Huy Voun Lee arrived in New York City at the age of six as a Cambodian refugee. She spent countless hours in her childhood playing with the scrap papers her mom brought home from work. Huy has written and illustrated many books for children using her colorful cut paper style. Nowadays, she incorporates her collection of papers into her illustrations in Procreate. Huy studied at the School for Visual Arts and lives with her husband and mother on the Upper West Side.
London Ladd is a graduate of Syracuse University with a BFA in illustration. London works primarily in a painterly style with acrylic, building opaque layers atop a foundation of thin washes, in a way that brings his colors to life. He carries a sketchbook with him everywhere he goes, constantly perfecting his craft. His published books include Midnight Teacher, Frederick’s Journey: The Life of Frederick Douglass, Waiting for Pumpsie, and March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World. London lives in Syracuse, NY.
Gabrielle Grimard has been drawing since she was a very young child. Born in Montreal, she studied Fine Arts at Concordia University. She began her career as a muralist, painting numerous walls in commercial buildings in the Montreal area. She is the critically acclaimed illustrator of Stolen Words, which was one of Kirkus’s “Best Picture Books to Give Strength.” Her debut author-illustrated picture book, Lila and the Crow, was called “an artful take on resilience” by Kirkus, and was named a Best Book for Kids & Teens by Canadian Children’s Book Centre, and a Toronto Public Library’s First & Best List book.
Elise Gravel has a passion for entertaining children with funny and endearing characters. She wants children to enjoy the world and explore it– but learn something along the way. She knows how to explain experiences which children are living through in a way that is easy for them to understand. Using her trademark comic style, she connects with her audience while translating sensitive topics. Gravel’s understanding of how kids act and feel allows her to sympathize with what they may be going through. She offers free posters for parents, teachers and professional organizations that allow them to communicate about life, world events, and emotions in a simple way where a child can make a quick visual connection and feel understood.
Her poster series has been translated to many languages around the world and has been distributed widely in professional publications and newsletters.
Sarah Dillard studied art at Wheaton College and illustration at Rhode Island School of Design. Her author illustrated books include the popular Mouse Scouts series, the critically-acclaimed young graphic reader, Extraordinary Warren and its sequel, Extraordinary Warren Saves the Day. Her picture book I Wish it Would Snow was on the CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People list for 2019, and her picture book Blueberry Cake won a Gourmand Award. Sarah is inspired by the beautiful mountain she lives on, and doesn’t feel a day is complete without a walk in the woods. For further inspiration she dips into her collection of vintage children’s books, including Margaret Wise Brown’s The Little Fur Family, Maurice Sendak’s Nutshell Library, and the Beatrix Potter books. She hopes to create picture books that transport young minds into magical worlds, just as she was as a child. Sarah lives on a mountain in Vermont.
Click here to download Sarah’s PDF portfolio
Lucie Crovatto has had a passion for drawing for as long as she can remember—legend says she started even before she could walk. This early fascination has never faded. After studying graphic design at university, she launched her career in advertising and editorial illustration. Along the way, she founded a greeting card company and spent time restoring historic homes, but today her creative focus is entirely on children’s picture books. Her latest book, The Sun Never Hurries, was honored as a 2025 favorite by the Children’s Book Council of New York in two categories. Her work embodies spontaneity, fluidity, and a delightful touch of humor and playfulness, and she hopes her illustrations will charm you as much as they delighted her to create them.
Click here to see more of Lucie’s work and characters!
Stephen Costanza studied music theory and composition at Syracuse University before attending the Philadelphia College of Art to pursue a career in the visual arts. Stephen’s background in music led him to write and illustrate the picture books Mozart Finds a Melody, Vivaldi and The Invisible Orchestra, and King of Ragtime. Stephen’s illustrations have appeared in magazines, newspapers, advertising, and textbooks, from The American Prospect and Cricket to brochures for the Boston Ballet, Four Seasons Hotel, and Boston Lyric Opera. King of Ragtime was the 2022 Golden Kite Award Winner for Picture Book Illustration, and was selected for the Society of Illustrators’ Original Art Exhibition. Stephen lives in North Haven, Maine.
Sue Cornelison graduated with a BFA from Drake University in Art Education with an emphasis in drawing and painting. She then traveled to Florence, Italy to continue her studies at the International School of Studio Arts. Sue has worked as a full time illustrator for over thirty years, exploring many techniques and styles. She wrote and illustrated The Twelve Days of Christmas in Iowa, published by Sterling. She runs art camps for children, paints, sculpts, and teaches adult art classes in her backyard studio in her spare time.
Born in Paris and raised in Morocco, Barroux has an instinctive passion for travel and exploring other cultures. It’s no surprise that he approaches each new book he is illustrating as if it’s the beginning of an adventure. Barroux strives to create unusual artwork, and when creating picture book art, he always tries to surprise the little kid that is inside of him. He studied photography, art, sculpture, and architecture in France at the famous École Estienne and École Boule, and his mastery of these other mediums influences his illustration. He began illustrating by creating linocut images, and continues to try out various techniques in his work – from collages with antique papers, to oil pastels, to interesting color palettes. Despite all of the countries and far-away lands he’s explored, Barroux still believes that life in books is more extraordinary, where dogs can fly and trees are blue.