2025 HCBF Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Hudson Childrens Book Festival

Seales, Stephanie

Stephanie Seales is the California-born daughter of Panamanian immigrants and a children’s literature expert. Her debut picture book My Daddy Is a Cowboy (Abrams, 2024), illustrated by C.G. Esperanza, received a Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and six starred reviews. Stephanie is passionate about community and equity and understands the power of story, following Toni Morrison’s advice in writing the books she wants to read. She dreams and creates with her magical canine companion, Pan, near the water in the Hudson Valley, New York. www.stephanieseales.com

Awards

Caldecott Honor; Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award; Publishers Weekly Best Books 2024; The Horn Book Fanfare 2024; New York Public Library Best Books 2024; Six starred reviews

3 Fun Facts

1. I love dogs, especially my sweet Pomeranian, Pan (my next book, Jodie Doesn’t Love Dogs, is about dogs!).
2. I’ve been writing stories since I was 5 years old and the first story I remember writing was inspired by The Land Before Time (dinosaurs are so cool!).
3. I never stopped reading kids books and have a master’s degree in Children’s Literature, so it’s extra cool to be an author now!

Anta, Julio

Anta, Julio

Julio Anta is the writer of many graphic novels including the Eisner Award-nominated Frontera, This Land Is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story, Home and Sí, Se Puede: The Latino Heroes Who Changed the United States.

Julio was born and raised in Miami, Florida and currently resides in New York City. julioanta.com

Awards

Children’s Book Council’s Young Adults’ Favorites Award, Eisner Award nominee, New York State Council on the Arts grant.

3 Fun Facts

1. Even though Spanish is my first language, I get a lot of anxiety about making mistakes when I speak.
2. My 10 year old son inspired the main character in Speak Up Santiago.
3. I have a Dachshund named Noodle!

Lemon, J.S.

Lemon, J.S.

J. S. Lemon grew up outside of Philadelphia, and chances are, so did you. She spent most of her childhood worrying about hair removal and trying to make people laugh. Even though middle school was quite a while ago, it still sits right beneath her skin. Lemon was the first girl, on both sides of her family, to graduate college, and she did so while wearing an “I’m with stupid” T-shirt under her gown. She has been an animal psychic, a mime coach, and a spokesperson for the Crocs Evening Wear Collection—all without leaving her home. Most days you can find her gossiping with her dog and writing until her thumbs ache. Her hobbies include doodling, listening to smooth ‘70s music, and dodging invitations to go hiking. She does a pretty good Cher impression. jslemonbooks.com

3 Fun Facts

1. I was an artist for years before writing my first novel.
2. My “real” age is 12. What about you?
3. I can play “fake piano”- I make it up and it sounds like the saddest movie soundtrack you’ve ever heard.

Houran, Lori Haskins

Houran, Lori Haskins

Lori Haskins Houran is a former children’s book editor and the author of more than sixty books for kids. Several of her books are about dogs, which makes sense, given that she has the two best pups on the planet. Oh, and the people in her house are pretty great, too. Lori lives with her family on the North Shore of Massachusetts. lorihaskinshouran.com

Awards

Glasses (2021) • Winner, NSTA/CBC Best Stem Book
Bicycle (2021) • Winner, NSTA/CBC Best Stem Book
Are You My Planet? (2021) • Best Children’s Book of the Year, Air & Space
Button Your Buttons (2020) • Starred review, Kirkus Reviews

3 Fun Facts

1. I once (and only once!) jumped out of an airplane.
2. I am (distantly!) related to art thief Myles Connor, a suspect in the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum heist.
3. In high school, I won third place in a state typing contest. That turned out to be a handy skill for a writer!

Sukumar, Suja

Sukumar, Suja

Suja Sukumar writes YA suspense novels featuring South Asian main characters battling villains while also dealing with their own inner demons. She is also a senior staff physician in a major health system in suburban Detroit, where she lives with her family and an elderly cat. When Mimi Went Missing is her debut novel. https://www.sujasukumar.com/

Awards

Listed on She Reads, Foreword Reviews, Teen Vogue, Booklist, Book Riot, Epic Reads, We Are Bookish, School Library Journal, among others.

3 Fun Facts

1. Started writing late (mid-forties) while working as a physician and never knew until then that I wanted to write.
2. I’ve failed miserably at plotting and am a pantser for life.
3. My TBR has taken over my home (keep buying books though I have so many I haven’t read).

