Listed alphabetically by last names A – G
KB Anne once smashed into a tree while skiing. The accident led to a concussion, a cracked sternum, temporary notoriety as a sixth grader returned from the dead, and the realization that fictionalized accounts are much more interesting than just slipping on the ice.
She writes the best-selling young adult contemporary fantasy series,The Goddess Chronicles Series. When Gigi reverses the spell her mom died casting, she discovers that witches, werewolves, and magic aren’t just bedtime stories. They’re her story.
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Tracey Baptiste is the New York Times bestselling author of MINECRAFT: THE CRASH. She is also the author of the popular JUMBIES series including THE JUMBIES, RISE OF THE JUMBIES, and THE JUMBIE GOD’S REVENGE. She has written several other fiction and nonfiction books for children.
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Rebecca Behrens is the award-winning author of three critically acclaimed middle-grade novels that explore famous historical figures and fascinating places: When Audrey Met Alice, Summer of Lost and Found, and The Last Grand Adventure. Her thrillingly realistic survival story The Disaster Days is a Junior Library Guild Selection. Look for her latest middle-grade adventure, Alone in the Woods, in October 2020. Rebecca grew up in Wisconsin, studied in Chicago, and now lives with her husband in New York City.
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Once a newspaper reporter, until Hollywood calls, Charlotte lives in NJ with her husband, sons, 2 needy cats, and sometimes deranged squirrel. Her books include the middle grade trilogy, Evolution Revolution: Simple Machines, Simple Plans, Simple Lessons. She co-authored the Sirenz series: Sirenz and Sirenz Back in Fashion; Blonde OPS and two anthologies, Beware the Little White Rabbit, and Scare Me to Sleep. Currently she’s polishing up several MG, YA, and NA novels in various genres.
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Artie Bennett is an executive copyeditor by day and a writer by night. He’s the author of The True Story of Zippy Chippy: The Little Horse That Couldn’t. He’s also the author of several hilarious rhyming picture books: The Butt Book, Poopendous!, Peter Panda Melts Down!, Belches, Burps, and Farts – Oh My!, and What’s Afoot! Your Complete, Offbeat Guide to Feet. There’s also two side-splitting joke and riddle books: The Universe’s Greatest Dinosaur Jokes and Pre-Hysteric Puns and The Universe’s Greatest School Jokes and Rip-Roaring Riddles. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. HuffPost says: “It appears there is no topic Mr. Bennett can’t make funny and educational.”
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Eric Berlin is the author most recently of Puzzlesnacks, a collection of the pencil puzzles he releases each week online. His Winston Breen series of mysteries for children – The Puzzling World of Winston Breen, The Potato Chip Puzzles, and The Puzzler’s Mansion – have been nominated for more than a dozen state reading awards. Eric has had dozens of crosswords in the New York Times and other outlets, and has created live puzzle events for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the Connecticut Library Association, and the National Museum of Mathematics, among others.
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Marc Brown is one of the most prominent names in children’s literature. Author of the bestselling Arthur books, as well as the creator of the six-time Emmy Award–winning animated Arthur series on PBS (with 25 Emmy nominations), Brown is a household name and has been entertaining generations of young readers with his relatable stories featuring Arthur the Aardvark. Over 65 million copies of his Arthur books have been sold, and in recent years, Brown has illustrated such award-winning and critically acclaimed picture books as Wild About Books, Born to Read, ZooZical!, and Wild About You!
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Nick Bruel is the creator of the NY Times Bestselling series Bad Kitty, among other works. He lives in Pleasantville, NY with his wife Carina, their daughter Izzy, their old, brown, one-eyed dachshund Toby, and their sometimes-good-sometimes-bad cat Rose.
