Picture Books
OLIVIA ABTAHI grew up in the DC area, devouring books and hiding in empty classrooms during school to finish them. Her debut novel, PERFECTLY PARVIN, was published in 2021 by Penguin Random House Putnam Books For Young Readers, receiving the SCBWI Golden Kite Honor, and YALSA Odyssey Honor, and numerous starred reviews. Her sophomore novel, AZAR ON FIRE, was published in August 2022. Her middle grade debut, ROSTAM AND THE RED DWARF is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in 2025, along with her Picture Book debut from Kokila in the same year. She currently lives in Colorado with her husband and children. https://www.oliviaabtahi.com/
CARLOS APONTE was born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico. He attended Parsons School of Design and currently teaches drawing at Fashion Institute of Technology. He is the author/illustrator of A SEASON TO BEE.
TADGH BENTLEY is a picture book author and illustrator originally from the UK, now living in the Hocking Hills of Ohio. His titles include LITTLE PENGUIN AND THE LOLLIPOP, LITTLE PENGUIN GETS THE HICCUPS and SAMSON, THE PIRANHA WHO WENT TO DINNER. www.www.tadghbentley.com
EMMA BERNAY, who also writes under the name EMMA CARLSON BERNE, has written a number of books, both fiction and nonfiction, for children and young adults. She has worked on projects with American Girl Publishing, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, Sterling Publishing, Capstone, Rosen, MTV Books, and Alloy Entertainment, among others. She is the author of the YA thrillers STILL WATERS and NEVER LET YOU GO. Her most recent book is ROSE SPOKE OUT: THE STORY OF ROSE SCHNEIDERMAN, a nonfiction picture book about a young Jewish immigrant from Poland who galvanized support for better working conditions in the early 1900s. emmacarlsonberne.com
LIVIA BLACKBURNE is a New York Times bestselling author who wrote her first novel while researching the neuroscience of reading at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her books include MIDNIGHT THIEF; ROSEMARKED; FEATHER AND FLAME; CLEMENTINE AND DANNY SAVE THE WORLD (AND EACH OTHER), as well as the picture book I DREAM OF POPO, which received three starred reviews and was on numerous Best of Year lists. She is Chinese American and lives in southern California with her husband and daughter. https://liviablackburne.com
LOUISE BONNETT-RAMPERSAUD is the author of HOW DO YOU SLEEP? and POLLY HOPPER’S POUCH. She was born in England and now lives in Maryland with her family. Her most recent books are THE DYNO-MITE DOG SHOW and THE SPRING UN-FAIR, the first two books in her newest series, The Secret Knock Club.
JOHN CALDERAZZO is the author of the popular WRITING FROM SCRATCH: FREELANCING and has also written the children's book 101 QUESTIONS ABOUT VOLCANOES. His most recent book is RISING FIRE: VOLCANOES AND OUR INNER LIVES. His work has appeared in Audubon, USA Today, Writer's Digest, and dozens of other newspapers and magazines.
