Victoria M. Adams has worked in the animation industry for many years. She currently lives in North London with her husband and daughter.

Sara grew up building forts in the woods around her Wisconsin home. When she wasn’t in a fort reading, she was probably at the library, checking out more books. She still loves to read, dream, and write outdoors or in secret hideaways.

The author of several forthcoming picture books, Sara loves going on adventures with her family. Whether she is hiking a glacier, foraging along a mountain path, or tending her garden, she is always thinking about story.

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Jacqueline Alcántara is the award winning illustrator of The Field and its companion Climb On!, both written by Baptiste Paul, Freedom Soup, written by New York Times bestselling author Tami Charles, Jump at the Sun, written by Newbery honoree Alicia D. Williams, and Your Mama, written by NoNieqa Ramos, which was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. Her works have received multiple starred reviews and been named Best Books of the Year by Kirkus, School Library Journal, Shelf Awareness and The Horn Book, among others. Forthcoming books including Jam, too? written by JaNay Brown-Wood, Ordinary Days, written by Angela Joy, Wifredo’s Jungle, written by Newbery honoree Margarita Engle, and Tíos and Primos her debut as author and illustrator.

Jacqueline created the artwork for the Chicago Women’s March “Ladies Marching” poster, and has done editorial work for the Obama Foundation, NPR, The Chicago Reader, The Chicago Foundation for Women, The Southern Poverty Law Center, Elle Decor, and the University of Chicago, among others. She spends her days drawing, teaching, rehabbing houses, and adventuring with her dogs. She is fueled by dance music, carbs and coffee, and has a boundless interest in learning new skills and taking on new challenges.

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Ahmed Alghariz is an Emergency Trauma Dance and Expression Therapist and Educator. He is one of the founders of Camps Breakerz, a Palestinian dance company and school started in 2004 in the Nusierat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip where Ahmed grew up. The crew provides hope and healing through community and connection. Not only are they teaching dance and giving the children the opportunity to process their trauma, but they also provide food, clothes, and medical aid.

Shawn Amos is a world-renowned Blues musician. Cookies & Milk is his debut middle grade novel, inspired by real-life events of growing up in a cookie store with his father Wally Amos, the founder of Famous Amos Cookies.

Micha Archer is an author and illustrator working in collage, oil and inks. She comes from a long line of artists and teachers and her work for many years in a kindergarten led her to writing for young children. WONDERS WALKERS, one of her many distinguished books for children, was a Caldecott Honor Book. 

Micha creates her collages from papers she creates and patterned papers from around the world.  She has a studio looking into the woods in Western Mass, and another in a tiny cabin high in the Costa Rican mountains and once she had one in a tower in Spain!

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Andrew Auseon is the author of acclaimed novels for young people, including Funny Little Monkey, Jo-Jo and the Fiendish Lot, Alienated (with David O. Russell) and Freak Magnet, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year. His books have been nominated for numerous awards, including the ALA’s Best Books for Young Adults, the Cybils, and state book awards. Auseon has an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College and a BA from Ohio University.

Mike Austin is an award winning-illustrator and graphic designer. Originally from Pennsylvania, he now lives in Hawaii with his wife, illustrator Jing Jing Tsong, their two children, and a cat named Milo. 

His first digital children’s book app “A Present for Milo” garnered raves and recognition on NPR, USA TODAY and MSNBC. It received a starred review from Kirkus, who called it "...a Next Gen version of a lift-the-flap Spot story, this digital cat-and-mouse chase features very simple art, familiar settings and hidden surprises in every scene." 

Austin is the author and illustrator of numerous children's books.

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Artist and writer Mira Bartók is the author of The Memory Palace (Free Press), winner of the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography. Her writing has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and noted in The Best American Essays 1999 and other anthologies. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants for her art and for her writing.

Marion Dane Bauer is the author of more than 100 books, ranging from board books and picture books through easy readers, both fiction and nonfiction, and middle-grade and young-adult novels, including her Newbery Honor title in 1987, ON MY HONOR. She was one of the founders and the first Faculty Chair of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Mary Jane Begin is an award-winning illustrator for several children's picture books including The Wind in the Willows, A Mouse Told His Mother, and Little Mouse's Painting. She is also a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Sheryl Berk most recently collaborated with Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn DiScala on her memoir, Wise Girl, and with Britney Spears on her autobiography, Stages. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, Peter, and their own little miracle, daughter Carrie.

