Author Archives - Page 27 of 29 - Hudson Childrens Book Festival

Cline-Ransome, Lesa

Cline-Ransome, Lesa

Lesa Cline-Ransome is the Newbery honor award-winning author of many critically acclaimed books for young readers including Before She was Harriet, Overground Railroad, Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams and Fighting With Love: The Legacy of John Lewis. Her numerous honors include the Jane Addams Award, the Christopher Award, Kirkus, and SLJ Best Book of Year and three NAACP Image Award nominations. Her middle grade novel Finding Langston received the Coretta Scott King Author Honor and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. One Big Open Sky is her first novel in verse and the recipient of the Coretta Scott King Author Honor and the Newbery Honor. https://www.lesaclineransome.com

Awards

Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Honor, ALA Notable, New York Times Best Book of 2024

3 Fun Facts

1. I have won several candlepin bowling tropies!
2. I named my children after famous Black Americans.
3. I rode a camel in the Sahara desert.

Ransome, James E.

Ransome, James E.

James E. Ransome has been honored with the 2023 Children’s Literature Legacy Award by the American Library Association in recognition of his exceptional contributions to Children’s Literature. With a career spanning over 33 years, James has illustrated more than 70 books. His passion for drawing begins in Rich Square, NC, and as a teenager, he moved to Bergenfield, NJ, before pursuing a BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

Ransome’s remarkable talent has garnered him numerous accolades, including the prestigious Coretta Scott King Awards, ALA Notables, a Jane Addams Award, and NAACP Image awards. He resides in New York. jamesransome.com

Awards

5 Starred Reviews and 2025 Golden Kite Non Fiction Finalist

3 Fun Facts

1. I’m a big Football fan, team is the Miami Dolphins.
2. I love playing Chess
3. And watching movies.

Baskin, Nora Raleigh

Nora Raleigh Baskin, a 2001 Publisher’s Weekly FLYING START, is the author of thirteen novels for young adults and a contributor to several short story collections. Her personal narrative essays have appeared in WRITER MAGAZINE, Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, and NCTE Voices From the Middle. Her books have won several awards, including the 2010 American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award for Anything But Typical (S&S), and in 2016, an International Literacy Association Notable Books for a Global Society for Ruby on the Outside (S&S). Ms. Baskin has taught creative writing classes and workshops around the country for over twenty years in such places as Gotham Writers Workshop, Fairfield Co. Writers Studio, Manhattanville College, and S.U.N.Y Purchase. Her newest middle-grade novel Finding Joy, a collaborative two-voice project will be published Spring, 2020 (Knopf). www.norabaskin.com

3 Fun Facts

1. Nora has recently become addicted to elaborate wooden jig saw puzzles.
2. She works with incarcerated moms, and their children on the outside, bringing them together through books.
3. Loves her dog Eli more than she could ever describe.

Berne, Jennifer

Berne, Jennifer

Jennifer Berne is the award-winning author of ON A BEAM OF LIGHT: A Story of Albert Einstein and CALVIN CAN’T FLY: The Story of a BookwormBirdie. She grew up in New York City where she was active in dance and theater as a child. She studied art and design, worked for Andy Warhol at “The Factory.” After a successful career in advertising, Jennifer began writing for Nick Jr. Magazine and writing books about the subjects she loves most – our amazing universe and the people who discover its secrets. She lives in a house she designed in the rolling hills of Columbia County, NY. www.jenniferberne.com

ON A BEAM OF LIGHT AWARDS:
New York Times – Editors’ Choice
Best Children’s Books of the Year – Kirkus Reviews
NPR – 2013’s Great Reads
Horn Book – Best Non-Fiction Books of 2013
Eric Carle Museum “Best of the Best” 2014
Bank Street College of Education – 2014 Best Books of the Year

3 Fun Facts

1. I lived on a sailboat for 2 years, with my husband and our cat.
2. I love to eat pomegranates.
3. I write my books on paper first. I only use a computer for editing.