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Rachelle Burk writes both fiction and nonfiction for children ages 3-12. Her works include picture books, chapter books, and an award-winning middle grade science adventure novel. Rachelle also has numerous magazine publications, including Scholastic Science World and Highlights, and is the founder of the writer’s resource site https://www.ResourcesForChildrensWriters.com, as well as a writing site for children: https://writingresourcesforkids.blogspot.com/. Rachelle is also children’s entertainer (Tickles the Clown and Mother Goof Storyteller). More than anything, the New Jersey author loves visiting schools throughout the country to inspire a love of reading and writing among children.
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Lesa has written numerous picture book biographies on notable figures such as Frederick Douglass, Helen Keller, Satchel Paige and Louis Armstrong and her books have garnered honors including A Jane Addams Honor, A Christopher Award, an NAACP Image Award, Kirkus Best Book, A Kids’ Indie Next Pick and an Orbis Pictus Recommended Book. Her verse biography of Harriet Tubman, Before She Was Harriet received a Coretta Scott King Honor for Illustration. Her debut middle grade novel, Finding Langston, was the 2019 winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and received the Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor. Lesa is the host of the KidLit TV show Past Present. She lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York with her husband, and frequent collaborator, James Ransome.
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Paul Czajak got an F with the words “get a tutor” on his college writing paper and after that, never thought he’d become a writer. But after spending twenty years as a chemist, he knew his creativity could no longer be contained. Living in New Jerseys with his wife, and two little monsters, Paul has rediscovered his passion for writing and looks forward to sharing his stories for years to come.
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S. T. Davis lives in the Hudson Valley and spends her time volunteering, writing, and painting. In the summer months, she gives historical tours at the Van Wyck Homestead and Museum in Fishkill, NY. The Fishkill Historical Society operates this site. Her hobbies are sewing, scrap booking, learning Italian, traveling, and studying piano.
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Jacky Davis-Soman, co-creator of the New York Times Best-selling “Ladybug Girl” series, and newly published “Agent Lion”, has also written “Olive & Pekoe: Four Short Walks” and “Black Belt Bunny”. She resides with her family in Rosendale, NY.
Kim Ellis began her writing career with a red crayon under her parents’ coffee table. At age four, she upgraded to the closet door. Now, as a retired teacher, she is still scribbling away, producing stories that have appeared in Cricket, High Five Magazine for Children, Stinkwaves, and Skipping Stones magazines. She is a teacher consultant with the Hudson Valley Writing Project. She enjoys yoga, quilting, and hanging out with her granddaughters. Tangled in Magic is her first published book, Guided by Magic is the second, and Awakening Magic is the third in the series.
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Della Ross Ferreri is a local children’s writer and teacher. This past year, Della has four new children’s books: PRECIOUS BABY, BEEP! BEEP! SPECIAL DELIVERY, HUGGLE WUGGLE, BEDTIME SNUGGLE, and most recently, GOD BLESSES ME, a sweetly-illustrated lift-the-flap board book. Her stories and poems have appeared in magazines such as Highlights High Five, Highlights Hello, Ladybug and Babybug. As a co-founder of CWHV – Children’s Writers of the Hudson Valley – she helps organize local writing conferences. Besides writing and teaching, Della enjoys reading, movies, traveling, leisurely walks and cheering for her family at running races and baseball games.
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Beth Ferry is the author of numerous books for young readers, including Stick and Stone, Ten Rules of the Birthday Wish and The Scarecrow. She is mainly inspired by two things: word play and the sea. Luckily, Beth is an avid reader who lives close to the beach so inspiration is never far away. In addition to picture books, Beth has begun writing graphic novels for emerging readers. She is lucky to have three kids, who are not so little, and a feisty bulldog named Chaucer.
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Alison Ashley Formento is the author of the award-winning nature picture books This Tree Counts!,This Tree, 1, 2, 3, These Bees Count!, These Seas Count!, and These Rocks Count! Her young adult novel Twigs was featured in Publisher’s Weekly as a notable new release for teen readers. Alison has written for several national publications including The New York Times, The Writer, and Parenting. She loves visiting schools and libraries and meeting readers of all ages.