Lynne Bertrand’s first novel is CITY OF THE UNCOMMON THIEF. Her previous books, all picture books, include a Booklist  Editors’ Choice, and a New York Times Editors' Pick. Lynne's affinity for YA fiction prompted this novel, for as she says, to  be 13, 15, 17 is to be human times 10. "It’s a time of unprotected freedom, death, work, love. A good place for a writer."

In a place such as this unnamed city, once you let go and face the things that frighten you, you’re as gone as Odysseus was in his odyssey. You tie yourself to the mast or outsmart the Cyclops in the cave because how else are you going to get home?

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Cari Best was born in a big city, grew up in a big city, went to school in a big city, and writes about kids in big cities, but she herself is happiest in the country.

She has been a translator of French, a children's librarian, an editorial director at a film company and now a very happy writer who loves packets of seeds for birthdays, walking in forests, finding rare sea shells around the world, eating pistachio ice cream, but most of all - babies.

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Steve has illustrated nearly 100 picture books. Everything from an early version of FLAT STANLEY to New York Times best-selling books by comedian and TV host Jeff Foxworthy. Steve’s strengths are communicating exuberance, action, and emotion. Steve’s ink and watercolor art bring the heart of the text to life. Steve also writes picture books and continues to explore new ideas, themes, and genres. He continues to push himself in new artistic directions.

Steve lives in California.

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Alex Boersma is a hugely talented illustrator and artist who did illustrations for Spying on Whales and who works with Stanford University, the American Museum of Natural History, and Duke University Marine Lab, and has done editorial illustrations for Emergence magazine and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Tom Booth is an author and illustrator of eight children’s books. Most recently he illustrated Malamander with author Thomas Taylor.

Todd Boss is an author, installation artist, inventor, librettist, podcaster, and film producer in Minneapolis. His fourth poetry collection from W. W. Norton & Co. is SOMEDAY THE PLAN OF A TOWN. His lyrics have been performed at Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. His work has been recognized with Grammy nominations, Emmy awards, and by the National Book Foundation. Todd is the founding Artistic Director of Motionpoems, a production company that has turned more than 150 contemporary poems into short films. His podcast,  There’s a Poem in That, launched in 2023. 

In 2018, Todd sold all his possessions and circled the globe in a series of 30+ house-sits. He is the author of THE BOY WHO SAID WOW.

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Even at a young age, NYT best-selling Tim Bowers' artwork reflected a strong sense of humor and an interest in animals. Prior to illustrating children's books, Tim worked as an artist for Hallmark Cards, where he helped launch the popular Shoebox Greetings card line. Bowers has garnered various awards including the Chicago Public Library's "Best of the Best" list and several Junior Library Guild selections. Tim's artwork has been included in the Society of Illustrators Annual Art Exhibition and the S.I. Humor Exhibition, as well as featured in children's magazines, used on a wide variety of products, and appeared on hundreds of greeting cards. Bowers is the creator of Uke-n-Draw, a new program that introduces storytelling to children through music and art. Tim and his wife live in central Ohio.

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Akemi Dawn Bowman is the author of critically acclaimed YA contemporary titles such as Starfish, Summer Bird Blue, and the forthcoming Harley in the Sky. The Infinity Courts is her YA sci-fi debut.

Waka lives in Portland, OR and works remotely for the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), a non-profit group. While I Was Away is her MG debut.

Michael Brumm is a writer/producer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He’s also been a Consulting Producer for At Home with Amy Sedaris and a 4-time Emmy-winning writer for The Colbert Report. He is the co-author of the children’s book HIS ROYAL DOGNESS, and has written for various magazines and video games. Michael currently lives in New York City with his wife, Camille, and their two little cryptids, Henry and Bea. THE CRYPTID CLUB, a 4-book graphic series is published by Harper Alley.

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Anne Brusatte completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Bristol and earned a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from The City College of the City University of New York. She has taught elementary school for more than a decade in both the United States and the United Kingdom. She lives in Scotland, the setting of her first book for children, Dugie the Dinosaur.

