Stone Leahy
Elisa Stone Leahy is a queer, Peruvian-American children’s author who lives with her husband and kids in Columbus, Ohio. She likes writing about characters with complicated identities because her own identity has plenty of layers. Elisa was born in Ica, Peru, to American parents and lived there most of her life. She left Peru to […]
Tallie
Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie (MFA Mills College, PhD Brown University) is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and scholar. She is the author of the award-winning children’s book Layla’s Happiness (Enchanted Lion Books), and the poetry collections Strut (Agape Editions) and Karma’s Footsteps (Flipped Eye). Tallie’s Dear Continuum: Letters to a Poet Crafting Liberation (Grand Concourse Press) gathers […]
Abbas
Marzieh is a baker turned award-winning author. She loves adding magic to her creations– whether that’s a seven-layered rainbow cake or the books she writes for children all over the world. Her work is inspired by her Pakistani culture and Muslim heritage. Marzieh is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, […]
Ortega
Mirelle Ortega is an award-winning Mexican artist and writer for kidlit and animation based in Los Angeles, California. She is the author-illustrator of RIVER OF MARIPOSAS and MAGIC: ONCE UPON A FARAWAY LAND, for which she received a 2023 Pura Belpré Award Honor for illustration and an International Latino Book Awards medal. She’s a prolific […]
Meade
Lily Meade writes real world issues through an extraordinary lens. She comes from a background of extreme poverty, something she prides herself on being transparent and vulnerably honest about. She has been homeless twice and still lives in housing insecurity. She believe stories have power and strives to live by the motto of a life […]
May
Angela May is the co-author of The Islanders, a New York Times bestselling series created with Mary Alice Monroe. All three books in their middle grade series are rooted in the magic of nature. Angela graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in broadcast journalism and worked more than a decade in […]
Sriram
Meera draws from her life straddling the East and West to tell stories. She grew up in India and moved to the United States at the turn of the millennium. An electrical engineer in the past, she now writes for children and advocates for diversifying bookshelves. Meera felt compelled to tell her stories when she […]
Mo
Cherry Mo is the Caldecott-Honor winning author-illustrator of her debut picture book, Home In A Lunchbox (June 2024), from Penguin Workshop. This book is inspired by Cherry’s personal experience of moving from Hong Kong to America at the age of ten. Through writing and illustrating, she hopes to bring young readers a sense of comfort […]
Faruqi
When Reem Faruqi taught second grade, her favorite time was “Read Aloud” time. Now, her favorite time at home is reading with her daughters. Reem Faruqi is the award-winning author of Lailah’s Lunchbox, a picture book based on her own experiences as a young Muslim girl immigrating to the United States. Of Pakistani origin, Reem […]
Rogers
Kim Rogers is the author of Just Like Grandma, winner of the 2024 Charlotte Zolotow Award, 2024 Ezra Jack Keats Award Honor for Writer, illustrated by Julie Flett; A Letter for Bob, winner of the 2024 American Indian Youth Award (AIYA), 2024 Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended Title, illustrated by Jonathan Nelson; and I Am Osage: […]