PREETI CHHIBBER has spent her life being a fan of being a fan. Hailing from Florida, she spent a decade working in children's publishing in New York before leaving to pursue writing full time. She's written for SYFY, BookRiot, BookRiot Comics, The Nerds of Color, and The Mary Sue, among others. Her short story, "Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers" was published in the anthology A THOUSAND BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS, and she also contributed to the anthology STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS: STORIES OF LIGHT AND DARK. She is the author of SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME: PETER AND NED’S ULTIMATE TRAVEL JOURNAL; STAR WARS: A JEDI, YOU WILL BE; the MARVEL: AVENGERS ASSEMBLY middle grade comic series; SPIDER-MAN’S BAD CONNECTION; and SPIDER-MAN’S SOCIAL DILEMMA. Her latest book and debut young adult novel is PAYAL MEHTA’S ROMANCE REVENGE PLOT, a laugh-out-loud romance that introduces perfectly imperfect Payal Mehta, whose plan to get her longtime crush to finally notice her is destined for success, but only if she ignores her budding feelings for her archnemesis… https://www.preetichhibber.com/
ERIN SODERBERG DOWNING writes novels for kids and teens. Under Erin Downing, she published her debut middle grade novel, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER (OR UNTIL SOMEONE BETTER COMES ALONG), about a mean girl trying to change her reputation. Her other books include, FOR SOCCER-CRAZY GIRLS ONLY, NONE OF THE REGULAR RULES, MOON SHADOW, CONTROLLED BURN, and the series SpacePop, The Quirks, Puppy Pirates, and The Great Peach Experiment. Her latest book for young readers is JUST KEEP WALKING , a story of resilience and the healing and restorative power of wilderness and nature. https://www.erinsoderberg.com
JOE FENTON has worked in the film industry as a concept designer and sculptor on films including The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Brothers Grimm. His first picture book, WHAT’S UNDER THE BED?, was a finalist for the Borders Original Voices Award. He is now at work on his second picture book, BOO!
EVAN GRIFFITH is a writer based in Austin, Texas. He studied creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Prior to relocating to Austin, he worked for five years as an editor at Workman Publishing in NYC where he specialized in non-fiction for children and adults, and he continues to edit books on a freelance basis. Through his role as the youth programming specialist at The Writing Barn, an Austin-based creative writing education center, he also teaches online writing classes for kids. Perhaps most importantly, he has a tuxedo cat named Kylie. Evan is the author of the nonfiction picture book SECRETS OF THE SEA: THE STORY OF JEANNE POWER, REVOLUTIONARY MARINE SCIENTIST and the middle grade novel MANATEE SUMMER. His latest middle grade novel, THE STRANGE WONDERS OF ROOTS, is about a girl who learns to lay down roots as she’s drawn into a fight over a local grove of trees that’s in danger of being torn down. His newest picture book is WILD AT HEART: THE STORY OF OLAUS AND MARDY MURIE, DEFENDERS OF NATURE. https://www.evangriffithbooks.com
PAUL GUDE is the author/illustrator of WHEN GIRAFFE MET ELEPHANT, a picture book for young readers about a feisty elephant and a silent giraffe, as well as its sequel, A SURPRISE FOR GIRAFFE AND ELEPHANT. He was featured on the Bravo reality series LOLwork as a member of the Cheezburger humor website’s creative team.
DEREK TAYLOR KENT is the well-loved author of HarperCollins’s SCARY SCHOOL series. His first picture book is EL PERRO EN SOMBRERO.
VERN KOUSKY is an Adjunct Professor at Touro College and the illustrator of the series Is It Contagious? His debut picture book as an author/illustrator is OTTO THE OWL.
JOYCE LAPIN is the author of IF YOU HAD YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY ON THE MOON. She lives in Simsbury, CT.
DEB LEVINE is the editorial director at Nick.com, the website for the kids’ TV network, Nickelodeon. She also writes freelance magazine pieces for a variety of publications as well as short fiction. She is the author of PARKER PICKS, a wonderfully gross picture book about a kid whose finger gets stuck up his nose.
CHRISTIE MATHESON is a talented writer and collaborator who has written for such magazines as Cooking Light, Glamour, Fitness, Elegant Wedding, Yoga Journal, and Home & Garden. She is the co-author of many cookbook and lifestyle books. Her solo efforts include GREEN CHIC, SALTY SWEETS, and CAKE SIMPLE. She is the author and illustrator of the beautiful children’s picture books TAP THE MAGIC TREE, TOUCH THE BRIGHTEST STAR, PLANT THE TINY SEED, and BIRD WATCH. She is working on her next book for children.
