Alexandra Villasante has always loved telling stories–though not always with words. She has a BFA in Painting and an MA in Combined Media (that’s art…
Special Guest Alison Green Myers is the program director for the non-profit Highlights Foundation, which supports children’s book writers and illustrators. She’s served as a…
Special Guest An Na was born in South Korea and grew up in San Diego, California. She is the author of three novels: A Step from…
Special Guest Andrea Cascardi has held senior editorial positions at Random House and Disney Publishing, and was an agent with Transatlantic for ten years before…
Andrew is executive editor at Dutton Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, focusing on YA and MG, fiction and nonfiction. In…
Zoom Special Guest Angela Dominguez was born in Mexico City, grew up in the great state of Texas, and now resides on the east coast.…
Anna Raff is an award-winning illustrator of books for children including World Rat Day, A Big Surprise for Little Card, You Are Not a Cat!…
Anna-Marie McLemore (she/they) was born in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and taught by their family to hear la llorona in the Santa…
In spite of the adage to write what you know, Anne Marie Pace has never been a vampire, a ballerina, a groundhog, or a tow…
Anne Ursu is the author of several books for young readers, including The Lost Girl, The Real Boy, and Breadcrumbs. Her books have been on…
Aram Kim is a children’s book author/illustrator and a picture book designer. She was born in Ohio, raised in South Korea, and now lives in…
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Arya earned his BA in Psychology at UC San Diego, and a master’s in Organizational Behavior from NYU. In…
Ashley Hope Pérez is the author of three novels: Out of Darkness (2015), The Knife and the Butterfly (2012), and What Can’t Wait (2011). Out of Darkness was described by The New York Times…
Ashley Wolff has been a visual artist since she declared herself one at the age of five. She grew up in Middlebury, Vermont, and holds…
Zoom Special Guest Carol Hinz is Editorial Director of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books, imprints of Lerner Publishing Group. She oversees and edits a range…
Carole Boston Weatherford is an award-winning author of children’s books, including Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America (NAACP Image Award), Voice…
Carolyn P. Yoder is the founding editor and currently the senior editor of Calkins Creek Books, the fifteen-year-old U.S. history imprint of Boyds Mills &…
Carrie Pearson feels that being a children’s book author represents the best merger of her education, occupations, and passion. She holds a BA in early…
Special Guest Catherine Laudone is an associate editor at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers with seven and a half years of experience editing…
Chris Tebbetts is the author and co-author of many books for young readers. Titles include the #1 New York Times bestselling MIDDLE SCHOOL series with…
Christine Heppermann is the author of the YA poetry collection Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty and the novel-in-verse Ask Me How I Got…
Clara Gillow Clark is a critically acclaimed author of six novels of historical fiction for middle grade readers. In addition to many of her books…
Cordelia Jensen graduated with a MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2012. Cordelia has three verse…
Author/Illustrator Courtney Pippin-Mathur creates humorous and heartfelt books for kids, including Maya was Grumpy (Flashlight, 2013), Dragons Rule, Princesses Drool (Little Simon, 2017) and Happy…
Crystal Allen is the author of several middle grade novels: How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy (Balzer and Bray 2011), The Laura Line…
Cynthia Levinson is an author and presenter who writes nonfiction books and articles for and about young people, conducts writing workshops and playshops with children…
Dana Meachen Rau has written more than 350 books for children in a variety of genres—early readers, picture-books, historical fiction, biographies, cookbooks, and nonfiction on…
Special Guest Daniel Nayeri is the publisher of Odd Dot, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, where he oversees a team of designers, editors,…
Published in ten languages, children’s book author and writing teacher Darcy Pattison has been published with Harcourt, Philomel/Penguin, Harpercollins, Arbordale, and Mims House. Her books…
Special Guest Daria Peoples-Riley’s first job was at nine years old in the children’s section of her hometown library in Paso Robles, California. She worked…
Debbi Michiko Florence is the author of the Jasmine Toguchi chapter book series (JLG selections, the Amelia Bloomer and CCBC Choices lists, and a Cybils Award…
Deborah Heiligman is the author of 32 books, most of them nonfiction. Her latest, Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of…
Special Guest Deborah Kovacs is co-founder and core contributor to Walden Pond Press, the joint imprint of HarperCollins and Walden Media specializing in middle-grade fiction.…
Denise Fleming is the author/illustrator of many award-winning picture books. Fleming’s books are created in her signature style of pulp painting—a paper making technique. Often…
