You Are a Beautiful Beginning

Nina Laden is an award-winning, bestselling children’s book author and illustrator. Her many books include The Night I Followed the Dog, Peek-a-Who, When Pigasso Met Mootisse, Roberto the Insect Architect, Once Upon a Memory, If I Had a Little Dream, and Yellow Kayak. When she is not writing or drawing, she paddleboards, takes long beach walks, hunts for agates, forages for mushrooms, makes jewelry, and cooks up a storm, amongst other things. Nina was born and raised in the New York City area, and now lives on a little island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State with her husband, Booth, and their Siberian cat, Marley.

Kelsey Garrity-Riley is an illustrator living and working in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Germany and Belgium before moving to the US to pursue her love of art at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Kelsey’s picture books include Goldie Takes a Stand, Other Wordly, Born to Ride, and Frankie’s Favorite Foods.