2025 HCBF Archives - Page 7 of 9 - Hudson Childrens Book Festival

Masiello, Ralph

Masiello, Ralph

Ralph Masiello was born and raised in the state of Massachusetts, where he lives with his daughters Alexa and Talia. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (BFA, Illustration, 1985), Ralph has illustrated for magazines, newspapers and books, created posters and prints, and shown his fine art paintings in galleries throughout the world. Beginning with The Icky Bug Alphabet Book in 1986, Ralph has become internationally known for the children’s books he’s written and illustrated. Since 1987, he has visited over 3,300 schools all over the world, inspiring children with his life story, humor, and art. www.ralphmasiello.com

Awards

New York State Reading Association Charlotte Award, IRA/CBC Children’s Choices, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, Early Childhood News Director’s Choice Award.

1. I was born on a skunk cabbage plantation (this is a lie).
2. I am an avid alpine skier (this is the truth).
3. I had an imaginary friend when I was little. His name was Charlie Pistachio and he lived in the radiator of my house (this is true…and I am writing and illustrating a book about him!).

Crews, Nina

Crews, Nina

Author and illustrator Nina Crews creates books that celebrate childhood and the power of imagination. Her debut title, One Hot Summer Day, will celebrate its 30th year in print in 2025. Nina is best known for her distinctive photocollage style and interpreting poetry in books like A Girl Like Me, The Neighborhood Mother Goose, and Seeing Into Tomorrow: Haiku by Richard Wright. More recently, Nina has put her camera aside to create digital illustrations for the books I’m Not Small, a story of milestones and mastery, as well as the non-fiction titles Extraordinary Magic: The Storytelling Life of Virginia Hamilton and Not Done Yet: Shirley Chisholm’s Fight for Change. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and son. www.ninacrews.com

Awards

Nina is the recipient of the 2023 New York State Library Association’s Empire State Award. Nina’s work has been recognized by the ALA Notable Committee, the Black Caucus of the ALA, The Horn Book, Junior Library Guild, NCTE, CCBC, New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, Bank Street College of Education, and many others.

3 Fun Facts

1. I always wanted to be an artist.
2. My parents are the author/illustrators Donald Crews and Ann Jonas.
3. My favorite color is all of them.

Mack, Jeff

Mack, Jeff

Jeff Mack is the award-winning author and illustrator of fifty books for young readers. His titles include Good News Bad News, Hush Little Polar Bear, Duck in the Fridge, and The Dog & Pony Show.

His recent series of picture book biographies include Art is Everywhere, Marcel’s Masterpiece, and Time To Make Art.

He has also illustrated James Howe’s Bunnicula and Friends, Eve Bunting’s Hurry Hurry, and The Cryptid Club series by TV writer/producer, Michael Brumm.

He travels widely to schools and libraries sharing his love of creating books with young readers.

Visit him at www.jeffmack.com.

Awards

2024 Junior Library Guild Selections: Dog Gets A Pet, We Are Up A Tree
2013 Texas 2×2: Frog & Fly, Good News Bad News, Cindy Moo
2014 Junior Library Guild Selections: Frog & Fly
2014 NYPL Best Books: AhHa!
2015 Colorado Bell Award: The Things I Can Do

3 Fun Facts

1. My favorite children’s book author/illustrator is William Steig.
2. I named Clueless McGee after my dog McGee.
3. Clueless McGee was originally going to be about a dog who wears pajamas and solves mysteries, but I didn’t want it to be like Scooby-Doo. So I turned the dog into a fifth-grade boy.

Zunon, Elizabeth

Zunon, Elizabeth

I was born in Albany, NY and spent my childhood in hot, sunny, tropical Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa, where people speak French (and many other languages). My Mom read my little brother and me a lot of bedtime stories in English after we came home from speaking French at school.
After returning to the United States, I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2006. My work is largely influenced by the people, places, and things from my childhood in Côte d’Ivoire as the product of two cultures. www.lizzunon.com

Awards

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection: Through Sand and Salt, Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Books: Bedtime for Sweet Creatures, Children’s Africana Book Award: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

3 Fun Facts

1. I speak French.
2. I love to bake.
3. I cannot paint without music!

Wan, Joyce

Joyce Wan is the author and/or illustrator of books for young children such as You Are My Cupcake, Peek-a-boo Farm, and Sleepyheads. She designed her first greeting card when she was in first grade for a city-wide greeting card design contest. The design won first place and was subsequently sold through a major department store chain. Twenty years later, that design would inspire her to launch her own design studio where she produced her own greeting card line. This led her to children’s book publishing after meeting an art director at a trade show. She has since published over 30 books for children that have sold over 1 million copies worldwide. www.wanart.com

Awards
2015 Mills-Tannenbaum Award for Children’s Literacy from Reach Out and Read of Greater New York,  Society of Illustrators Original Art Show, 2020 Amelia Bloomer Book List presented by the American Library Association.

3 Fun Facts

1. I am a self-taught artist.
2. I am a night owl whose favorite time to work is between 12am-3am.
3. I have two pet birds.

