About

Photo by Jade Beall

Hi there! I’m Juana and I’m a picture book maker.

“Alma and How She Got Her Name” (Candlewick Press) was my debut picture book as an author-illustrator, and was awarded the 2019 Caldecott Honor. I am also the illustrator of “La Princesa and the Pea” (written by Susan M. Elya, Putnam/Penguin), winner of the 2018 Pura Belpré Medal for Illustration, and “Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story” (written by Kevin Noble Maillard, Roaring Brook Press), winner of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Medal.

The essence of ALMA, which has autobiographical elements, is we are everyone that came before us, and at the same time, we are uniquely ourselves. Candlewick Press acquired the book in a seven publisher auction and published in simultaneous English-and Spanish-language editions.

I was born in the busy city of Lima, the capital of Peru. Now I live in the United States in Scottsdale, a city in the state of Arizona. Here I share a home with my husband, two sons, daughter, two dogs (one ginormous, one minuscule), and the soul of our late cat, Kitty. As you can imagine, our home can get quite busy at times.

You can follow me on instagram and twitter to stay up to date on my current projects. It’s been a while since I blogged last, yet the posts are there and some are quite good! If I were you, I’d check out the blog!

For interviews and publicity requests, please send a message to my publicist at Candlewick Press at publicity(at)candlewick.com.

I am booking events, and school and library visits for 2020 and later. If you would like me to appear at your event, contact The Author Village.

For children’s books projects, I am represented by Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel of Full Circle Literary.

Se habla español.

Photos by Stephanie Studer

Selected Client List: