©Keisha Morris
Gabriela Orozco Belt
Gabriela Orozco Belt is a children’s book author who lives in a small town in the Mojave Desert. Inspired by her experiences of growing up bilingual and bicultural, she writes stories for children so they can see themselves in books. Gaby’s debut picture book, Only for a Little While, serves to soften and process the feeling of being uprooted and see change as a temporary difficulty that families can get through with mutual support. The book will be illustrated by Richy Sanchez Ayala and published by Balzer + Bray in Spring 2023. When not teaching, writing, or reading, she can be found spending time with her husband, three children, and extended family.
Website: https://gabrielabelt.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegreatgabsie
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thegreatgabsie
Marie Boyd
Marie Boyd is an author, illustrator, artist, and educator. Her illustrations are done in quilling. She collects colorful paper and cuts it into narrow strips, which she uses to create modern, bold, colorful images that come off the page. She loves spending time outdoors and draws inspiration from the natural world. Trained as a scientist with a degree in Chemistry from Harvard, Marie often incorporates STEM elements in her work. Her debut picture book is Just a Worm (Greenwillow Books, 2023). Originally from Salt Lake City, Marie lives in Columbia, South Carolina with her husband and two young children.
Website: www.marieboyd.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/artistscholar
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariecboyd
Vicky Fang
Vicky Fang is a product designer who spent five years designing kids’ technology experiences for both Google and Intel—like robots you can build at home, buildings that play music, and games you can play with your voice. She started writing to support the growing need for early coding education, particularly for girls and kids of color. She is the author and sometimes illustrator of fifteen new and upcoming books to inspire kids in STEAM and creativity, including The Boo Crew Needs You, Invent-a-Pet, I Can Code, Layla and the Bots, Friendbots, and AlphaBot.
Website: https://vickyfang.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fangmous
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fangmousbooks
Dominique Furukawa
Dominique Furukawa is a licensed clinical social worker and children’s picture book author. She lives with her wonderful family in the greatest city in the world, Los Angeles, CA. She is passionate about teaching little people big things in a way they can understand. Her forthcoming release is Black Girls (Harper Collins, 2023)
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/domfurukawa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dom.furukawa
Sarah Hovorka
Sarah Hovorka writes lots of stuff from big-hearted picture books to horror-ridden novels. Unlike Goldilocks, every genre she tries feels just right. She is the author of Hattie Hates Hugs: Same Love, Different Hug; Unicycle Dad; and Camouflage Mom as well as several short stories for children and adults. Beyond reading and writing, Sarah loves to play games, bike ride, eat chocolate, and enjoy trees…when she’s not too busy homeschooling. She lives in northern California with her husband and three sons.
Website: www.SarahHovorka.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HovorkaSarah
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorsarahhovorka
AJ Irving
A.J. Irving grew up in Boise, Idaho, writing stories and daydreaming about becoming an author. Now, she writes picture books and poetry beneath an old elm tree in Salt Lake City. A.J. is the critically acclaimed author of Dance Like a Leaf, The Wishing Flower, and The Bi Book (Knopf BFYR, summer 2025). As a children’s author and former bookmobile librarian, A.J. is passionate about inspiring kids to love books. When she’s not reading, writing, or dancing, she enjoys exploring Utah with her husband, two children, and their English bulldogs.
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Website: https://ajirving.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aj_irving
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aj_irving/
Aimee Isaac
Aimee Isaac started writing when she was eight years old. Her debut was actually a play where she, her brother, and her cousins were the stars. Since then, she has been a teacher, an advocate, a parent, and now an author. Aimee writes picture books and poetry inspired by her love of nature as well as her rambunctious kids. She is the author of The Planet We Call Home (Philomel, 2023) and The Forest at the Edge of the Ocean (Tra Publishing, 2025). When she isn’t writing, Aimee is volunteering, reading, hiking, or keeping up with her busy family. She lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware with her husband and three children.
