About the Authors
Aaron Bowersock
Aaron Bowersock is a “Professional Art Dad” who grew up playing with his forty cousins in Milwaukee, WI. Though they lived in the Midwest, they were very much “Tejano” thanks to their grandmother, Josefa, being from Crystal City, TX. Professionally, he worked as an agency designer and illustrator for more than thirteen years before stepping away to raise his kids. These days he’s using those visual art and design skills to create work inspired by gaming, gardening, food, family, and his upbringing. His two kids inspired him to create books to introduce them to their culture and share it with others.
Ariana Stein
Ariana Stein is the co-founder of Lil' Libros. Since 2014, she has co-authored a variety of first concept children's books. Recognizing the bilingual gap and diversity void in children's literature, she became passionate for bilingual education and multicultural books.
Chogrin
Chogrin is an artist and storyteller from Guayaquil, Ecuador. His imagination is fueled by his childhood, science, folklore, and his family and friends. For the last decade he has worked in the animation industry for companies like Cartoon Network and Disney. His artwork has been featured in multiple art galleries and publications around the world. He’s currently designing vinyl toys like “Guru del Toro,” as well as writing, drawing, and directing many projects from his art laboratory in Burbank, CA.
Cindy Montenegro
Cindy Montenegro is a Salvadoran-American mental health therapist and storyteller from Paramount, California. She received her graduate degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Chapman University and a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara. In the therapy room, Cindy works with people of all ages to explore their emotions and strengths to create a roadmap to self-love, growth, and healing. Her imagination is influenced by her childhood, love of the outdoors, and passion for mental health. Cindy hopes that her writing will inspire readers to celebrate all of their emotions, no matter how big or small they may be! This is her first children’s book.
Citlali Reyes
Citlali Reyes is a Mexican author and illustrator. Since she was a child, she always loved doodling and telling stories through images; this drew her to the enchanting world of illustration where she has resided for more than ten years. In 2014, she partnered with Lil’ Libros to create their first three books and over time she has illustrated more than forty bilingual children’s books for the publisher. She debuted as author and illustrator with the book, Sana, sana, colita de rana. When she is not drawing for countless hours, Citlali enjoys reading, stargazing or playing around with her camera. She lives in the country of Kosovo.
Cris Winters
Cris Winters is a multidisciplinary artist based in Mexico City. Her greatest passion is to tell stories through journalism, writing, and event planning. She is co-founder of The Bucket List, a company that designs corporate and pop-up experiences. She was editor of Donde Ir and Destino Uber, and has collaborated with publications such as Chilango, Código and FRENTE. She was an artist resident at CAMAC Art Center in France, and her first novel is soon to be published.
Cynthia Gonzalez
Cynthia Gonzalez was born in El Salvador and raised in South Los Angeles. She's multi-faceted with talents as a writer, poet, activist, and community leader. Cynthia has served as an executive board member for non-profits in Los Angeles and Long Beach. She has also served as a Cultural Advisor and Entertainment Director for the Los Angeles LBGT Center. She has written articles for the local Long Beach press, and was featured in the Los Angeles Times. Her passion for seeing a positive representation of the Salvadoran community led her to establish Salvies Who Lunch. This non-profit organizational platform connects and uplifts Salvadorans of all backgrounds through empowering and supportive events. Cynthia is the author behind Lil' Libros' newly released title, The Life of / La vida de Llort, and has translated over ten books within the Lil' Libros' VÁMONOS travel series. On her free days, she enjoys watching sci-fi movies and eating rocky road ice cream.
D Guzmán
D Guzmán is a Latine illustrator for picture books and freelance work. She lives in Minneapolis, MN with her partner, two cats, dog, many fish, and her own jungle of houseplants. D loves to take road trips and travel with her partner to find inspiration. When she’s not illustrating children’s books, she runs an at-home print shop and creates and sells her own illustration prints online. D has worked with Target and Pollen Midwest. She has exhibited her work with Family Tree Clinic and Light Grey Art Lab.
Ellen Ochoa
Ellen Ochoa became the first Latina to go to space when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1993. She has flown on four missions, spending a total of 41 days in space. She completed her 30-year career at NASA by serving as the 11th Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX and is honored to have seven schools named after her. Now living in Boise, ID with her husband and dog Felix, with their two grown sons nearby, she continues to be an ambassador for science and engineering education, especially engaging kids and adults from groups who are underrepresented in those fields.