JOY McCULLOUGH won the Washington State and Pacific Northwest book awards for her YA debut, BLOOD WATER PAINT, as well as honors including the National Book Award longlist, finalist for the ALA Morris Award, a Publishers Weekly Flying Start and four starred reviews. She has since written picture books and young adult and middle grade novels that have been Junior Library Guild Selections, Indie Next Selections, finalists for the Washington State Book Award, and a New York Times bestseller. She is also a playwright and is currently Resident Playwright at Seattle Public Theater. https://joymccullough.com/
KATE MCKEAN is a literary agent at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency in Brooklyn, New York. She earned her MA in fiction writing at the University of Southern Mississippi and has been an adjunct professor at New York University. Her work has appeared in Poets & Writers, Electric Literature, Catapult, and elsewhere. She writes the Agents & Books newsletter at KateMcKean.substack.com.
KELLY MCWILLIAMS is a biracial writer in Seattle, where she lives with her family. Previously she has worked as a staff writer at Romper, the millennial parenting site, where she reported on women’s health. In 2004, as a 15-year old, she published DOORMAT (Random House, 2004), a Junior Library Guild selection, and headed to Walnut Hill School for the Arts to finish high school among raucous theater majors. As an undergraduate at Brown University, she studied feminist literary criticism and began writing nonfiction. She is the author of AGNES AND THE END OF THE WORLD, which benefitted from a We Need Diverse Books mentorship, received three starred reviews, and was named a best book of the year by both Kirkus and Bank Street, and of MIRROR GIRLS, which received three starred reviews and was selected as a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Her newest novel, YOUR PLANTATION PROM IS NOT OKAY, is a sharp-witted, timely novel that explores cancel culture, anger, and grief, and challenges the romanticization of America's racist past with humor and heart. She is also the co-author, with her mother Jewell Parker Rhodes, of SOUL STEP, a picture book illustrated by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu about the joy and history of step dancing.. https://www.kellymcwilliamsauthor.com
NICOLE MELLEBY, a Jersey native, is the author of highly praised picture books and middle-grade novels, including the Lambda Literary finalist HURRICANE SEASON and ALA Notable Children's book HOW TO BECOME A PLANET. She currently teaches at the Fairleigh Dickinson MFA Creative Writing program and lives with her wife and their cats, whose needs for attention oddly align with Nicole’s writing schedule. https://nicolemelleby.com/
JESSIE OLIVEROS is the author of THE REMEMBER BALLOONS, which won the 2019 Schneider Family Award Honor Book for Young Children and the 2019 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text. Her book was also named one of Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Books and to the Kids Indie Next List. She grew up in Kansas and now makes more happy memories in San Antonio, Texas with her husband and their four children. www.jessieoliveros.com
KATE PALACES NARITA is the author of IT'S A 100 BUG COUNT DAY (FSG Spring 2018). When she's not out and about driving, teaching or cheering on her two teenage sons, Kate Palaces Narita lives, writes, and hikes on a small mountain in central Massachusetts. There's a magical part of Mt. Wachusett in every one of her stories. Be it small wonders like darting dragonflies or gorgeous garden phlox, or large wonders like munching moose or beautiful balsam firs, she celebrates nature's bounty each and every day.
www.katenarita.com
JIYEON PAK is the author/illustrator of MY GRANDMA’S TEA and MY GRANDPA’S CHAIR. Born in South Korea, she lives in Abingdon, Maryland. See more of her work at hello-jiyeon.com.
SOYUNG PAK won the 1999 Ezra Jack Keats award for children's literature. She is the author of DEAR JUNO, hailed as "a new classic" by the Boston Globe, and A PLACE TO GROW, about a family that chooses to move to another country.