Don Tate is an award-winning author, and the illustrator of numerous critically acclaimed books for children, including Carter Reads The Newspaper (Peachtree Publishers); No Small Potatoes: Junius…
Edith Campbell is an assistant Education Librarian in the Cunningham Memorial Library at Indiana State University. Edith currently serves as the Indiana State Ambassador for…
Workshop Reader Eileen Robinson has worked with children’s writers all over the world for over twenty years. Former Executive Editor at Scholastic and Editorial Director…
Elise Broach is the author of more than twenty books for young readers, ranging from board books and picture books to young adult novels. Her…
Originally trained as an architect, Elizabeth Rose Stanton segued over to fine art and design while raising her family. Now she builds picture books! Her…
Special Guest Ellice Lee is the Associate Art Director of Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, where she art directs and designs…
Emily Jenkins writes YA, middle grade and books for the very young. Her twenty picture books include A Greyhound, A Groundhog, Toys Meet Snow, Lemonade in Winter, and most…
Special Guest Emily X.R. Pan is the New York Times bestselling author of THE ASTONISHING COLOR OF AFTER, which won the APALA Honor Award and…
Emma D. Dryden founded drydenbks LLC (www.drydenbks.com), a premiere children’s editorial & publishing consultancy firm, after 25 years experience as editor and publisher of Margaret…
Emma Otheguy is the author of the bilingual picture book Martí’s Song for Freedom (Lee & Low, 2017) about Cuban poet and national hero José…
Erin Dionne’s latest book for tweens is Secrets of a Fangirl (2019). She’s the author of 6 other books for young readers, including the 2014…
Floyd Cooper is the Coretta Scott King award-winning illustrator of more than 60 books for children. Floyd started his career in illustration at Hallmark, after…
Gail Carson Levine is well-known for her children’s books such as the Newbury-Honor winning Ella Enchanted and Forgive Me, I Meant To Do It, Gail’s…
Georgia Heard received her M.F.A. in poetry writing from Columbia University. She is a founding member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in…
Gina Maccoby is a New York literary agent representing authors of literary and commercial fiction and nonfiction for adults and children, including New York Times…
Harold is an independent children’s book editor and consultant who works with authors and publishers on manuscripts, books, and strategy. He is also the author…
Heather L. Montgomery writes for kids who are wild about animals. An award-winning author and educator, Heather uses yuck appeal to engage young minds. She…
Heidi didn’t want to be a writer when she grew up. In fact, after she graduated from college, she became a probation officer in Florida.…
James E. Ransome is the award-winning illustrator of over 60 picture books. He has been illustrating books, book jackets, greeting cards and magazines for over…
Jan Fields had her first brush with educational publishing when an editor happened upon her webpage and asked if she’d write a book for their…
Jane Yolen, often called “the Hans Christian Andersen of America,” celebrated the publication of her 365th book in 2018. Her works, which range from very young…
Jennie Dunham has been a literary agent in New York, New York for 8 years before she founded Dunham Literary, Inc. in 2000. She represents…
Jennifer Gennari is the author of Muffled (Simon & Schuster, 2020), a Junior Library Guild selection, and My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,…
Jennifer, a graduate of Harvard Graduate School of Education, is the author of over a dozen award-winning children’s books including Small as an Elephant (IRA…
Jennifer Swanson is the award-winning author of over 40+ nonfiction books for children, mostly about science and technology. Jennifer’s love of STEM began when she…
Jim Hill holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts where he learned to write books…
Preferring grace over style, message over technique, and story over extravagance, Joe seeks to create work with integrity and authenticity at its core. Born and…
Joshua Reuben Silverstein is an award-winning actor, comic, writer, beatboxer, and educator. His various performances and productions throughout the country have received admiration from creative…
Joy McCullough’s debut young adult novel Blood Water Paint earned honors including the National Book Award longlist and winner of the Washington State Book Award.…
Teaching Assistant Julia Garstecki has published more than fifty books for the education market. Series include American Fighting Forces, The Disgusting Crafter, and Military Tech.…
K.L. Going is the award winning author of numerous books for children and teens. Her first novel, Fat Kid Rules the World, was named a Michael Printz…
Special Guest Kandace Coston is the editorial assistant at Lee & Low Books, an independent children’s book publisher focusing on diversity. She grew up in…
Karen Boss is an editor at Charlesbridge. She holds an MA in Children’s Literature from Simmons College and is now a mentor in their MFA…
Special Guest Karl Jones is an Associate Editor at Penguin Young Readers Group. He works on a variety of licensed and original middle grade and…