Magaziner, Lauren

Lauren Magaziner Incorruptibles author photo – Lauren Magaziner

Magaziner, Lauren

Lauren Magaziner is the internationally bestselling author of Case Closed, The Mythics, the upcoming series The Incorruptibles (June 10, 2025), and three other stand-alone books for middle grade readers. Originally from New Hope, Pennsylvania, Lauren started writing novels when she was thirteen–and never stopped. A proud graduate of Hamilton College’s creative writing program, she wrote her debut children’s book while studying abroad in Scotland. Currently, Lauren lives in Philadelphia, where she writes full-time. www.laurenmagaziner.com.

Awards:

Lauren’s books are international bestsellers, available in 12 languages, have been Junior Library Guild picks, been on the Indie Next List, and been optioned for a TV movie with Nickelodeon.

3 Fun Facts

1. The idea for The Mythics came about because Lauren always wanted to know what her animal personality would be… but could never figure it out. After much deliberation, Lauren thinks her animal companion for life would either be a cat or a baby hippo.

2. Lauren plots her interactive pick-your-own-path Case Closed books with a massive whiteboard. She uses different colored markers to keep track of each different plot, the dead ends, and the puzzles. She does a week or two of plotting on the whiteboard before she starts writing a single word!

3. Lauren once stuck her face in a faerie river of eternal youth in Scotland. That was a decade ago, and she has not aged a day since then.

Kelly, David A.

Kelly, David A.

David A. Kelly gets to go to the moon, baseball stadiums, and football games for his job. David is the author of over thirty children’s books that have sold over 1.5 million copies, including his bestselling Ballpark Mysteries series in which cousins Kate and Mike visit MLB ballparks to solve mysteries, and the Football Mysteries series, in which they visit NFL stadiums. David’s latest picture book, Tee Time on the Moon, takes readers to the Moon with Alan Shepard as he hits two golf balls. For more information, visit www.davidakellybooks.com, or find him on X/Bluesky at @DavidAKelly, Instagram/Facebook at @DavidAKellyBooks .

Awards

New York Public Library Best Books for Kids, Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year, Booklist Top 10 Sports Books for Youth, Library Media Connection Editor’s Choice, Maine Chickadee Award, Maryland Blue Crab Award, Missouri State Teacher’s Association Reading Circle selection.

3 Fun Facts

1. I once met baseball superstar Hank Aaron.
2. I used to wear a cowboy hat for my job.
3. I watched the last Space Shuttle take off in person.

Katz, Alan

Alan Katz has written 50+ highly acclaimed books for young readers. A frequent presenter at regional and national conferences/festivals, his titles include Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs, Got Your Nose!, OOPS!, Zooloween, The Funniest Joke Book Ever for Kids, and The Mysterious Missing Matzoh. Alan is the co-author (with the Today Show’s Dylan Dreyer) of Misty the Cloud, a NYT bestseller.

Alan is also a six-time Emmy-nominated writer for TV series including The Rosie O’Donnell Show, several Nickelodeon and PBS Kids series, animated shows Pinkalicious and Taz-Mania, the Grammy Awards and the Tony Awards. Visit him at alankatzbooks.com

Awards

Current nominee for Sunshine State Young Readers Award (Got Your Nose).
Utah Children’s Poetry Book Award Winner, North Carolina Children’s Book Award Winner, Colorado Grand Canyon Reader Award Winner

3 Fun Facts

1. I have a brand new granddog…a dachshund named Vinnie–the first dog anyone in my family has ever owned.
2. I have never eaten a pickle or had a cup of tea
3. I bowled on TV when I was in college

Stemple, Heidi E.Y.

Heidi Stemple didn’t want to be a writer. In fact, after college, she became a probation officer. It wasn’t until she was 28 years old that she joined the family business, publishing her first story in a book called Famous Writers and Their Kids Write Spooky Stories. The famous writer was her mom, author Jane Yolen. Since then, she’s published almost 50 books.

Heidi lives and writes on a big old farm in Massachusetts that she shares with deer, bears, coyotes, bobcats, fox, tons of birds, and some very fat groundhogs. Every December she counts owls for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. heidieystemple.com

Awards

Margaret Wise Brown Honor book, NSTA Best STEM, NSTA Outstanding Science Award, Northern Lights Award, John Burroughs Riverby Award, Green Earth Book Award Honor

3 Fun Facts

1. I have written 2 books with my mom AND both my brothers.
2. I am great at grammar but terrible at spelling.
3. Some people sing in the shower, I practice owl calls.

Castaldo, Nancy

Castaldo, Nancy

Award-winning STEM author Nancy Castaldo has written dozens of books about our planet from the Hudson Valley. While the research and photography for her books have taken her worldwide, from the Galapagos to Russia, her new releases this spring focus on the Hudson River — picture book WHALES IN THE CITY and middle-grade RIVERKEEPER.

Nancy loves sharing her adventures with her readers. She believes that we all have the ability to make a difference and always instills that theme in her books. She strives to inform, empower, and inspire her readers. www.nancycastaldo.com @NCastaldoAuthor

Awards

Junior Library Guild Gold Selection, Green Earth Book Award, NSTA Outstanding Trade Book

3 Fun Facts

1. I’ve taken the photographs for many of my books, including my latest, RIVERKEEPER.
2. I was a lifeguard at a Hudson riverside park.
3. Sadly, there weren’t any whales or bald eagles to see in or near the river when I was growing up.