J. C. PHILLIPPS lives in Connecticut and is the author and illustrator of THE SIMPLES LOVE A PICNIC, MONKEY ONO, WINK: THE NINJA WHO WANTED TO NAP, and WINK: THE NINJA WHO WANTED TO BE NOTICED. Her newest book is DRAGON RIDER, the fourth book in her middle grade graphic novel series PACEY PACKER UNICORN TRACKER. She is also a collage and watercolor artist and a founding member of the WeHa Artists Emporium. http://www.jcphillipps.com/
ANICA MROSE RISSI grew up on an island off the coast of Maine, where she read a lot of books and loved a lot of pets. After college, she moved to New York City, where she worked as a cheesemonger and book editor. She now tells and collects stories, makes up songs on her violin, and eats cheese with her friends in Princeton, New Jersey, where she lives with her dog, Arugula. As a former editor turned full-time writer, Anica has spoken with kids and adults across the country about all stages of the writing process, from ideas and drafting to revisions and beyond. She is the author of the Anna, Banana chapter-book series; the picture books WATCH OUT FOR WOLF!, THE TEACHER’S PET, and LOVE, SOPHIA ON THE MOON; and the YA novels ALWAYS FOREVER MAYBE and NOBODY KNOWS BUT YOU. Her essays have been published by The Writer magazine and the New York Times, and she plays fiddle in and writes lyrics for the band Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves. Her newest book is a collection of scary stories for middle grade readers titled HIDE AND DON’T SEEK. http://www.anicarissi.com
JEWELL PARKER RHODES is the author of the modern classic VOODOO DREAMS, a novel about famed voodoo priestess Marie Laveau, as well as VOODOO SEASON, YELLOW MOON, and HURRICANE: A NOVEL, which follow Marie Laveau’s modern day descendant. She is also the author of MAGIC CITY, a novel about the race riots in Tulsa, Oklahoma, during the early 20th century. DOUGLASS’ WOMEN is a fictional account of Frederick Douglass and the two women who loved him. Her nonfiction works include FREE WITHIN OURSELVES and PORCH STORIES: A GRANDMOTHER’S GUIDE TO HAPPINESS. Her first middle grade novel, NINTH WARD, set against the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina, was a Coretta Scott King Book Honor winner, and she’s written seven other critically acclaimed novels for young readers: SUGAR; BAYOU MAGIC; TOWERS FALLING; GHOST BOYS, which is a New York Times, IndieBound, and Publishers Weekly bestseller, received four starred reviews, and is a #1 Kids’ Indie Next List pick; BLACK BROTHER, BLACK BROTHER, which received three starred reviews, was a YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers selection, and has been nominated for over a dozen reader’s choice awards; PARADISE ON FIRE, which was a Kids’ Indie Next List pick and was lauded for doing “heroic work in connecting global forces to local reality” by the New York Times; and TREASURE ISLAND: RUNAWAY GOLD, a reimagining of the classic novel Treasure Island set in modern-day Manhattan, which was named a best book of the year by Kirkus and Booklist. Her most recent book for middle grade readers is WILL’S RACE FOR HOME, a thrilling adventure story about a boy and his father who set out to win land during the Oklahoma Land Rush—if they can survive the journey. She is also the co-author, with her daughter Kelly McWilliams, of SOUL STEP, a picture book illustrated by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu about the joy and history of step dancing. The driving force behind all of Jewell’s work is to inspire social justice, equality, and environmental stewardship. jewellparkerrhodes.com
ANNE ROCKWELL is an author and illustrator whose name is well known to everyone who brings young children and books together—parents, booksellers, teachers, and librarians around the world. Her work has won countless awards and includes WELCOME TO KINDERGARTEN, HERE COMES THE NIGHT, BIG WHEELS, THE TOOLBOX, MY PRESCHOOL, BIG GEORGE, and TRUCK STOP. Her most recent books are LIBRARY DAY, LET’S GO TO THE HARDWARE STORE, MY SPRING ROBIN, and her historical picture book, A SPY CALLED JAMES.