Kashmira Sheth writes picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, and young adult fiction. Her books have received many awards and honors, including the Asian/Pacific…
Special Guest Kat Brzozowski is a senior editor at Swoon Reads/Feiwel & Friends. She has edited a wide range of young adult fiction, including Anna-Marie…
Special Guest Katherine Locke lives and writes in Philadelphia where they’re ruled by their feline overlords and their addiction to chai lattes. They secretly believe…
Special Guest Kathy spent fifteen years as a lawyer before turning to her first love: writing. She was lucky to work with Patricia Gauch and…
Kathryn Otoshi is an acclaimed author/illustrator and speaker best known for her character-building book series, Zero, One, and Two. She goes to schools across the…
Special Guest Katie Heit is an editor at Scholastic, where she edits nonfiction picture books and chapter books, as well as select fiction picture book…
Special Guest Katura J. Hudson is a children’s book author, editor, and a communication strategist. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Rutgers University,…
Special Guest Kayla Cichello is an agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Before joining Upstart Crow, she was the Conference Coordinator for the International Summer and…
Special Guest Kekla Magoon is the award-winning author of eight young adult novels, including The Rock and the River, How It Went Down, X: A Novel, and the…
Kelly Bennett is the author of many award-winning books for children—mostly picture books. Her stories, such as Not Norman, A Goldfish Story, a Jumpstart Read…
Special Guest Kelly Dyksterhouse is a literary agent with Raven Quill Literary Agency. She specializes in fiction and non-fiction from PB to YA. Kelly has…
Special Guest Kelly Light lives in New York but grew up down the shore in New Jersey surrounded by giant pink dinosaurs, cotton candy colors,…
Kendra Levin is the Editorial Director of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Before joining the S&S team in 2019, she spent fourteen years…
Special Guest Kiara Valdez is an assistant editor at First Second Books. She was born and raised in New York City (shout out to Washington…
Workshop Reader Krystal Song is a writer with roots in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Much of her work touches on themes of the Sino diaspora…
Kwame is a husband, father, writer, and pharmaceutical metrologist in that order. His debut middle-grade novel, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (October…
Special Guest Lamar Giles writes novels and short stories for teens and adults. He is the author of the 2015 Edgar® Award Nominee Fake ID, the 2016 Edgar® Award NomineeEndangered, a third,…
Laura M. Jiménez is the Department Chair for Language & Literacy Education at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. She teaches children’s…
Laura Ruby is the author of the YA novel Bone Gap, a National Book Award Finalist and winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, and the…
After a career in undergraduate counseling, Laura Sibson pursued an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. When she’s not writing in a local coffee…
Laurie Calkhoven is the author of more than 50 books for young readers ranging from award-winning nonfiction early readers to YA adaptations of adult books.…
Leah Henderson has always loved getting lost in stories. When she is not scribbling down her characters’ adventures, she is off on her own, exploring…
Lesa Cline-Ransome’s first book was the biography Satchel Paige, an ALA Notable Book and a Bank Street College “Best Children’s Book of the Year. She…
Lesléa Newman is the author of 70 books for readers of all ages including the children’s classic, Heather Has Two Mommies, the middle-grade novel Hachiko…
Leslie’s award-winning books are known for their humor and word play. Woolbur (HarperCollins) was nominated for book awards in 13 states, winning honors in Florida…
Special Guest Linda Camacho is an agent with Gallt & Zacker Literary. After graduating from Cornell University, Linda interned at Simon & Schuster and Writers…
Workshop Reader Linda Epstein is a senior agent at Emerald City Literary Agency, in their east coast office. She represents picture books, middle grade and…
Liz Kossnar enthusiastically joined the Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers editorial team in November 2013. She primarily acquires middle grade but occasionally works…
Maika Moulite is a Miami native and the daughter of Haitian immigrants. She earned a bachelor’s in marketing from Florida State University and an MBA…
Maritza Moulite graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s in women’s studies and the University of Southern California with a master’s in journalism.…
Mark Oshiro is the award-winning author of ANGER IS A GIFT (2019 Schneider Family Book Award) and EACH OF US A DESERT, both with Tor…
Mary Cash is the Vice President and Editor in Chief at Holiday House, a children’s-only publisher. She edits books in many genres, but has a…
Workshop Reader Meera Trehan read as much as she could as a child, memorized poems, and ate enough cookies to earn the nickname “Monster” after…
Meg Medina is a Newbery and Pura Belpré award-winning author of picture books, middle grade, and YA fiction. She is the author of Merci Suárez Changes…