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Nancy Furstinger has been speaking up for animals since she learned to talk, and she hasn’t shut up yet. She is the author of nearly 100 books, including many on her favorite topic: animals! She started her writing career in third grade, when her class performed a play she wrote while recovering from chicken pox. Since then, Nancy has been a feature writer for a daily newspaper, a managing editor of trade and consumer magazines, and an editor at two children’s book publishing houses. She shares her home with big dogs, house rabbits, and a chinchilla (all rescued), and volunteers with several animal organizations.
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Krystyna Poray Goddu is author of the middle-grade biographies Becoming Emily: The Life of Emily Dickinson and A Girl Called
Vincent: The Life of Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, winner of the SCBWI 2017 Golden Kite Honor Book for Nonfiction. She has also written a picture-book about
Alicia Markova, An Unlikely Ballerina, and a collective biography, Dollmakers and Their Stories: Women Who Changed the World of Play, and is co-author, with Krystyna Mihulka, of Krysia—A Polish Girl’s Stolen Childhood During World War II: A Memoir. She loves visiting schools and talking about the subjects of her books.
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Julie Gonzalez is the author of the rollicking read-aloud, How Could a Bear Sleep Here? (Holiday House, 2018). She was born in Maine, grew up in New Jersey, and currently lives in New York with her husband, two children, and one very naughty rabbit. She holds a degree in Education from the College of New Jersey and, before becoming an author, was a teacher and fitness instructor.
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Tania Guarino is an award winning children’s author. She lives with her family in New York’s Hudson Valley where her summer veggie garden has proven to be the perfect place for lots of woodland critter parties! When not writing fun stories for kids she can be found outdoors on nature walks, gardening, riding her bike, or on the family boat soaking up the sun and catching fish!
Tania is a contributor to Highlights High Five Magazine.
Garden Party A Counting Adventure Book is her second picture book.
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Dan Gutman has written many books for young readers, such as the My Weird School series, The Genius Files, Flashback Four, The Kid Who Ran For President, The Homework Machine, The Million Dollar Shot, and his baseball card adventure series. Dan and his wife Nina live New York City.
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Listed alphabetically by last name H – Z
Raven Howell is an award-winning author of nine picture books. She writes poetry for a variety of children’s magazines including Highlights and Cricket. Raven enjoys presenting children’s writing workshops and book events, visiting schools and libraries. She is the Creative & Publishing Advisor for RedClover Reader, and is represented by Storm Literary Agency.
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Lauren Magaziner is the author of the Case Closed series, Wizardmatch, Pilfer Academy, and The Only Thing Worse Than Witches. She is originally from New Hope, Pennsylvania, and she currently lives in Philadelphia, where she writes full-time. Lauren is also a secret undercover international detective—but don’t blow her cover.
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Kristin Mahoney grew up in Sanford, North Carolina and worked as a magazine editor and elementary school reading specialist before becoming a full-time writer. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, two daughters, and a sweet goofy dog.
Michele McAvoy is an inspirational speaker, the host of the popular kidlit podcast MY MESSY MUSE and an award-winning children’s book author (did we mention she’s also an attorney and mom of two young ones.) As a child, Michele read Judy Blume and drew Garfield comics. For her 10th birthday, she asked for a pink typewriter. Michele always loved the smell of new books. Now all grown-up (typewriters near obsolete) she loves bringing joy to children through her own stories. Her most recent picture book, COOKIE & MILK with Cardinal Rule Press, was selected as a Top Shelf Title with IPG and was touted as “Smart, sassy, supportive girl power to the max!” by Kirkus. Michele’s other titles include THE GORILLA PICKED ME! and MY SUPERHERO GRANDPA (recipient of a Children’s Moonbeam Book Award) both with The Little Press.
Suzanne Morris is an author, illustrator, and designer. She holds a BFA from Parsons School of Design. A TRAPEZOID IS NOT A DINOSAUR! (Charlesbridge, 2019), is her debut picture book. Her marks are made by hand, using pencils, ink, and watercolor, with a digital finish. She lives in
New Jersey with her husband and daughter. Suzanne offers engaging programs for schools and libraries to inspire readers to follow their own creative dreams.