Over the past 35 years, Robert Burleigh has published more than 50 children’s picture books, collaborating with such prominent illustrators as Wendell Minor, Ed Young, Mike Wimmer, Barry Blitt, Stephen Johnson, Katy Wu, and Sterling Hundley.

His books have won numerous awards. Born and raised in Chicago, Robert Burleigh graduated from DePauw University (Greencastle, Indiana) and later received an MA in humanities from the University of Chicago. In addition to writing, Robert Burleigh paints regularly under the art name Burleigh Kronquist (www.Burleighkronquist.com) and has shown work in one-person and group shows in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere around the country.

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Grace Byers is an actor and activist who stars in Fox’s hit series Empire. As a multiracial young girl and a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Grace was bullied throughout her childhood. This book was born out of her desire to empower young girls against the effects of bullying. In her spare time, she volunteers with the nonprofit antibullying organization Saving Our Daughters. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor Trai Byers. I Am Enough is her first book.

A painter, playwright, and television creator of Tutti Frutti, Byrne has designed album covers for The Beatles, Donovan, Gerry Rafferty and Billy Connolly. He has several paintings hanging in The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.

Angela Cervantes is the award-winning author of several popular contemporary middle-grade novels including, Lety Out Loud, which was named a Pura Belpré Honor Book by the American Library Association and selected for the Kids Indie Next List,  Me, Frida and the Secret of the Peacock Ring, which was named a Junior Library Guild Selection and included in the prestigious Texas Bluebonnet Master List, Allie, First at Last, which received a starred review from Kirkus, and Gaby, Lost and Found, named Best Youth Chapter book by the International Latino Book Awards and a Bank Street College of Education’s Best Book of the Year. Angela also authored Maritza: Lead with Your Heart, a part of American Girl’s new line of contemporary characters called World by Us, and the junior novelizations for Disney/Pixar’s animated films Coco and Encanto.  

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Angela is the daughter of a retired middle-school teacher who instilled in her a love of reading and storytelling. When Angela is not writing, she enjoys conducting school visits, traveling and reading. Angela writes, reads and dreams from her home in Kansas City.

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Arree loves storytelling and art, and pursued his love of art at Art Center College of Design. He has worked in the Entertainment Industry as a Concept Artist and Art Director. In 2010, Arree won first place at the SCBWI Western Washington Portfolio show launching his passion for children’s books. 

Arree continues to work on picture book stories and has a middle-grade novel encompassing the Immigrant experience releasing soon. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Julien Chung is a designer and illustrator who makes pictures for children’s books. Julien has earned accolades for his illustrations from 3x3 magazine, the American Society of Illustrators, Applied Arts, and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, to name a few. In addition to his favorite childhood comics, Julien draws influence from the bright, minimalistic colors of Henri Matisse, the refined designs of Milton Glaser, and quirky animals everywhere. 

Julien likes chocolate ice cream (preferably with chocolate chunks), sketching with rainbow pencils (you never know what color the line will be), and dogs. He lives in Montreal with his wife. Even though Montreal is full of skyscrapers, there’s a park nearby with squirrels, woodpeckers, deer, and Canada geese. Julien likes to draw them all.

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Pan Cooke is a graphic novelist and cartoonist best known for his viral Instagram account @thefakepan.

David Cooper is a multi-media artist and muralist, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His work has appeared on book covers, ad campaigns, and editorial publications, such as The New York Times, Print Magazine, and POZ Magazine. He has painted large-scale murals at Miami Art Basel, Brooklyn, and other locales to be discovered by urban explorers. His work has been exhibited at The New York Society of Illustrators, Illustration West, American Illustration, and 3x3 Magazine. He often lends his time as a guest lecturer for various prestigious art schools, including Pratt Institute and Marywood University.  

David is the illustrator of numerous books for children.

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Susan Cooper is the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. Her classic five-book fantasy sequence The Dark Is Rising won the Newbery Medal and a Newbery Honor and has sold millions of copies worldwide. She is also the author of VICTORY, a Booklist Top Ten Historical Fiction for Youth book and a Washington Post Top Ten for Children novel; KING OF SHADOWS, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor book; THE BOGGART; and many other acclaimed novels for young readers and listeners.