Special Guest Megan Atwood is the author of more than fifty books for children and young adults. She founded the young adult imprint, Flux Books,…
Special Guest Meghan McCullough is an Assistant Editor at Levine Querido. Previously, she was an Editorial Assistant at Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of…
Workshop Reader Melanie J. Fishbane holds an M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and an M.A.…
Special Guest Melissa Wyatt is the author of two young adult novels, Funny How Things Change, named to the YALSA BBYA and Kirkus Best Young…
Teaching Assistant Merrill Rainey is the creator and owner of LittleRainey Illustration & Design, which is a children’s illustration and design studio based out of…
M. García was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She moved to New York where she studied creative writing at The New School,…
Mike Curato is the author and illustrator of everyone’s favorite polka-dotted elephant, Little Elliot. His debut title,Little Elliot, Big City (Henry Holt Books for Young…
Miranda Paul is an award-winning children’s author of more than a dozen picture books including One Plastic Bag, Water is Water, I Am Farmer and Are We…
Mitali Perkins has written many novels for young readers, including Rickshaw Girl (chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the top 100 books for…
A proud product of the Detroit Public Schools, Dr. Nancy D. Tolson received her Masters and PhD from the University of Iowa, researching the history…
Special Guest Nancy Mercado is Associate Publisher & Editorial Director, Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin. She began her career in the Scholastic Book Clubs…
Nancy Werlin is the author of nine young-adult novels that range from contemporary realism to mystery to fantasy. Her books include the New York Times…
Nicole Valentine (www.nicolevalentinebooks.com) is an author of middle grade fiction. She earned her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College…
Nikki Grimes, New York Times bestselling author, is the recipient of the 2017 Children’s Literature Legacy Award, the 2016 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, and the…
NoNieqa Ramos is an educator, literary activist, and writer of “intense” literature. She wrote the THE DISTURBED GIRL’S DICTIONARY, a 2018 New York Public Library…
Nova Ren Suma (she/her) is a New York Times bestselling author of strange, magical young adult novels and a two-time Edgar Award finalist. Her latest…
Special Guest Oge Mora is a storyteller residing in Providence, RI. Her picture book, Thank You, Omu!, was a Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New…
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich is the author of 8th Grade Superzero, a Notable Book for a Global Society and Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People.…
Padma Venkatraman is the author of THE BRIDGE HOME which has garnered 8 stars, and has been honored as one of the best books of…
Special Guest Pat Cummings is the author and/or illustrator of over 40 books for young readers. Along with teaching children’s book classes at Pratt and…
Patrice Caldwell is a graduate of Wellesley College and the founder and fundraising chair of People of Color in Publishing, a grassroots organization dedicated to…
Former vice president and editor at large of Philomel Books, Patti is now a fulltime writer and lecturer. She has authored more than 40 picture…
Paula Chase-Hyman doesn’t mind being known as a Jane of all trades, Queen of none. But a single theme has followed throughout her career in…
Paula Morrow has been a children’s literature specialist for over 40 years and still enjoys each new day in the world of children’s books and…
Special Guest Paula Yoo is a children’s book author and TV writer/producer. Her latest YA non-fiction book about Vincent Chin, whose brutal beating death by…
Phoebe North, a graduate of the University of Florida’s MFA program in poetry, is the critically acclaimed author of Starglass and Starbreak. A new novel…
Special Guest Rajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area, where she practices medicine and writes books…
Rebecca M. Davis is Senior Editor of Boyds Mills Press and Wordsong, imprints of Boyds Mills & Kane. Wordsong is the only imprint in the…
Rebecca is an author and poet whose poetry appears in many award-winning collections, in dozens of anthologies and textbooks, and in major children’s magazines. Rebecca…
Rena Barron is the author of the Young Adult fantasy novel Kingdom Of Souls, the first in a trilogy from HarperTeen and a 2019 Junior…
Rena is the author of The Sisters of the Winter Wood and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars Program, where she majored in poetry and…
Special Guest Renee Kelly is an editor at Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House. She acquires leveled readers, picture books, chapter books, middle…
Renée Watson is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, and activist. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017) received a Coretta Scott…
Rob Costello (he/him) writes fiction for and about queer youth. He holds an MFA from the Writing for Children and Young Adults Program at the…
Rob Sanders is a writer who teaches, and a teacher who writes. A native of Springfield, Missouri, he has lived in Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee.…
