a film by Michael B. Jordan. Born and raised in Missouri, he has done work with Sony, Harlem Children’s Zone, and Quality Services for the Autism Community. David Barclay […]
Raúl The Third
Raúl the Third is New York Times bestselling, Pura Belpré Award-winning author-illustrator of ¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market, ¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat, ¡Vamos! Let’s Cross the Bridge, and the rest of the World of ¡Vamos! series. He is also the author of Team Up: El Toro and Friends, illustrated by Elaine Bay, and the illustrator of Schneider Family Award Honoree Stuntboy, in the Meantime, written […]
Maulik Pancholy
Maulik Pancholy is an award-winning actor whose career has spanned hit television shows (Only Murders in the Building and 30 Rock), animated favorites (Phineas and Ferb, Sanjay and Craig, and Mira, Royal Detective), the Broadway stage, and films. He served on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and he is the cofounder of the […]
Ellen Korbonski
Ellen Korbonski is the illustrator of the upcoming Mason Goes Mushrooming, written by Melany Kahn. A native of Los Angeles, has lived and worked in New York City for over thirty years. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Ellen attended the NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ MFA in Filmmaking. Ellen has worked for 25 years […]
Melany Kahn
Melany is a second-generation forager who learned from her parents, the late abstract painter, Emily Mason and the late landscape painter, Wolf Kahn. For 20 years she has taught children how to forage for wild mushrooms. She attended Wesleyan University, received an MSW from Boston College, and an MFA in Film from The Tisch School […]
Benson Shum
Benson Shum has illustrated a number of picture books, including Adam Lehrhaupt’s Sloth Went, Jennifer Sattler’s Go to Sheep, and his own Anzu the Great Kaiju. Benson is also an animator at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he has contributed to such films as Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Frozen II, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Encanto.
Andrea Tsurumi
Andrea Tsurumi is an author, illustrator, and cartoonist who lives in Philadelphia with their spouse and small, serious dog. Their books include Accident!, Crab Cake, and I’m On It! They also illustrated the Kondo & Kezumi series by David Goodner, Mr. Watson’s Chickens by Jarrett Dapier, Sharko & Hippo by Elliott Kalan, and Life Log by Lea Redmond. You can […]
Claribel Ortega
CLARIBEL A. ORTEGA is a former reporter who writes middle-grade and young adult fantasy inspired by her Dominican heritage. Her debut novel, Ghost Squad, was an NPR Best Book of 2020 and a Good Morning America Selection. When she’s not busy turning her obsession with eighties pop culture, magic, and video games into books, she’s traveling the world for […]
Emma Otheguy
Emma Otheguy is the author of the middle-grade novels Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene (Knopf, 2022) and Silver Meadows Summer (Knopf, 2019) and the bilingual picture book Martí’s Song for Freedom (Lee & Low, 2017) which received five starred reviews, was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and the New York Public Library. She […]
Karina Nicole González
Karina Nicole González spent her childhood between New Jersey and Puerto Rico. She is an educator and speech-language pathologist for NYC public schools, where Karina uses storytelling as a tool for language development with her elementary school students. Karina lives in Brooklyn with her partner, Aaron. She is the author of The Coquies Still Sing, illustrated by […]
George O’Connor
George O’Connor is the New York Times–bestselling author of the Olympians, a series of graphic novels featuring the tragic, dramatic, and epic lives of the Greek gods. The latest book in the series is Olympians: Dionysos. George is also the creator of popular picture books such as the New York Times–bestselling Kapow! and If I Had A Triceratops. He lives in Brooklyn, […]
Kayla Miller
Kayla Miller is the New York Times bestselling creator of Crunch, as well as four previous graphic novels, Click, Camp, Act, and Clash, and the coauthor of the Besties series. An author-illustrator and cartoonist with a BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Kayla lives and works in New York.
