Abod Ahmed is an illustrator and children’s book artist from Aswan, Egypt. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Luxor University, specializing in Scenography (2018-2023). Abod is deeply inspired by nature, animals, and birds, drawing creative energy from his childhood memories and the breathtaking landscapes along the Nile in Aswan. His studies opened his eyes to the rich heritage and civilizations of the Arab world, which became a strong source of inspiration in his artistic journey.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Salma Ali is an Egyptian-American children’s book illustrator and writer whose work blends her rich cultural heritage with her multidisciplinary background, having come from academia and tech consulting before making her way into the world of illustration. She resides in coastal Virginia, finding inspiration in local wildlife and her love for crafting, stationary, sports, and reinventing Middle Eastern recipes. Salma’s mission is to bring to life the stories she wishes she had growing up.

When she was 11, Sana AlFalasi started writing and illustrating her own stories, and that dream has been with her ever since. She has been a collector of picture books for many years and eventually opened her online bookshop, ‘The Curious Nomad,’ in 2018. Inspired by nature, children’s imagination, science fiction, folktales, mythical creatures and miniature worlds, Sana likes to add an element of whimsy into her illustrations by using both traditional and digital tools. When she is not making art, Sana homeschools her son whom she loves to travel the world with to learn about different cultures.

Rana is a children’s book illustrator and community artist from Alexandria, Egypt, with a passion for using visual storytelling to empower and inspire young minds. With over three years of experience, Rana has worked on projects that promote social cohesion, cultural understanding, and child development on both managerial and artistic levels, often collaborating with diverse communities, including refugees, and minorities . Through her work, she aims to highlight shared human experiences and foster empathy across cultures.

Sumayya Ansari is an illustrator and artist. She lives with her husband, three children, and a cat.

Haruka Aoki (she/they) is a queer Japanese poet-illustrator and hope bender who often feels deeply grateful to be an earthling. They write and illustrate a regular narrative art column in The New York Times. Their picture book "Fitting In," which they co-wrote and illustrated with John Olson, is about a square navigating a world of circles.

vegan, dog papa, a million kites

Amal Barghout Karzai’s dramatically narrative paintings cover a spectrum of books, magazines, posters and cover art. Her fascination for the visual word stems from her Palestinian background and any excuse to research a strong story. Her clients include the @tamerinstitute , Harper Collins, Kalimat, DoubleInk, Clavis, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, E-public, Benchmark Education, Heritage Publishing, Kan Yama Kan, Red Squirrel Magazine, Magic World Media, Taotime Verlag, Xiaoduo Media, and more.  Amal’s author-illustrated book MY KEY is the 2022 winner of the Northern Lights Book Award. Twice short-listed by P alestinian publishers for the IBBY Award nomination, her art has been featured in museums, including pieces now held in private collections. Her MFA in Illustration is from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, and she teaches illustration online.

Sawyer Cloud is a self-taught artist living in Madagascar, her birth country. She is a passionate artist who believes in the power of dreams and brave hearts to achieve big things in life. She worked on more than 35 children’s books and has collaborated with most of major publishers in the industry. Sawyer loves music and has a long list of dreams to accomplish including traveling around the World and telling many stories. She is represented by the international art agency Advocate Art.

Julia Denos is an author and illustrator of books for children. A lover and student of the natural world, Julia’s work is rooted in her passion for nurturing intuitive and magical connections between people, plants, animals, and planet. As a vegan artist & advocate, she uses her words and pictures as a way of creative resistance, and to imagine liberation for all beings. She lives and works in coastal Massachusetts, USA.

Reena is an Artist, Educator and Librarian. Her work explores themes of hope, resiliency and our interconnectedness.

Dandin’s dedication to advocating for children's rights is intertwined with his art. He utilizes his artwork as a means to raise awareness about the challenges faced by marginalized children and to inspire the community to pursue social change.

A writer and collage creator from Indonesia. Who finds inspiration in everyday life.

