Janet Costa Bates

Janet Costa Bates started writing poems and stories in the third grade, but it wasn't until she had her own children that she finally realized what she wanted to do with her writing skills. She developed a passion for writing children's literature. Her first book, SEASIDE DREAM, is a story about immigration that was inspired by her own Cape Verdean born grandmother. It was a Lee and Low New Voices Honor Award winner. Picture book TIME FOR BED, OLD HOUSE received four starred reviews and was an NAACP Image Award Nominee. The Horn Book calls it 'a fine, uplifting intergenerational story of literacy, literature, and homemade love.'  The Rica Baptista chapter book series features a Cape Verdean American girl navigating family and friend relationships. Both LLAMAS, IGUANAS, AND MY VERY BEST FRIEND and A WEEK OF are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections. 

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Carol Boston Weatherford 

The daughter of a printer, Carole Boston Weatherford was practically born with ink in her blood. She began writing at age 6 and soon after saw her poems in print. Her 80-plus books have garnered 2 NAACP Image Awards and 18 American Library Association Youth Media Awards, including a Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Award and 4 Caldecott Honors. Her career achievements have been recognized with the North Carolina Award for Literature, the Nonfiction Award from the Children’s Book Guild and induction into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. A retired English professor, she lives in Maryland.

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Mónica Mancillas

Mónica Mancillas's award-winning books include Mariana and Her Familia (Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, 2022 School Library Journal Best of Picture Book), The Worry Balloon, How to Speak in Spanglish (2023 September Target Book Club Pick, 2024 Américas Award Commended Title), Sing it Like Celia, Taco Tuesdays (Scholastic, January 7, 2025), and Leyendas/Legends (Chronicle, 2025). Her books center on themes of identity, culture, and mental health, while challenging those outdated tropes that have historically left Latine voices in the margins.

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Born in the small coastal town of Ensenada in Baja California, México, Mónica moved with her parents to the United States when she was two years old. As a child, she loved nothing more than to study and explore self-expression through writing and music. After graduating Valedictorian from the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, she earned a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley, after which she moved to Los Angeles where she worked for ten years in the recording industry.

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Today, Mónica lives in the UK, where she spends her days writing, reading, and tending to her much-adored daughter, husband, and dog, Annie.

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Angela Pham Krans

Hello!  I am a children’s book author who enjoys writing humorous and heartfelt stories that highlight relationships between family, friends, and the community.   I live in Atlanta with my husband and a rambunctious Malinois. Outside of writing, I enjoy biking (especially on vacation), hiking, trying new recipes, and spending time with family and friends over lots of food. Also, I have a chicken farm.

 

The creative process gives me a lot of joy —the ideation, the research, the writing, the sharing and critiquing – it nudges me forward inch by inch. But my favorite part of the process is interacting with young readers - their curiosity, sense of adventure, and openness are so inspiring! My stories are inspired by life experiences, family interactions (I have a huge family), lots of animal videos and just moments that make me giggle.  Ideas spark any time of the day but hot showers are the best time!

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