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Diana Murray is the author of over a dozen books for children, including GOODNIGHT VEGGIES (HMH, March 2020), a Jr. Library Guild Selection; FIVE FUZZY CHICKS (Imprint/Macmillan, February 2020), an Amazon Book of the Month; WILD ABOUT DADS (imprint/Macmillan, May 2020); and UNICORN DAY (Sourcebooks, 2019), an Indiebound Bestseller. Her poems have appeared in magazines such as Highlights, High Five and Spider, as well as many anthologies. Diana grew up in NYC and still lives nearby with her firefighter husband, two children, and a smarty-pants cockatiel named Bean.
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David Neilsen is the author of two Middle Grade horror/comic/fantasies published by Crown Books for Young Readers: Dr. Fell and the Playground of Doom (2016) and Beyond the Doors (2017). A classically trained actor, David works as a professional storyteller based in Sleepy Hollow, NY and spends much of October spooking the bejeebers out of people or performing one of his one-man shows inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft. He lives with his wife, son, daughter, and two very domineering cats.
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Raised in New York and Paris, Robin Newman is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the City University of New York School of Law. She was a practicing attorney and legal editor, but she now prefers to write about witches, mice, pigs, and peacocks. Author of the award-winning Wilcox & Griswold Mystery Series, she’s a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, National Writing Project’s Writers Council, and the Bank Street Writers Lab. She lives in New York with her husband, son, spoiled dogs, and possibly the oldest surviving lionhead goldfish.
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Roxane Orgill is an award-winning writer of nonfiction books for children and adults. Her newest book, Siege: When Washington Kicked the British out of Boston and Launched a Revolution is written in verse for readers 10 and up and is a Notable Social Studies Trade book. Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph, earned six starred reviews and won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Best Picture Book. Jazz Day, illustrated by Francis Vallejo, is a collection of poems inspired by the iconic photo of 57 jazz musicians standing on a Harlem stoop. Previously, Ms. Orgill was a music critic at The Milwaukee Journal and The (Bergen County) Record, where she received the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award. She holds degrees from the University of Illinois and the University of London King’s College. She lives in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
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Karen Kaufman Orloff is the author of the award-winning “I Wanna” books (“I Wanna Iguana,” “I Wanna New Room,” “I Wanna Go Home”) and many other books for children. Her most recent book, “Dudley’s Day At Home” will be available on May 2. Other recent titles include “Some Days,” “Goodnight, Little Bot,” and “Miles of Smiles.” Karen frequently visits schools and lives in the Hudson Valley with her family.
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Born in Canada, Leanne Pankuch currently lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and sometimes moonlights as a substitute teacher. Dragon’s Truth is her debut novel. Her other stories have appeared in magazines, workbooks, and story collections. When she’s not writing about girls and women who break the rules, she reads way too many books. She loves laughing, wandering, music, history, fairy tales, graveyards, trees, rocks, dogs, her pirate husband, and her fellowship/family.
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James Preller is the author of a wide variety of books for young readers, grades K-8, including the “Jigsaw Jones” and “Scary Tales” series. He lives in nearby Delmar, NY, and frequently presents at elementary and middle schools as a visiting author. His talks are age-appropriate and vary from grade to grade, typically focusing on his personal life, the creative process, and themes of family and empathy.
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Andrea Pyros is a writer, editor, and former teen magazine staffer. A native of New York City, she now lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband and their two children. She is the author of two middle-grade books. Pink Hair and Other Terrible Ideas, from Capstone, was hailed as, “An empathetic story about learning to face problems both great and small,” from Foreword Reviews. Her first #kidlit novel, My Year of Epic Rock, was called “A perfect read for anyone who feels BFF-challenged” by Booklist, with School Library Journal saying Epic Rock is “A charming addition to upper elementary and middle school collections.”
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