Children’s Picture Book

Writers of Children's Picture Books from Minnesota.

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Naima Haji

Naima Haji is an author, consultant, family educator, and dedicated advocate for early childhood literacy. She is passionate about bilingual family education and aspires to kindle a similar passion in others, encouraging them to invest in the growth and development of early childhood education within families. Haji lives in in St. Cloud, Minnesota with her…

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Monica Rojas

Monica Rojas is a bilingual queer Chilean-American who hopes to engage communities through writing and artistic practices involving magical realism, joy, and play. She wrote the picture book Nana and Abuela, received a Mirrors and Windows Fellowship through the Loft Literary Center, is a member of SCBWI, and has created many interactive art installations. Rojas…

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Ben Orlin

Ben Orlin has written four books, including Math with Bad Drawings and Math for English Majors. He describes himself as a “professional apologist for mathematics,” the word “apologist” holding both in the classical sense (an advocate for a worldview) and in the modern sense (someone doing PR for a widely despised client). His writing and…

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Sean Tulien

Sean Tulien writes and edits playful and compelling kidlit of all kinds. His specialty is fiction for kids with a strong visual component, especially comics. He loves bunnies, video games, lifting heavy things, hiking, and amusing others.

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Ty Chapman

Ty Chapman is the author of Sarah Rising, Looking For Happy, and A Door Made for Me (written with Tyler Merritt). Chapman’s forthcoming publications include multiple children’s books and a poetry collection through Button Poetry. He was a 2022 Center for Arts + Social Justice Fellow – an award that supports a speculative work in…

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Abdi Mahad

Abdi Mahad, co-founder of Diverse Voices Press, an independent publishing company located in St. Cloud, Minnesota, is dedicated to promoting inclusivity through literature. His primary goal is to publish books that amplify the voices of underrepresented communities. Mahad holds a master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), a master’s degree in Computer…

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Annette Gagliardi

Annette Gagliardi is a poet whose work has appeared in literary journals in Canada, England, and the US. Her first full-length poetry collection, titled A Short Supply of Viability, was published through The Poetry Box. Gagliardi notices the intricate details of lives lived around her. She notices the dimensions of nature, time, and the human…

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Laura James

Born and raised in Minnesota, Laura James worked at the Twin Cities Public Television Station, creating, writing, and editing projects, until she followed her desire to write children’s fiction. The Addison books marry entertainment with education, capturing children’s attention, while promoting language skills development. The Addison stories also fall into the educational genre, with both…

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Hudda Ibrahim

Hudda Ibrahim graduated from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, majoring in Conflict Resolution and English Literature. She went on to earn a Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. Her books include From Somalia to Snow, What Color is My Hijab?, and Lula Wants…

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Karen Latchana Kenney

Karen Latchana Kenney is an Indian-Irish author and editor, born near the equator in Guyana, and raised far north in Minnesota. She’s lived in New Amsterdam, Toronto, Minneapolis, Dublin, Maynooth, Oregon, and Rhode Island, and visited many more places on far-flung adventures. She first got lost in books as a child and hoped one day…