Website: www.aimeeisaac.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IsaacAimee
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/aimeeisaacwrites
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AimeePBAuthor
Astghik (Astrid) Kamalyan
Astrid Kamalyan comes from a big, happy family and is the oldest of five. She spent most of her childhood in Armenia. As a child, she wished she could one day paint the beautiful mountains of Artsakh. Now she paints with words and writes for the most important people in the world—kids. Astrid holds an MBA degree from the American University of Armenia. She loves globetrotting with her husband and two sons. Astrid currently shares her time between Chicago and Yerevan, Armenia.. Astrid’s debut picture book is Bábo: A Tale of Armenian Rug-Washing Day (Charlesbridge, 2023).
Twitter: https://twitter.com/astridkamalyan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astridkamalyan
Carrie Kruck
Carrie Kruck grew up in Canada, worked as a psychologist in Australia, and now lives in the woods of New England with a delightful assortment of foxes, owls, bears, and beloved humans. Her debut picture book Iggy Who Breathes Fire, illustrated by Erika Meza, will be published by Disney Hyperion in October 2024, followed by Alfred Blooms from Random House Studio (with illustrator Carmen Mok) in Spring 2025.
Website: https://www.carriekruck.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KruckCarrie
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carrie.kruck
Suzy Levinson
Suzy Levinson is a children’s author and poet who loves getting lost in a good story. Her work has been featured in magazines, including Highlights, Cricket, and the School Magazine, and anthologies, including A World Full of Poems: Inspiring Poetry for Children (DK Children), I Am a Jigsaw: Puzzling Poems to Baffle your Brain (Bloomsbury Education), and Shaping the World: 40 Historical Heroes in Verse (Macmillan Children’s Books). Animals in Pants (Cameron Kids/ABRAMS) is her debut picture book–length poetry collection. Her next, Dinos that Drive! (Tundra Books), will hit shelves in 2025. She grew up in Massachusetts and now lives in New York City with her husband and most excellent cat.
Website: http://www.suzylevinson.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/suzylevinson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzylevinson
Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic
Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic writes books in the San Francisco Bay Area surrounded by a few kids, a few cats, and one husband. She is the author of of two middle grade novels, The League of Picky Eaters and Hummingbird Season (2024), as well as picture books, The End of Something Wonderful (2019), Hello, Star (2020), What Is Hope (2023), and Touch the Sky (2024). Stephanie still sleeps with the teddy bear she had as a baby, she has a bellybutton phobia, and while she had her four wisdom teeth removed as a teenager, two of them grew back.).
Website: http://www.stephanielucianovic.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/grubreport
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grubreport/
C.K. Malone
C.K. Malone (they/them) is a bigender (born Intersex) award-winning intervention teacher at the middle school level. When not grading essays or helping students, they're busy helping design culturally and LGBTQIA+ responsive units for the district and working as a climate and culture coach. When they're not writing, they're coaching and advising through alignment with the Genders and Sexualities Alliance Network. C.K. continues this work in the literary world by advocating for all to be given the space to tell their own stories. Though they love the many hats they wear, their favorite is as an advocate for diverse voices. C.K. is the author of A Costume for Charly (Beaming Books, 2022)
Website: https://www.carlislemalonebooks.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CKMalone2
David McMullin
David McMullin is a picture book writer, illustrator, and children’s poet. His debut book, Free to Be Fabulous! comes out April 30, 2024 with Clarion. His poems are featured in several magazines and anthologies. Honors include an SCBWI Ann Whitford Paul Award, an Astra International Picture Book Writing Contest award, and a Madness Poetry championship. David and his husband are currently full time world travelers, bird nerds, and YouTubers. In past careers he was a Broadway actor, an educator, and a children’s librarian.