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Caroline Corrigan is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator living and working in upstate New York. Her illustrations and design work can be found in books such as The Ultimate Easy Screen Printing Book and in Terre magazine. Her first children’s book, Women Artists A-Z, was published by Dial Books for Young Readers in February 2020.

Kayla Cottingham is a Youth Services Library Assistant at her local library and an MLIS candidate at Simmons University. After receiving her BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College, Kayla worked as an editorial intern for The Horn Book and Page Street Publishing before switching to librarianship.

Dare’s hope is to leave behind a body of work that accomplishes her primary artistic objective, which is to give life to large and unapologetic depictions of black joy. As a child, watching Patricia Polacco paint a mural in her elementary school sowed a seed for her passion for mural art. Playing on J. Seward Johnson’s “The Awakening” at Hains Point park in Washington, DC sparked the flame for monumental sculpture later in life. Seeing performances by Alvin Ailey’s dancers at the excited insistence of her mom instilled an internal bar of excellence for people whose faces looked like hers. A dear friend showed her a book of Javier Marin’s artwork while in Mexico in 2014, and making a special trip to Houston in 2018 to specifically see Marin’s works sealed the deal on his work being primarily influential in the feelings she wishes to create with her sculptural pieces. These artists set the inspiration for her larger scale objectives. Dare is the recipient of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for AN AMERICAN STORY, written by Kwame Alexander.

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Linda Davick is a writer/illustrator who started her work in children’s literature after a long career in animation and design. After working with clients like Amazon, Crayola, Klutz Press, and Sesame Street, her first illustrated book appeared on the New York Times’ Best Seller list. That book was 10 TRICK-OR-TREATERS, a seasonal counting book that launched the popular Ten Friends series. Her next book, I LOVE YOU NOSE! I LOVE YOU TOES! won an Ezra Jack Keats honor.

Linda lives by the Rio Grande Nature Preserve in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Danielle Davis grew up in Singapore and Hong Kong and now lives in Downtown Los Angeles. She is a writer, collaborator, teacher, and independent picture book editor. Her goal with every project is to offer kids validation, comfort, and hope. And she enjoys helping writers tap into their own unique voices and visions.

Danielle's first picture book was TO MAKE, illustrated by Mags DeRoma, published with HarperCollins. Her first middle grade novel was ZINNIA AND THE BEES. She loves visiting schools and libraries to read and craft with kids, speaking about her work, and writing and producing animation projects. Danielle has an M.A. in literature and creative writing and had the privilege of teaching English to middle school and then community college students.

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Auriane Desombre is a former English teacher currently pursuing an MA in English Lit at NYU and an MFA in Creative Writing for Children at The New School. She writes YA fiction to inspire and encourage young readers in the LGBTQ+ community. I Think I Love You is her debut.

Mk Smith Despres writes, teaches, and reads lots of books with their family in western Massachusetts. They are the author of seven upcoming books (Holiday House/Neal Porter Books, Barefoot Books, Marble Press) and a 2024 Green Box Artist in Residence. Mk's debut picture book, NIGHT SONG, illustrated by Hyewon Yum, was published in January. mksmithdespres.com

Ani DiFranco is a Grammy Award-winning singer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, songwriter, activist, businesswoman, and New York Times bestselling author. She has released more than 20 albums, and is one of the first independent musicians to create her own label, Righteous Babe Records (based in Buffalo, NY). She is widely known as an activist and feminist icon, and the Righteous Babe Foundation supports causes ranging from abortion rights to gay visibility.

Matt Diffee is an author and award winning illustrator who has been contributing cartoons to The New Yorker since 1999. His work has also appeared in Time, The Huffington Post, The Believer and Texas Monthly magazines and he is the editor of three volumes of “The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw and Never Will See in The New Yorker”

‍Over the years, Dunbar has worked as a drama critic, journalist, and marketing manager, and has written on topics as diverse as traditional Irish music, court cases, and theater. She lives in Nashville with her husband and daughter.

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The embodiment of genius and the pre-eminent scientist of the modern age, his theories and discoveries have profoundly affected the way people view and understand the world and their place in it. Einstein was also known as a philosopher and humanist who was keenly interested in and concerned about the affairs of the world.

