Children’s Picture Book
Writers of Children's Picture Books from Minnesota.
Cristina Oxtra
Cristina Oxtra is a Filipino American children’s book author. She earned an MFA in creative writing for children and young adults at Hamline University and a B.A. in journalism. She received The Loft Literary Center’s 2019-2020 Mirrors & Windows Fellowship for indigenous writers and writers of color and is a teaching artist at The Loft.…
Kevin Kunkel
Kevin Kunkel believes people are fundamentally good and altruistic and that education and community are the keys to unlocking the best in everybody. He hopes his books contribute to making our planet a better place. Kunkel is allergic to cats and dogs but pets aren’t necessary. His two boys (age 2 and newborn) fill the…
V.T. Bidania
V.T. Bidania is the author of the Astrid and Apollo chapter book series, which is the first children’s book series to star Hmong American characters. She was born in Laos and grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, right where Astrid and Apollo live! She has an MFA in creative writing from the New School and…
Mélina Mangal
Mélina Mangal’s work has been published by Milkweed Editions, Coffee House Press, W.W. Norton, and Carolina Wren Press. She is the author of five biographies for youth, including The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just, winner of the Carter G. Woodson Award. Her latest book, Jayden’s Impossible Garden, won the first Strive/Free…
Mary Bleckwehl
Mary Bleckwehl has spent her career promoting literacy and the love of learning. She taught for over 25 years and held administrative positions in higher education in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Minnesota. Bleckwehl grew up in a large farm family and quickly learned magic and grabbed every opportunity to read. Bleckwehl has three adult…
Anna V. Ostenso Moore
Ostenso Moore always has a stack of picture books to read. She is the author of the picture books Today Is a Baptism Day and We Gather at This Table and has guest blogged for Story Path, Building Faith, and other online faith formation websites. With a master’s in youth ministry and theological education from…
Lindsey McDivitt
Lindsey McDivitt writes fiction and non-fiction for children including Nature’s Friend: The Gwen Frostic Story, Truth and Honor: The President Ford Story, and A Plan for the People: Nelson Mandela’s Hope for His Nation. McDivitt is passionate about tackling ageism in books for children. She began writing children’s books after many years in health education…
Matt Lilley
Matt Lilley has published more than 20 children’s books. He has an M.S. in Scientific and Technical Communication from the University of Minnesota. The focus of his degree was on health and medical writing, with a special emphasis on medical writing for kids. His other favorite writing subjects include exploration and nature. He loves learning…
Susan Wardell
Susan Wardell grew up in Saint Paul and graduated from St. Cloud State University in Special Education. She taught preschool and ECFE for many years, but when their youngest graduated from college, she and her husband took the plunge and sold their home in the city and moved to their lake cabin, which is now…
Jill Kalz
Jill Kalz is the author of The Winter Bees: Fiction, a collection of interconnected short stories set in rural Minnesota (her current home) and a 2019 Midwest Book Award finalist. She has published stories individually in American Fiction Vol. 15 and Minnesota Monthly, and poetry in the Nebraska Review, the Ohio Review, Cream City Review,…