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Website: https://www.davidmcmullinbooks.com/welcome/
Twitter: @davidmcmullinpb
Instagram: @davidmcmullinpb
Keisha Morris
Keisha Morris is an award-winning illustrator based in Maryland, who loves to create whimsical and joyful illustrations from diverse narratives. She earned her BFA in Illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and mentored with illustrators such as Sean Qualls, Selina Alko, and Dan Santat. When she is not drawing or crafting stories, you can hear her chatting about her picture book experiences and illustration process in her podcast called The KidLit Show. Between Two Windows (Harper Collins, 2023) is her debut author/illustrated picture book.
Website: https://www.keishamorris.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kekkerz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kekkerz86
Lissette Norman
Lissette Norman is a poet and author of the picture books, My Feet Are Laughing, Plátanos Go with Everything and Abuela’s Library. She is also co-author of the picture books, Until Someone Listens (w/ Estela Juarez) and On the Line: My Story of Becoming the First African-American Rockette (w/ Jennifer Jones). Lissette received her BA in English at SUNY-Binghamton and currently lives in New York City.
Website: www.lissettenorman.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lissettejnorman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/platanosgowitheverything/
Lisa Varchol Perron
Lisa Varchol Perron writes picture books, middle grade novels, and poetry for children. Her poems have appeared in various children's magazines and anthologies, and she was awarded the 2021 Boston Authors Club Discovery Award for picture book writers. She also enjoys writing songs, playing her guitar, and going on long family hikes. Lisa lives outside of Boston with her geologist husband and two nature-loving, book-loving kids. Patterns Everywhere (Lerner/Millbrook) is Lisa’s debut picture book.
Website: https://www.lisaperronbooks.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LisaVPerron
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisavperron
Ana Siqueira
Ana Siqueira is an award-winning author from Brazil who loves to let her imagination fly like superhéroes and play like a Super Abuela with her Brazilian-Cuban American grandkids. When not flying in her aventuras, she teaches Spanish to adorable little ones, where she casts a learning spell that nobody can resist.
Some of her books are Bella's Recipe for Disaster/Success (Beaming Books, 2021) If Your Babysitter is a Bruja (SimonKids,2022), Boitata: Snake of Fire (Capstone 2023), Abuela's Super Capa/La Supercapa de Abuela (HarperCollins 2023), Our World Brazil (Barefoot 2023), La Mala Suerte is Following Me (Charlesbridge 2024), Vera, La Valiente (Beaming Books 2025), If Your Abuelo is un Astronauta (Simon&Schuster 2025), Mami's Heart (HarperCollins 2026), and others TBA.
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She's also a Global Educator, a PBS media innovator and the co-founder of a movement created to increase Latine representation: Latinxpitch.
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Website: https://anafiction.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SraSiqueira1307
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asiqueira1307/?hl=en
Helen Taylor
Helen Taylor is a children’s book author who wonders about a lot of things (and hopes you do too!). She writes books, mostly about science, that make complex ideas accessible and fun. Her favorite question is “How?” and her favorite ice cream flavor is mint chip. Before she discovered the world of children’s books, she worked at a museum where she wrote about polar bear hair plugs, catfish physicals, and other curiosities. Helen's debut picture book is How to Eat in Space (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2023). She lives in Santa Cruz, California where she enjoys tide-pooling, stargazing, and traipsing through the redwoods with her family.
Website: https://www.helenstaylor.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/heyhelentaylor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyhelentaylor
Jack Wong
Jack Wong is an author/illustrator living in Halifax, Canada. A self-declared actual Jack-of-all-trades, he’s also tried his hand at bridge engineering, psychology research, bookkeeping, and running his own bicycle repair shop—a real education for creating children’s books, if you ask him! Through a diverse range of stories, he seeks to share his hodgepodge journey with young readers, so that they may embrace the unique amalgams of experiences that make up their own lives. His forthcoming releases include When You Can Swim (Scholastic, 2023), When I Gave Dad a Sign (Annick Press, 2023), and All the Flowers (Groundwood, 2024).
Website: https://jackwong.ca
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jacquillo_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquillo_
