Sarah Jung is an illustrator and children’s book writer. She has a B.F.A (2017) in Illustration, creative writing and book arts from Maryland Institute College of Art. Sarah was born in the state of Maine, and grew up in Vancouver, Canada. Raised in a Korean household, her experiences of varied cultures made her a fluid writer and illustrator that she is today. She enjoys listening to stories from different walks of life, and her unique yet nostalgic illustrations evoke the idea of children’s memories and points of views. She is inspired by those around her, and the childhood memories she holds dear to her heart. Sarah’s goal as a story-teller is to bring forth the stories that often go forgotten, as well as tap into stories that may seem too painful or difficult to face. Sarah currently resides in Baltimore, MD working as a freelance illustrator with her friends.
Stone Joanie
Joanie Stone is a New York Times-bestselling illustrator, born and raised in Virginia, where she still lives today with her husband and young daughter. She spends her days painting in her light filled studio in the country, surrounded by nature. She has a love for all things vintage, especially children’s book illustration, advertising and fashion from long ago. She uses her background in traditional hand drawn animation to bring life and movement to her characters and fills her images with textures reminiscent of children’s books from the past. She hopes her images will inspire kids to pick up a pencil and create their own worlds through stories and art.
Hwang Sarah
Sarah Hwang is a Korean-American picture book author and Illustrator. She received her BFA in illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Sarah loves to sprinkle a bit of her quirk and humor in everything she creates. As a storyteller, she focuses on creating fun stories that are relatable for readers of all ages. Sarah made her author-illustrator debut with her much loved picture book, Toasty.
Mills, Beth
Beth Mills is an illustrator who occasionally writes cleverly layered laugh out loud stories. She wrote and illustrated Ella McKeen, Kickball Queen, winner of the International Literacy Association’s Primary Fiction Honor and the 2019 Writers League of Texas Picture Book Award) and illustrated the Beatrice Bly’s Rules for Spies series, written by Sue Fliess. She is currently working on an unknown number of projects stuffed into desk drawers, file cabinets, and bookshelves around her house. Beth is from Texas and says “ya’ll” and “howdy” unironically. Beth’s favorite things to draw are quirky characters, animals in clothes, and monsters. Beth’s favorite thing to write is funny fiction. Her least favorite thing to write is her bio.
Bermudez, Alyssa
Alyssa Bermudez (she/her) is a born and bred New Yorker living down under in Tasmania, Australia! She studied illustration and animation at the Fashion Institute of Technology for Bachelors and Masters courses. Using watercolor and digital techniques, she brings a unique and vibrant quality to her illustrations. As an author, illustrator, and art teacher, Alyssa’s work has appeared in over a dozen picture books, on fabric collections, and even on stage. Her debut middle-grade graphic memoir, Big Apple Diaries (2021), introduced readers to her personal diary entries growing up in NYC. The book is now part of the permanent collection at the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City. Her latest memoir, Run Home, is a heartfelt story about friendship, running, and navigating grief with resilience and creativity. With a deep commitment to celebrating diverse voices, Alyssa’s work embraces inclusivity and emotional honesty. She’s obsessed with dogs, books, live sketching, traveling, and keeping plants alive.
Gaines, Lynn
Lynn Gaines loves creating characters and picture-making. An Ohio native, she is the daughter of an artist and learned how to be an artist and a maker from her. She fell in love with picture books when her mom took her to the library every week and let her choose a few books for herself. Her favorite artists back then were Hillary Knight, Mary Shephard, Maurice Sendak, and Leo and Diane Dillon to name a few. Later, she decided she wanted to make art for a living, too.
Lynn has been illustrating professionally ever since graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Art. She has worked as an illustrator and designer for greeting card and stationery products. In 2018, she made her debut into the world of children’s books and never looked back! She is passionate about capturing storybook worlds, the details and characters.
Nowadays, when she’s not at her art table or computer, she is looking for inspiration, at the beach, reading, baking, sewing or roller skating! She is also working on writing and illustrating her first kid-friendly biography about her family of makers. She lives in the (mostly) sunny greater Cleveland area with her husband Mel, and their fur kids, Charlie and Ollie.
Keller, EG
EG Keller is the illustrator of the New York Times #1 bestseller, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, and the picture book His Royal Dogness, Guy the Beagle: The Rebarkable True Story of Meghan Markle’s Rescue Dog. As Gerald Kelley, he illustrated documentarian Ken Burns’ New York Times bestselling book, Grover Cleveland, Again!, and wrote and illustrated the picture book, Please Please the Bees, which won the 2017 Frances and Wesley Bock Book Award for Children’s Literature and was read aloud for Storyline Online by Rashida Jones. Keller lives in Colorado with his husband.
Liu, Jia
Jia Liu studied graphic design and children’s picture book illustration at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, and received her MFA in Illustration from the Maryland Institute College of Art. While studying at MICA, Jia worked as an art teacher for young children and discovered her passion for children’s books. Observing her students’ psychology and behavior inspired her to create stories that focus on the real problems children face in their daily lives. Most of her stories come from her teaching experiences, and aim to amuse and inspire kids, like they inspire her. She loves to bring playfulness and humor into her work, and is always on the lookout for a funny facial expression that she can use for her characters. When she isn’t busy illustrating, Jia loves to watch movies and go to farmer’s markets.
Click here to download Jia’s PDF portfolio
Player Micah
A former Creative Director of Paul Frank Industries and the co-founder and Creative Director of Lately Lily, Micah Player began his illustration career designing characters, graphics and style guides for the apparel industry. He then went on to write and illustrate the picture books Chloe, Instead and the Lately Lily series (Chronicle Books). He recently illustrated Guy Stuff: The Body Book for Boys for American Girl. He is the creator of the best-selling “Around the World Puzzle” and its follow-up, the “Around the World Matching Game” (Chronicle). His commercial work has appeared in Anthropologie, Selfridges, MOMA, The Land of Nod, Target, World Market, Papyrus, Tea Collection, Pottery Barn Kids and many other awesome places.
Micah was born in Alaska, as the seventh of nine kids in a family of drifters. Some of his earliest memories are of the rolling interstate from Oklahoma to California, eyes gazing out the window of the family van, pencil firmly in hand. The far-off places and continuing daydreams that filled his sketchbook were a sort of home base in a life on the move.
He is fascinated by the intersection of story, product design, illustration and branding, the ability of great creative work to give ideas a sense of place and tangibility. His work is informed by a deep love and appreciation of the holistic approach to design pioneered in the mid 20th century and the smart, whimsical picture books produced in the 50s and 60s. Micah’s style marries sharp, deliberate shapes of vibrant, saturated color with translucent ink washes and linear, expressive brushwork.
He now lives in a little house beneath a giant tree in the mountains of Utah with a lovely schoolteacher named Stephanie. They are the parents of two rad kids, one brash little Yorkshire Terrier and several Casio keyboards.
Na Il Sung
Il Sung Na was born in Seoul, South Korea. In 2001, he moved to London to pursue a BFA in Illustration and Animation at Kingston University, where he discovered a passion for children’s books. Spending much of his spare time perusing book stores, Il Sung realized that he wanted to be like his new favorite authors and to tell his own stories. He began trying out illustration with various materials – which was a phase of great trial and error! Since those days of experimentation, however, Il Sung has published several books, some of which have gained acclaim with Kirkus starred reviews and recognition in prestigious book lists. Currently based in Baltimore, Il Sung spends time teaching illustration courses and working on new books. On his down time, Il Sung hits the flea markets to expand his collection of old and interesting items, which he then takes home to show off to his wife and small dog.
Click here for a peek inside Il Sung’s process