annerockwell.com
BERNADETTE ROSSETTI-SHUSTAK is the author of the board book for babies and toddlers, I LOVE YOU THROUGH AND THROUGH, and its sequel, I LOVE YOU THROUGH AND THROUGH AT CHRISTMAS, TOO!, which have collectively sold over 6 million copies and have been translated into multiple languages. Bernadette’s books for children are about unconditional love, acceptance, and hope. https://bernadetterossettishustak.com
FRANCESCO SEDITA is the co-author (with Prescott Seraydarian) of the middle grade graphic novel series The Pathfinders Society, which begins with THE MYSTERY OF THE MOON TOWER and continues with THE CURSE OF THE CRYSTAL CAVERN and THE LEGEND OF THE LOST BOY. He’s also the author of the Miss Popularity chapter book series, the co-creator (with Prescott Seraydarian) of the Emmy-winning Who Was? show on Netflix, and the author of many other books through his role at Penguin Young Readers. Most recently, he is the author of THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK I WILL READ TO YOU, illustrated by Magenta Fox, a picture book about a new dad getting ready to share his love of reading with his baby for the very first time, and OUR ITALIAN CHRISTMAS EVE, co-written by his sister Danielle Sedita and illustrated by Luciano Lozano, a festive tribute to food and family. When he isn't making stuff, Francesco is cooking in his apartment in New York City, or binge-watching a series with his husband, or playing with their cute cat, Alfredo. francescosedita.com
N.H. SENZAI writes for children and young adults. Her first middle grade novel was the APALA Award winner SHOOTING KABUL, which tells the story of an Afghani family fleeing to the United States just before the events of September 11, 2001. She is also the author of SAVING KABUL CORNER, about a decades old family feud from the old country that threatens to destroy the families’ news lives in America; TICKET TO INDIA, a contemporary novel about the Great Partition; ESCAPE FROM ALEPPO, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year and a Winter 2017-2018 Kids’ Indie Next List pick, about a girl whose family has to flee their home when the Arab Spring sparks a civil war; and FLYING OVER WATER, a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, which she co-authored with Shannon Hitchcock, which follows a Muslim girl fleeing civil war and an American girl from the South as they are forced to examine their beliefs and the true meaning of friendship in the midst of the president’s 2017 Muslim ban. Her newest book is PRINCE AMONG SLAVES, a picture book biography of Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori, a Muslim West African prince turned enslaved plantation worker, and his lifelong fight to be free and return home. nhsenzai.com
JUDGE JUDY SHEINDLIN is television’s beloved Judge Judy whose top rated syndicated show is watched by millions. Her first book, DON’T PEE ON MY LEG AND TELL ME IT’S RAINING, co-authored with Josh Getlin of the Los Angeles Times, is a prescriptive and controversial look at how the legal system affects families. She is also the author of BEAUTY FADES, DUMB IS FOREVER and KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID, both New York Times bestsellers. With Bob Tore, she has written two children’s books, WIN OR LOSE BY HOW YOU CHOOSE and YOU CAN’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER. Her new website, What Would Judy Say, features biweekly videos on topics as diverse as retirement and marriage that invite readers to share their own ideas.
www.whatwouldjudysay.com
EMILY SNAPE is the author/illustrator of several novelty books, including MOTOR-MIX and BABY SAYS “BALL!.” Her editorial clients include Nickelodeon, BBC, Nintendo, Nestle, and Colgate. She lives in London, England, and can be visited at www.emilysnape.co.uk.
ISMÉE WILLIAMS is an award-winning author of books about multicultural characters that pack an emotional punch. She is a co-founder of the non-profit Latinx Kidlit Book Festival whose mission is to uplift Latinx voices while bringing these diverse stories to all students and educators in order to increase representation, empathy and connection. Ismée also serves on the SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund. Ismée is a pediatric cardiologist and scientific researcher who practiced and taught at Columbia University Medical Center for 15 years. She currently sees patients at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx. Her books include WATER IN MAY; THIS TRAIN IS BEING HELD; the anthology BOUNDLESS; and ABUELO, THE SEA, AND ME. https://www.ismeewilliams.com/