What do eight authors and illustrators of seventy-seven children’s books, in many different genres, all have in common? As we have discovered over a decade of friendship, a great deal!

We care about quality children’s literature. We understand what makes good writing and what captures the imagination of children.

In our work we find overlap in themes. For example, we create fairy tales in picture books and novels. We explore math in poetry and through the antics of guinea pigs. We depict bullying in fiction and biographies.

Over the years, we have shared our knowledge and inspired each other. And so we decided to pool our experience in reading, writing, illustrating and teaching to provide resources to you — parents, teachers, librarians and booksellers — to bring a love of books and reading to children.

Who are we?

A.C.E. Bauer – author & essayist; middle grade fiction, magazines, nonfiction
Kate Duke – author & illustrator; picture books, elementary educational material
Deborah Freedman – author & illustrator; picture books
Kathleen Kudlinski – author & newspaper columnist/illustrator; nonfiction, biography, picture books, middle grade, YA
M. W. Penn – poet & essayist; picture books, workbooks, anthologies, magazines
Sanna Stanley – author & illustrator; picture books, early readers
Leigh Ann Tyson – author; picture books
Cat Urbain – author; middle grade fiction, magazines