His sagacious, wise, and humorous quotations, letters, and articles are widely used throughout popular culture as well as in historical and academic works. Einstein’s name and image are instantly recognizable everywhere in the world.

Michael Emberley is a children’s author and illustrator based in Dublin, Ireland. His numerous works include the iconic nonfiction title It’s Perfectly Normal (Candlewick), the bestselling series You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You (Little Brown), and, more recently, Ms. Brooks’ Story Nook (Knopf). His latest children’s picture book is I Can Make a Train Noise with Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, published by Neal Porter Books.

Valiant Entertainment is a leading character-based entertainment company that owns the largest independent superhero universe in comics. With more than 81 million issues sold and a library of over 2,000 characters including X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Harbinger, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong and more, Valiant is one of the most successful publishers in the history of the comic book medium.

Actor and producer Omar Epps was first introduced to audiences as Q in Ernest Dickerson’s cult classic Juice, opposite Tupac Shakur. He has gone on to star in the beloved romance Love & Basketball, as Dr. Eric Foreman on massively popular TV show House, as Jeff Cole in In Too Deep, as Isaac Johnson on Shooter, and as Darnell on This Is Us. He is the author of a memoir, From Fatherless to Fatherhood. Nubia: The Awakening is his first novel.

Although Susan loves to write about long-ago and faraway places, she can’t bring those worlds to life without grounding them in the details of this one. To that end, she has explored lava tubes and sea caves; spent the night in a lighthouse; traveled along the Silk Road in Iran; ridden in a glider, on a camel, and on a donkey; and cut up (already dead!) baby chicks and mice for a gyrfalcon’s dinner. Collectively, her books have been translated into seven languages; accolades include the American Library Association’s Notable Books and Best Books for Young Adults, BCCB Blue Ribbon Books, and School Library Journal’s Best Books.

Susan has an M.A. in English from the University of Michigan and taught for many years in the M.F.A. in Writing for Children program at Vermont College. She lives in Bryan, Texas, with her husband, historian R.J.Q. Adams, and their dog, Neville.

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Nancy Bo Flood is the author of more than 20 books, reflecting her experiences and the many places she has lived and worked. Her books include novels for young adults, collections of legends from the Pacific, picture books, poetry, and non-fiction topics ranging from world hunger to the role of water in our lives.  Her awards include the Sigurd Olsen Nature Writing Award, inclusion in the White Raven International list of best children’s books, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard, Colorado Book Award, several Notable Books for a Global Society recognitions, among others. I WILL DANCE is about Eva, a real girl with severe cerebral palsy, who is determined to dance--not pretend, but real. 

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Douglas Florian has written and illustrated more than 50 books for children. These include BEAST FEAST, winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, INSECTLOPEDIA, a national bestseller, DINOTHESAURUS, which was a Bank Street College “Best Book of the Year,” POETREES, which School Library Journal called “an exquisite collection,” and MAMMALABILIA, winner of the Claudia Lewis Award for Poetry. A retrospective of his poetry and children’s book art was held at Poet's House in Manhattan.

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JR and Vanessa Ford are nationally recognized advocates for trans youth.

Irena Freitas is an award-winning illustrator. She has an MFA in Illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design, and loves illustrating people, funny situations that happen in daily life, and whimsical stories. Her work has been featured at Bologna Book Fair, Society of Illustrators, Bratislava Biennial of Illustration, Golden Pinwheel, and 3x3 Magazine annuals. She has illustrated picture books published in Brazil, Portugal and the US, including IfYour Babysitter Is a Bruja (Simon & Schuster), Baby's First Love Story (Little Lark), and Thoughts Are Air (Dial Books). Forthcoming titles include A Walk Through El Jardin (Nancy Paulsen Books). When she is not reading and illustrating books, Irena likes to travel and visit new places. She lives in Manaus, Brazil.

Michael and Ava Gardner are the father-daughter team behind the viral Instagram account @daddydressedmebymg.

Federico Gastaldi is a young Italian artist. He studied illustration for children at university and developed a successful career in editorial illustration before a personal experience inspired him to create his debut picture book, HE’S GONE.

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Karen Gebbia is a children’s book writer and naturalist based in California. She believes that books help children wonder, think, understand, and feel. Before writing for children, Karen spent two decades writing, publishing, editing, and teaching scholarly writing.