Drawing and painting have always been among the most important things to Elizabeth Zunon. She was born in Albany, NY and grew up in the Ivory Coast, West Africa. One of her earliest memories is of the proud feeling she had when she first learned to write the letter “E” for her name. Surrounded by the bright, vibrant colors of everyday West African fabrics and tropical vegetation, Elizabeth’s love of color and pattern only grew. After returning to the United States, Elizabeth attended the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a B.F.A. in Illustration in 2006. Her illustrated picture book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind was chosen as one of Amazon’s Best Children’s Books of 2012. She now lives in Albany, NY, where she explores a multicultural world through painting, beading, sewing, and collage. Her twelfth illustrated children’s book, Grandpa Cacao: a Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family (Bloomsbury), was published in May 2019. It is her first authored-illustrated book: a true story about chocolate!
Awards / Honors
- 2018 Bank Street College’s Best Books of the Year – One Last Word & The Legendary Miss Lena Horne
- 2018 Junior Library Guild Selection – I am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon
- 2018 Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Early Readers – The Legendary Miss Lena Horne
- 2018 Children’s Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People – The Legendary Miss Lena Horne
- 2018 Wisconsin State Reading Association’s Reading List – The Legendary Miss Lena Horne
- 2017 Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books – The Legendary Miss Lena Horne and One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance
- 2017 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award – Don’t Call Me Grandma
- 2017 NYPL’s Best Books for Kids – One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance
- 2017 Bank Street’s Best Children Books of the Year – Don’t Call Me Grandma
- 2017 CCBC Choices – Don’t Call Me Grandma
- 2016 NPR’s Best Books of the Year – Don’t Call Me Grandma
- 2016 Children’s Africana Book Honor – One Plastic Bag
- 2016 CCBC Choices – One Plastic Bag and Poems in the Attic
- 2016 Bank Street’s Best Children’s Books of the Year – One Plastic Bag and Poems in the Attic
- 2016 NCTE Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts – Poems in the Attic
- 2016 Amelia Bloomer List – One Plastic Bag
- 2016 Green Earth Book Award Shortlist – One Plastic Bag
- NYPL 2015 Children’s Book Recommendations – One Plastic Bag
- 2015 Kirkus’s Best Middle-Grade Books of 2015 – Poems in the Attic
- 2015 Eureka! Honor Award – One Plastic Bag
- 2015-16 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List – Poems in the Attic
- 2013 CCBC Choice – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- 2013 Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year: Biography – A President from Hawai’i
- 2013 Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year: Technology – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- 2013 Gelett Burgess Award for My Hands Sing the Blues
- 2013 Children’s Africana Book Award, Best Books for Young Children – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- 2012 The Best Books of the Year, Amazon.com – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- 2012 Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12, National Science Teachers Association, for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- 2012 Gold Moonbeam Children’s Book Award –My Hands Sing the Blues
- 2012 Junior Library Guild Selection – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- 2011 New York Public Library’s Best Books to Read and Share: picture book category – My Hands Sing the Blues
- Giant handpainted clog commissioned by the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District, and purchased by the Albany Institute of History and Art.
