Tanya Lloyd Kyi is the author of more than thirty books for children and young adults. She writes about science, pop culture and places where the two overlap. Her recent projects include Our Green City, This Is Your Brain on Stereotypes, and the middle grade novels Me and Banksy and Mya’s Strategy to Save the World. Tanya is also a lecturer with the UBC School of Creative Writing. #Her favorite meal is breakfast, her favorite color is blue and her favorite children’s book is A Wrinkle in Time. When she’s not writing, she hikes, plays tennis and bakes brownies.#Tanya lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with her husband, Min. They have two teenagers and a small, mischievous puppy.

Muon Thi Van loves to read books of all shapes and sizes. The first language she learned to speak was Vietnamese, but the first language she learned to read was English (and she was so shy in elementary school that she practically learned to read English before she spoke it). The first book she remembers reading on her own is a yellow Nancy Drew hardback from the school library, and because the library had the whole series, it was a while before she read anything else.

Funnily enough, Muon doesn’t remember reading picture books as a young child and instead discovered them in high school. In picture books, she found a wonderful meeting of art, poetry, philosophy and humor. So few books reflected her formative experiences, though, that she desired to bring new and different stories into the world.

Now from her home in northern California, Muon crafts stories after drop-off and before pick-up. Some of these stories become books, and some of these books are read around the world. From her acclaimed debut, In a Village by the Sea (illustrated by April Chu), to her latest, The Shape of You (illustrated by Miki Sato), Muon’s books have received many distinctions, including a Margaret Wise Brown Prize, a California Book Award and an Irma Black Honor Award. Her book Wishes (illustrated by Victo Ngai) was named the Best Picture Book of 2021 by BookPage.

Donna Sandstrom became interested in orcas when she moved to Seattle and started dreaming about them. In 2002, she was a community organizer in the effort to return Springer, an orphaned orca, to her pod. The life-changing experience inspired her to start The Whale Trail, a series of sites where people can watch whales from shore. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

Bree likes writing stories that inspire kids and adults to think critically about the world around them, and the ways in which we can challenge the systems in place and create change. Her books include the Wednesday Wilson series, Usha and the Stolen Sun, Milo and Georgie, Once Upon a Balloon and Nye, Sand and Stones.#Bree likes to use her books as a way to amplify the voices of her children and those close to her. She gets her inspiration from her two boys, and their constant quest to discover WHY things are the way they are. Her goal is to write stories that inspire conversations in the classroom and at home and that empower young people to think outside of the box.|Bree holds a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of British Columbia, and a master’s degree in communication design from Emily Carr University. She lives in the heart of beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, with her family.

Jane Whittingham is a children’s librarian and the author of several picture books. While she waits for spring to come, she entertains herself with tea and books. She lives with her family in Burnaby, British Columbia.