Shaima’ Farouki is a Palestinian artist, with a bachelor's degree in journalism and social science from Birzeit University. Her artwork is focused on Palestinian traditions and the Palestinian cause. She is an illustrator for children’s stories and owns an art gallery in Ramallah, where she has organized art courses for children and adults for the last 8 years.

Mariana E. Gutiérrez is a Mexican illustrator whose joy is finding love even in the most unusual places. As a children´s illustrator, Mariana believes it is her responsibility to create art that respects and honors children, art that can be a helpful tool or a warm hug for them in this modern, -often chaotic- world.

Haya Halaw is an award winning illustrator and painter. Her work has been seen in picture books, comics, and editorials.

Nurul Izyan (Andeasyand) was born and raised in Singapore. She is an illustrator who navigates difficult topics like menstruation, anxiety, marriage, weight, as well as silly daily musings. An acquaintance described it as risque tendencies – she calls it an olive branch to a like-minded stranger.

Michelle Jing Chan is a queer Chinese American author-illustrator who studied engineering and economics, but now creates picture books and comics for kids and teens. Her books have been awarded by the Children's Book Council, the Chinese American Librarians Association, and Hindi's Libraries. Michelle's books include her author-illustrator debut picture book, WEIWEI'S WINTER SOLSTICE, and her debut YA graphic novel about asexuality, SOMEWHERE IN THE GRAY.

Kaylani Juanita is a Black Filam freelance picture book illustrator and writer. Through counter-storytelling, Kaylani strives to create new ways for readers to imagine themselves and others.

Raahat Kaduji is an illustrator and writer from the UK. Her work is inspired by the natural world and the warmth and wonder of childhood. She is best known for her children's book illustrations, which are recognised for their soft, earthy colours and gentle narrative style. Her debut picture book, I'm Not Scary, published in 2022, and has been translated into several languages.

Baljinder is an illustrator nestled in the middle of England, UK. She is passionate about the power of children’s books and their ability to transcend barriers and transform our social landscapes. Her work often, and intimately reflects through the lens of a Panjabi and Sikh diaspora existence.

Artist, illustrator, potter living in Toronto

Robert Liu-Trujillo is father, husband, artist and an author based in Oakland California. He's the author and illustrator of Fresh Juice/ Jugo Fresco and has illustrated several other picture books. He works in kidlit, murals, and as a working artist.

Working as a traditional artist with watercolor and ink, Zahra Marwan creates work that reflects her cultural roots in Kuwait as well as her life now in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her debut picture book, Where Butterflies Fill the Sky, was published by Bloomsbury Books and named one of the New York Times / New York Public Library’s 10 Best Illustrated Books as well as NPR’s Best Books of 2022. The week before receiving the Dilys Evans Founders Award from the Society of Illustrators, she was honored with an award by the UN Human Rights Commission for creating art that brings visibility to statelessness, indigenous groups, and minority rights.

Anaís Orozco is a self-taught digital illustrator and arts educator from Southeast Los Angeles, whose work centers on how culture is created and performed within immigrant and working-class communities, with a focus on collective memories and lived experiences of Southeast LA. Anaís utilizes visual storytelling as a tool for collective empowerment, aiming to highlight the role of artistry and the responsibility of the artist within narratives of liberation. Through a community-driven lens, Anaís explores the role of subaltern groups in movements for local and global liberation, with particular attention to youth, student, and Indigenous-led struggles, including the fight for a free Palestine.

Paige Pettibon is a mixed-race descendant of the Bitterroot Salish of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Black & White, raised on Coast Salish territories alongside one of the country’s largest urban Native populations. She draws on her lived experience to create images that highlight the complexity of Indigenous identities, and uplift shared community values. Paige works across many media, from digital design to painting, writing, handcrafted jewelry, and public art.

Mariam Poppins is a family-owned and operated illustration studio where creativity runs in the family! We sprinkle joy, color, and imagination into every children’s book we touch, one page at a time, leaving something behind for the next generation.

