Children’s Picture Book
Writers of Children's Picture Books from Minnesota.
Keenan Jones
Keenan Jones, an author in Plymouth, Minnesota, grew up in Gary, Indiana and south suburban Chicago. Coming from a family of educators, pastors, athletes, and musicians, he shifted to education after a college basketball injury, working as an elementary teacher before returning to writing. Jones believes literacy can inspire youth to dream and achieve greatness,…
Thomas Kingsley Troupe
Thomas Kingsley Troupe is the author of the Furry & Flo series along with over 300 other fiction and non-fiction books for kids. When he’s not writing, he enjoys reading, playing video games, and investigating haunted places with the Twin Cities Paranormal Society. Otherwise, he’s probably taking a nap or something. He lives in Woodbury,…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
Laura James
Born and raised in Minnesota, Laura James worked in the production and recording departments at the Twin Cities Public Television Station; and after being tasked with creating, writing, and editing a variety of projects, her interest in writing increased. She changed her goal, focused on writing, and eventually fulfilled her dream of becoming an author.…