Raakhee Mirchandani
Raakhee Mirchandani is an award-winning writer and editor and the author of My Diwali Light, Hair Twins, and Super Satya Saves the Day. When she isn’t writing, Raakhee is either organizing her book shelves, running races to raise money for kids with cancer, or admiring her many Diwali decorations, many of which she leaves up all year round. She […]
Kyle Lukoff
Kyle Lukoff is the author of many books for young readers. His debut middle-grade novel, Too Bright To See, received a Newbery honor, the Stonewall award, and was a National Book Award finalist. His picture book When Aidan Became A Brother also won the Stonewall. Lukoff’s most recent book is Different Kinds of Fruit. He has forthcoming books about mermaids, babies, apologies, […]
Charise Mericle Harper
Charise Mericle Harper is the award-winning author and illustrator of numerous books for children, including The Good for Nothing Button!, Cupcake, Go! Go! Go! Stop!, So Embarrassing, and Bad Sister. Her children’s book series include Pepper & Boo, Just Grace, Fashion Kitty, Sasquatch and Aliens, Bean Dog and Nugget, and Crafty Cat. I Cannot Draw a Horse is her latest […]
Shawn Harris
Shawn Harris’s first illustrated book Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers received seven starred reviews, was an Orbis Pictus Award Honor Book, an ALA Notable, and a PW Best Book of the Year. His authorial debut Have You Ever Seen a Flower is a Caldecott Honor award winner. Shawn’s other picture books include Eggers’s What Can a Citizen Do, which was […]
C. G. Esperanza
Born the second of six cool kids. The South Bronx is where he first opened his eyelids. A land shrouded in bright colored decay, the birthplace of graffiti and the hip-hop DJ! He paints fantasy worlds of elephants, and castles too! Accompanying this wonder is some whimsical truth. Charles has a voice that is seldom heard. […]
Shauna J. Grant
With a love for all things pink and magical, Shauna J. Grant is a cartoonist who creates cuteness! Shauna is on a mission to add diversity to the comics community by creating stories that feature Black girls as the heroines of their own adventures, and her work has appeared in Black Comix Returns, Noisemakers, and The Secret Loves of […]
Brandy Colbert
Brandy Colbert is the award-winning author of several books for children and teens, including Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, which was the winner of the 2022 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Nonfiction and a finalist for the American Library Association’s Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award; Stonewall […]
Julie C. Dao
Julie C. Dao is the critically acclaimed author of many books for teens and children, most recently Team Chu and the Battle of the Blackwood Arena. Her novels have earned starred reviews from Booklist, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, won recognition as Junior Library Guild Selections and Kids’ Indie Next List picks, and landed on […]
Johnnie Christmas
Johnnie Christmas is a #1 New York Times Best Selling graphic novelist. He is the author of SWIM TEAM. He’s also penned the sci-fi series TARTARUS, the haunted romance CREMA, and the fantasy graphic novel FIREBUG. He’s currently hard at work on two more new middle-grade graphic novels for the HarperAlley imprint of HarperCollins. He’s […]
Dhonielle Clayton
Dhonielle Clayton spent most of her childhood under her grandmother’s table with a stack of books. She hails from the Washington, D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side. She is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Belles series, Shattered Midnight, co-author of Blackout, and the co-author of The Rumor Game and the Tiny Pretty Things duology, a Netflix original series. She […]
Ethan Aldridge
Ethan M. Aldridge is a New York Times bestselling illustrator and author. He was raised in a very small town in Utah. Growing up, his favorite things to draw were ghosts, monsters, and whatever dinosaur he liked most that week. He now does more or less the same thing for a living. Ethan lives in New York […]
Mac Barnett
Mac Barnett is a New York Times-bestselling author of stories for children. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages and sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. Mac’s picture books include two Caldecott-Honor-winning collaborations with Jon Klassen: Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, which also won the E.B White Read-Aloud Award, and Extra Yarn, which won […]
Vera Ahiyya
Vera Ahiyya, author of KINDergarten, has taught Kindergarten and first grade for the last 15 years in Austin, Boston, and Brooklyn. Vera’s online presence is dedicated to influencing other educators by spreading her vast knowledge and love of diverse children’s books. Vera’s unwavering commitment to social justice and diversity is also the focal point of […]