Myklusch, Matt

Myklusch, Matt

Matt Myklusch is the author of nine books, including the Imagine Nation, Jack Blank, Order of the Majestic, and Seaborne series. His lifelong love of comic books and stubborn refusal to grow up inspired him to write for kids. He lives in New Jersey with his family. Find him online at MattMyklusch.com.

Awards

Order of the Majestic: Junior Library Guild selection

3 Fun Facts

1. Worked at MTV for 10 years, produced spring break concerts in Cancun and Acapulco.
2. Love to draw (some of the comic book characters in my books I made up when I was in middle school).
3. Huge Disney fan… sometimes wish I became an Imagineer.

Jonsen Watkins, Helen

HJ_Chapp_Station_laugh_retouched-ctw-RM – Helen Jonsen

Jonsen Watkins, Helen

Helen Jonsen Watkins has spent a lifetime telling stories starting as a journalist on local, national and international television and online. She has written books for children and adults. She’s mom to four grown-up children who she always told made-up silly poems and magical stories.

The Magic Christmas Sleigh is Helen’s first illustrated storybook. It’s the premier entry in the Magic of the Holidays Book Series.

Helen is the Chief Storyteller at helen Jonsen media. She serves as a member of the Hudson Children’s Book Festival Board, the Board Development committee for CureSearch Foundation for Children’s Cancer, and is an advocate for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her Aussie husband. helenjonsen.com or Amazon

3 Fun Facts

1. I wrote this story for my four kids when they were little.
2. I live in the Hudson Valley.
3. I have lived in Australia & love to travel there.

Franklin, Madeline Claire

Franklin, Madeline Claire

Madeline Claire Franklin holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts WCYA program, as well as a BA in Media Study and Anthropology from the University at Buffalo. When she is not writing strange fiction for young adults, she is probably attempting to dismantle the patriarchy and/or practicing witchcraft. She is a queer, Jewish, neurodiverse, invisibly disabled woman living in sin in Buffalo, NY, with her partner, two dogs, three cats, and two Roombas, in a little yellow house called Cluckleberry Farms. www.madelineclairefranklin.com

Awards

The Wilderness of Girls is a finalist for the 2025 YALSA William C. Morris Award for Best Debut Novel for Teens, as well as an Indie Next Pick, Amazon Editor’s Pick, a Blue Ribbons listee, and one of Barnes & Noble’s Best Books of 2024.

3 Fun Facts

1. I have been a practicing witch since I was 12 years old.
2. My grandfather invented pre-pasted wallpaper.
3. Joyce Carol Oates (who attended the same high school as me) once called me “the next JK Rowling” (before we knew JKR was not one to be looked up to).

Kramer, Kara

Kramer, Kara

Kara Kramer is an illustrator and mixed media artist living in Brooklyn, NY. She has illustrated several picture books including Make Meatballs Sing: The Life and Art of Corita Kent, Erno Rubik and His Magic Cube, and is author/illustrator of the interactive picture book Tell Me a Lion Story. She explores many mediums and loves being in the creative process. www.karakramer.com

Awards

Best Stem Books K-12 2025
2024 Junior Library Guild Selection
2022 Bologna Ragazzi Award Amazing Bookshelf Selection
2022 ALA Notable Children’s Book

3 Fun Facts

1. I love to ski because it feels like I am drawing with my feet in the snow.
2. I stink at whistling.
3. Can’t choose a favorite color, in love with too many!

Gephart, Donna

Donna Gephart Photo Riverbend 12, August 2018 – Donna Gephart

Gephart, Donna

Donna Gephart‘s award-winning middle grade novels include: Abby, Tried and True, Lily and Dunkin, Death by Toilet Paper and How to Survive Middle School. Welcome to the Woofmore is a fun, new early chapter book series from Abrams about a posh hotel run by dogs for dogs with a new VIP (Very Important Pooch) appearing in each book. Go Be Wonderful is Donna’s first picture book about being perfectly imperfect. She’s a popular speaker at schools, conferences and book festivals. Donna lives in South Jersey near Philadelphia with her awesome and paw-some family. Visit her online at www.donnagephart.com.

Awards

The Sid Fleischman Humor Award; California Young Readers Medal Winner; New York Public Library’s Best Books for Kids; NPR’s Best Kids’ Books; Chicago Public Library’s Best Fiction for Older Readers, Great Words, Great Works Book Selection from the National Spelling Bee; Thurber House Children’s-Writer-in-Residence, etc.

3 Fun Facts

1. I won second place in the school talent show in 7th grade with my gravity-defying hula-hooping skills. (It’s not like I’m still bitter about not winning first place. Nope. Not at all.)
2. I’m not so great with numbers.