CitizenKid Books

Rina Singh is an internationally published children’s author and has written fifteen books for children including A Forest of Stories, which has been translated in several languages. She has written an award-winning biography on the Inuit artist, Pitseolak Ashoona. Her most recent publications are Holi Colors, Diwali: Festival of Lights and Nearly Nonsense, and Guru Nanak. Her upcoming book A Meeting in the Sky is a World War II story. Holi Colors got starred reviews from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly. Rina has done readings and workshops in schools, libraries, and literary festivals across Canada, including TD Children’s Book Week in 2012 and 2018. In 2014, she also presented at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore and Reading for the Love of it in Toronto (2015). She is an Ontario Certified Teacher and has taught visual arts, drama, and creative writing in Toronto for 25 years. She is also a tdsbCREATES mentor artist for Spoken Word. She lives in a blue house in Toronto. Surrounded by birds, pesky squirrels, a rabbit and goldfish in an outdoor pond, she dreams of writing more stories for children. She also loves elephants but to meet them she has to travel to far away places.

Eugenie Fernandes is one of Canada’s most established children’s author-illustrators, with more than ninety books to her credit. Her paintings for illustrations have been used by UNICEF to create cards and puzzles and by One Hen, Inc. to create award-winning educational websites. Her paintings from the books Earth Magic and One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference are on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, and Earth Magic was short-listed for Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award for Illustration. Eugenie graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and now lives in Lakehurst, Ontario, where she writes and paints in a studio made of glass.

Simone Shin is an award-winning illustrator and a graduate of Boston University and the Art Center College of Design. She began working as a freelancer illustrating for magazines and newspapers, and teaching children in the arts, eventually venturing into children’s book illustration. Her inspiration comes from her highly active young son, as well as her strong interests in music, nature, and family history. In her spare time she likes to create things with fabric and cardboard for fun—game boards, telephones, record players, violins, dollhouses, just about anything she can think of! After residing for many years in the Los Angeles area, Simone currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Rebecca Green is an illustrator of many children’s and middle grade books, including The Unicorn in The Barn, Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea, Madame Saqui, and From Far Away. She is also the author and illustrator of How to Make Friends with a Ghost. This is her second collaboration with Sy Montgomery, their first being How to Be a Good Creature. She resides with her husband, and their lovely animals, Mori and Junie B. Website: www.rebeccagreenillustration.com Instagram: @rebeccagreenillustration.

Marianne Ferrer was born in Venezuela and immigrated to Canada in 1998. After attending Dawson College in Montreal, Quebec, for illustration and design, she completed her education in graphic design at the Université du Québec à Montréal. Her style is characterized by its charm, delicacy and depth. Marianne lives in Montreal, Quebec.