OUR TEAM
Founder and editor in chief Claire Taylor (she/her) has been a writer since childhood. Her first poem, published at the age of ten in Highlights Magazine, was about what it might feel like to be a leaf. Growing up, Claire’s favorite books were The Boxcar Children series, Bridge to Terabithia, and Say Goodnight, Gracie. She loves stories that explore our humanity and emotions, foster creativity, and encourage readers to take care of the world and each other. Claire's debut picture book, Benjamin's Sad Day, is forthcoming from Golden Fleece Press. Claire lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her family and pets in an old stone house where birds love to roost.
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Read more about Claire & find her books & other writing here.
Cover artist Rachael Taylor (she/her) is an artist, nature lover, and cat lady currently living in Michigan. All her life, making art has helped Rachael cope with tough times, express joy, and discover more about herself. Dance/movement, drawing, painting, and journaling are some of her favorite mediums. She loves patterns, textures, and detail. She can spend hours looking at rocks. Her favorite place to be is the forest, so her favorite color is green. Something she loves most of all is watching things grow.
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Find books, cards, and prints featuring Rachael’s illustrations here.
Illustrator Kim Wagner Nolan is an author/illustrator and museum exhibition designer, specializing in educational interactive exhibits for children. Her work has been showcased in over a hundred museum and gallery exhibits and has appeared in several print and online publications. She was the winner of the 50 Precious Words International Writing Contest (2024), the SCBWI Draw This! Contest (12/2024), and she once won two dozen doughnuts in the Krispy Kreme Doughnut painting contest. When she’s not painting for doughnuts, Kim enjoys going on adventures and playing the ukulele for her pet chickens.
Find more at kimwnolan.com.
Illustrator Imogen Hartland (she/her) is inspired by the ordinary magic in our extraordinary world. Her writing and illustrations have been published in various anthologies and wonderful children's literature magazines, including Little Thoughts Press, The Toy Press, Paperbound Magazine, and The Dirigible Balloon. She's currently pursuing her dream of creating picture books. Her favourite books are by Bob Graham and Beatrice Alemagna. She also writes songs for (her) kids, and sometimes imagines life as a musical (there's a lot of dancing!). Imogen lives in Sydney, Australia, near some rock pools and the bush, with her husband, two wonder-full daughters, and Bonnie, their beautiful dog.
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You can read more about Imogen's creations (and listen to some songs, too!) here.
Illustrator Stephanie Buosi is a Canadian illustrator and graphic designer who loves drawing animals, fantasy creatures, and kids on adventures. She’s an environmentalist, and in her spare time volunteers with Turtle Protectors in Toronto, assisting mama turtles throughout the nesting season. When she’s not doodling in her sketchbooks, you can find her outside among the trees, or escaping into new fantasy worlds with a good book and a cup of tea.
See more of her work at stephaniebuosi.com and at @stephaniebuosi.com on BlueSky and @stebuosi_ on Instagram
Submissions Reader Jennifer Thomas is a Canadian word fan who loves writing children’s poetry and helping kids to unleash their imaginations in poetry-writing workshops. She enjoys poring over very old dictionaries, blowing the dust off beautiful and oddball long-forgotten words, and sharing them. She’s at her happiest walking in the woods near her home in Canada with her dog, letting words for new poems bounce around in her head while she watches the world change through the four seasons.
Find some of Jennifer’s poems and a few of her favourite old words at jenniferthomaswords.com.
Submissions Reader Brandy Bellittera grew up with a love for all things books, animals and magic. Now, she’s an author combining all of her favorite things into her own books. Her chapter book series, Library Guardians, debuts spring of 2026. As a teacher and mother to three fabulous children, (and a plethora of pets), she seems to always find adventure lurking around every corner.
Submissions Reader Anna Llewellyn is a British-American writer, painter/illustrator, and literary editor living in Queens, New York. Her art and writing for children have appeared in Northern Gravy, Dirigible Balloon, The Toy Press, Little Thoughts Press, Cleaver Magazine, and Paperbound Magazine, and her children’s plays have been produced across New York state. Her oil portraits have been shown at various New York galleries. She was the winner of the 2017 Rishi Piparaiya Prize for Humor Writing and a nominee for the 2022 New York Theater Festival’s Best Short Play competition. Her art can be seen on Instagram and Bluesky at @anniellewe.
Social Media and Educational Engagement Manager Zoe Pritikin has surrounded herself with children’s literature and writing since she was a child herself! Her favorite children’s book is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and her first new-adult novel Me, If I Were You was self-published in 2024. When she is not nannying, helping artists build children’s books from illustrations, writing her next novel, mentoring children in creative writing, gazing ruminatively out the window, or creating content for Little Thoughts Press, she is probably dancing around her kitchen while making dinner. She currently lives in Philadelphia with her cat, Emmy.
Past Staff
Carrie Karnes-Fannin