Adriana is a self-taught illustrator creating simple, whimsical art full of warmth and imagination. With a love for playful designs and storytelling, Adriana aims to spark wonder and bring a bit of joy and light to the world.

Maria Riaz is a children’s book author, illustrator, and founder of WHY Books Pakistan, based in Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir. Since 2019, she has created stories that celebrate empathy, diversity, and the power of children’s voices. With a background in design and collaborations with organisations like Room to Read and The Asia Foundation, she is passionate about crafting stories that feel rooted, relevant, and close to home.

Addy Rivera Sonda is a children's book illustrator who loves color, learning, and exploring ways in which we could build kinder and more interdependent communities. ​ Her biggest inspiration for drawing is that she knows that stories and art have an impact on the way people understand themselves and perceive others, building empathy, and affecting change in our world.

Author, illustrator, bookseller, and activist: Julie Rowan-Zoch grew up collecting freckles and chasing hermit crabs in New York, and spent years slicing rich breads in Germany before waking up to 300 days of blue Colorado skies. If she doesn’t answer the door, look in the garden! STOPPING BY JUNGLE ON A SNOWY EVENING/Richard T. Morris (Caitlyn Dlouhy, 2024), NOT ALL SHEEP ARE BORING!/Bobby Moynihan (G.P. Putnam’s, 2022), I’M A HARE, SO THERE! (Clarion, 2021), LOUIS/Tom Lichtenheld (Clarion, 2020).

just a dad. Masaki Saito is a Japanese illustrator

Jocelyn Salim is an illustrator and art educator from Singapore. She works across various media, such as picture books, animation, board games, and more, inspired by themes of care and connection. Through her work, she aims to empower people of all ages to cultivate a deeper relationship with the planet and with one another.

I am a self-taught artist who loves illustrating books for small humans. Through my illustrations, I dream to create delightful worlds that invite kids to explore with curiosity, see the world through kinder and more considerate eyes, and feel free to dream with open hearts. With the hope that it can inspire them to carry their sense of wonder throughout their lives.

Sophia Soliman is a Cairo-based illustrator, photographer, and lecturer with Portuguese and Egyptian roots, known for capturing human emotions through her art, whether in children’s books, editorial pieces, or photography. Her work has been published in Egypt, the UK, the US, and the Netherlands, and her photography spans travel, lifestyle, and fashion, bringing stories to life across Egypt. As a Portuguese lecturer at Ain Shams University, she combines her passion for language and culture with a commitment to creating art that fosters connection and emotional depth.

Lilly is a Chinese-Cambodian American artist and pediatrician who likes playing with colors and shapes, and capturing the invisible, mundane moments in our lives, and all the feelings contained within them, in extraordinary ways. She hopes to use art as a tool for advocacy and for helping marginalized voices be heard.

Joanne Wong is a children's book illustrator. She creates art to bring joy, empathy, and stories to life. She is inspired by nature, diverse cultures, and her daughter.

Taili Wu is an artist with a passion for handmade touch and playful things. Born in Taichung, Taiwan, currently living in New York. She is passionate about sharing stories with a sense of humor, creating work that sparks imagination and curiosity.

Nurcan Yılmaz was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1984. After working in television for ten years, her love for children and the books she read to her daughter led her to turn to children's literature. She is still getting used to children.

Diyala Zada is a freelance illustrator and children’s author with a BA in Visual Communications from Damascus University and an MA in Children’s Book Illustration from ARU Cambridge School of Art. Now based in Cairo, she makes picture books and graphic novels inspired by nature, folklore, history, mythology and everyday life, using watercolours, collages and colouring pencils.

Marina is a Bulgarian-Australian designer, picture book maker and block printer. She inhabits a world of humorous and kind creations often inspired by nature and little moments of joy and silliness, and believes it is an obligation for those who create for children to advocate for children; our most precious and impressionable audience who will one day go on to shape and create our future in turn.