Davis, Jacky

Jacky-Davis-and-David-Soman-author-photo

Davis, Jacky

Jacky and David, are the creators of the New York Time’s Best-Selling LADYBUG GIRL series. They live with their two children and rescue dog in Rosendale, NY. www.ladybuggirl.com

3 Fun Facts

1.Our dog, Pico, is a very messy drinker.
2. Ladybug Girl is based on our daughter who is now 16, and Bumblebee Boy is based on our 14 year old son.
3. If you ask David he’ll share his trade secret- of how to draw a tutu.

Soman, David

Jacky and David, are the creators of the New York Time’s Best-Selling LADYBUG GIRL series. They live with their two children and rescue dog in Rosendale, NY. www.ladybuggirl.com

3 Fun Facts

1.Our dog, Pico, is a very messy drinker.
2. Ladybug Girl is based on our daughter who is now 16, and Bumblebee Boy is based on our 14 year old son.
3. If you ask David he’ll share his trade secret- of how to draw a tutu.

Raschka, Chris

Raschka, Chris

Chris Raschka has made more than sixty books for children, including Yo! Yes?, Five for a Little One, and A Ball for Daisy. His work has earned one Caldecott Honor and two Caldecott Awards, the Ezra Jack Keats Award and has been selected five times for the New York Times Best Illustrated Books List. He lives in New York City.

3 Fun Facts

1. Wednesday is oatmeal day at our house.
2. The names of my last four cats have all begun with the letter A.
3. I once gave private art instruction

Simon, Seymour

Simon, Seymour

Seymour Simon (@SeymourSimon), whom the New York Times called “the dean of the [children’s science] field,” is the author of over 300 highly acclaimed science books, more than seventy-five of which have been named Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). He has introduced tens of millions of children to a staggering array of subjects, and says: “I’m more interested in arousing enthusiasm in kids than I am in teaching the facts. The facts may change, but that enthusiasm for exploring the world will remain with them for the rest of their lives.” www.seymoursimon.com

3 Fun Facts

1. Seymour Simon’s cat was named “Newty Fruity,” after the great scientist Sir Isaac Newton.
2. Seymour grew up with identical twin sisters who often tried to fool people by switching identities. The only person they could not trick was their little brother, Seymour. He always knew which was which!
3.Seymour Simon is working on a new book about DINOSAURS, which is going to be full of fascinating new information. Did you know there is a new dinosaur species being discovered nearly every week?!

Rotner, Shelley

SHELLEY ROTNER is an award-winning author and photo-illustrator of over sixty children’s books. Her books are about inclusivity that help children navigate their world. LOVE IS A BIG FEELING, FAMILIES, SHADES OF PEOPLE, NATURE SPY GUIDE are recent titles. TRUE YOU-A GENDER JOURNEY and FINDING HOME-WORDS FROM KIDS SEEKING SANCTUARY were recent recipients of the Junior Literary Guild gold award.

Ms Rotner is also a noted free-lance photojournalist, whose work has appeared in Time Magazine, National Geographic’s World Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Food and Wine Magazine and GoNomad.

She has traveled extensively for UNICEF documenting programs about children and education. www.shelleyrotner.com

Awards

Junior Literary Guild Gold Award for FINDING HOME-Words From Kids Seeking Sanctuary and for TRUE YOU- A Gender Journey.

3 Fun Facts

1. I stand on my head everyday.
2. I eat ice cream every day.
3. I read every day

Knowles, Jo

Knowles, Jo

Jo Knowles is the author of Still a Work In Progress, Read Between The Lines, Living With Jackie Chan, See You At Harry’s, Pearl, Jumping Off Swings, and Lessons from a Dead Girl. Jo’s awards include a New York Times Editor’s Choice and Notable Book, the PEN New England Children’s Book Discovery Award, an American Library Association Notable, Bank Street College’s Best Books for Children (Outstanding Merit), and YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults. Jo’s books have also appeared on numerous state award lists. Jo lives in Vermont with her husband and son. www.joknowles.com

3 Fun Facts

1. My cat has his own blog called “Things We Put On Fred”
2. I once served coffee to J.D. Salinger
3. I am a Hostess Snack Cake connoisseur.