Special Guest Rona Shirdan is living her best life as a writer, freelance copy editor, and proofreader. She is the mother of two adult sons…
Special Guest Ruth Horowitz’s six books for young children include picture books Are We Still Friends?, which PJ Library reissued as a Rosh Hashanah selection,…
Salina Yoon is the award-winning and bestselling author and illustrator of over 160 books for children, with over 3.5 million books sold worldwide. She was…
Teaching Assistant Sandra K. Athans is a National Board Certified practicing literacy specialist with over fifteen years of experience teaching at the elementary level. She…
Sarah Aronson has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and has published three novels: Head Case,…
Special Guest Sayantani DasGupta is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed, Bengali folktale and string theory-inspired Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond…
Shadra Strickland is an award-winning illustrator. She won the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent in 2009…
Siobhan Vivian is the New York Times best-selling author of eleven young adult novels, including Stay Sweet, The Last Boy and Girl in the World,…
The author of the YA doc dramedy Symptoms of a Heartbreak, Sona Charaipotra is not a doctor — much to her pediatrician parents’ chagrin. They were…
Steve Light grew up in an enchanted place known as New Jersey. He went on to study Illustration at Pratt Institute, he also had the…
Steve Sheinkin is the award-winning author of fast-paced, cinematic nonfiction histories for young readers. The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil…
Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen is an award-winning children’s book author whose books include Chicks Rule, The United States vs. Jackie Robinson (2019 ALSC Notable Children’s Books List),…
Special Guest Sunita Apte is the half-Indian, half-Hungarian child of immigrants. She has lived and traveled in Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa. Born and…
Susan Campbell Bartoletti is an award-winning author of picture books, novels, and nonfiction for children, including the Newbery Honor book Hitler Youth: Growing Up in…
Susan Kusel is the librarian at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia, the children’s book buyer and selector for [words] bookstore in Maplewood, New…
Street magic performer. Hog-calling champion. Award-winning ice sculptor. These are all things Tara Lazar has never been. Instead, she writes quirky, humorous picture books (and…
Rabbi Tarlan Rabizadeh was born and raised in Los Angeles’ Jewish Persian community, affectionately known as “Irangeles.” She earned a B.A. from Boston University, where…
Teresa Robeson (teresarobeson.com) draws upon her Chinese heritage, immigrant sensibilities, as well as her background in science and love of nature when she writes. Her…
Special Guest Tiff Liao is an editor at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. She’s had the pleasure of editing authors such as Tomi Adeyemi,…
Tiffany D. Jackson is the author of the critically acclaimed, NAACP Image Award-nominated Allegedly; Monday’s Not Coming; and Let Me Hear a Rhyme (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen…
Special Guest Tina Dubois is a literary agent at ICM Partners, specializing in middle grade and young adult fiction. Noteworthy titles include the New York…
Tod Olson is author of the forthcoming Into the Clouds: The Race to Climb the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain (April 2020), the narrative nonfiction series…
Tracey Baptiste is the New York Times bestselling author of Minecraft: The Crash, as well as the creepy Caribbean series The Jumbies which includes The…
Traci Chee is the New York Times bestselling author of The Reader Trilogy and We Are Not Free (HMH, June 2020). An all-around word geek,…
Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction books as well as poems for children. Her debut nonfiction picture book, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, features the universal…
Special Guest Trisha de Guzman is an Associate Editor at Farrar, Straus, Giroux Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan. She is actively building…
Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a self-taught illustrator, doll maker, and crafter who studied fashion illustration at FIT and children’s book illustration at the School of Visual…
Veera Hiranandani is the author of The Night Diary (Kokila), which has received many awards including the 2019 Newbery Honor Award, the 2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Award,…
Wiley has worked in publishing for almost 30 years. He has written several early readers, such as Max Has a Fish and A New Friend,…
Special Guest Yesenia Flores Díaz credits her parents and elementary school librarian for cultivating a love of reading. She won the 2016 Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize…
Yuyi Morales was born in Xalapa, Mexico, the city of flowers and springs. After migrating to the US in 1994, she struggled with English and…
Special Guest Yvonne Wakim Dennis is an award winning author of nonfiction books for children and adults including A Kid’s Guide to Native American History…
Intimate and inspiring workshops for children's authors and illustrators.