Ellia Ana Hill
Ellia Ana Hill is a Puerto Rican cut paper illustrator and artist. She creates hand-cut whimsical illustrations from a mix of vintage and modern papers. Her work is influenced by her familia, pop culture, toys, retro goodness, curly hair, and childhood adventures. Ellia earned a BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design with an emphasis on illustration and creative writing. She has participated in gallery shows by Netflix, Disney, American Horror Story, Hasbro, and more – all the while raising 6 kids with her husband. Ellia and her family live in Milwaukee, WI.
Emma Garcia
Emma Garcia is a writer, artist, and mom born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. It was after winning her first art contest at the age of five that she discovered her passion for the enchanting world of storytelling. Today, she serves as the Editorial Assistant at Lil' Libros and the Editor and Copywriter for the non-profit organization, Salvies Who Lunch. She is the author behind the newly released titles, My First 100 Ocean Words in English and Spanish and My First 100 Dino Words in English and Spanish. She is currently living in Los Angeles, soaking in life as a new mom.
Eric Ramos
Super Torta! is an autobiography of imagination, comprised of personal memories, influences, & experiences by author and illustrator Eric Ramos. The story was originally written in 7th grade as a class project reflecting on a 3rd grade school field trip experience, then written & illustrated as a creative outlet while working in the real estate "adult" world. Growing up in a predominantly Latino neighborhood in Norwalk, CA - (by the outskirts of Los Angeles), Ramos, his mother and 4 siblings would often walk through a historic gang turf known as the "One Ways", to visit the library after school. It was there where the love for books was fosters and imagination continued to thrive as an adult. This is Ramos story to every child, may they summon their imagination to change any situation, because in this world: Imagination is a super power!
Fabienne Doucet
Fabienne is a Haitian-American author and researcher. An avid reader, writer, karaoke queen, and lifelong dancer, she writes stories that celebrate the lives and experiences of racially, linguistically, and culturally diverse children and families. When not writing stories for young children or practicing her salsa moves, Fabienne teaches future early childhood educators at New York University. She lives in New York City with her husband and their two amazing teenagers who are growing up way too fast.
Grace Ann Díaz
Grace Díaz is a writer, educator, partner, mother, and lifelong lover of languages. At age twelve, she taught herself Uzbek and Russian. At age 26, she decided to learn Spanish, and along the way she created a beautiful bilingual family, with a foot in Minnesota, and the other in Morelos, Mexico. She is currently a middle-school social studies teacher in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she is daily reminded of the tenacity and talents of all multilingual children, including her own.
Heidi Moreno
Heidi Moreno is a first-generation Mexican-American born in East Los Angeles. She is an illustrator creating spooky art with an emphasis on cozy environments and nostalgia. When she was in elementary school, she wrote and illustrated stories about witches and cats and stapled them to look like real books. Today she continues her legacy with the same tools from school: colored pencils. She lives in Los Angeles with her spaceman Danny and two cute gatos, Peanut and Momo. On most days she’s feeding community cats and eating vegan treats.
J de laVega
J de laVega is an author-illustrator of Puerto Rican descent currently residing in Southern California with her partner, their children, and an ever-growing number of animals. Before becoming an author, J was a chef; she dreams of one day creating an entire line of graphic novel cookbooks. When she’s not drawing or writing, J enjoys planning out the perfect chef’s farm, remodeling dollhouses, and plotting new ways to convince her partner to get her a miniature cow. She hopes to use her platform for social justice and equity literacy.
J. Roman Pérez Varela
J. Roman Perez was born and raised in the city of Salinas, California, better known as the “Salad Bowl of the World.” As a first-generation Mexican American and a migrant student, he realized early in his childhood that he had 2 choices in life: either to work hard in school or work hard picking crops. Alike most of his siblings, he did both in order to survive, and it allowed him to better understand the important role his father, a campesino, and his mother played in this country. His work ethic reflects his upbringing, and he is thankful that working under the sun and rain made him understand what his parents had to experience to provide a better life to him, his siblings, and extended family. Presently, Roman continues to live in Salinas with his wife and 3 children. As a Program Director at a Transitional Residence Program, he assist many campesinos struggling with homelessnes. Allowing him to assist others, as others assisted his family when they initially arrived in this country. Roman hopes one day his children can understand the sacrifices many have experienced in order for them to live the life they live.
Jayri Gómez
Jayri Gómez is a full-time children's book illustrator born and raised in the Dominican Republic. From a very young age, Jayri knew that she wanted to dedicate herself to drawing in the future, but didn't know that illustrating books was her dream job until she reached adulthood. She has published several books and works with diverse brands, publishing houses, and independent authors. Publishing with Lil' Libros, The Stars of Din is her authorial debut; she illustrated My First Space Words in English and Spanish. She enjoys watching movies, especially Harry Potter or anything horror, and listening to music. She's a strong believer in using as many colors as she can in both her drawings and her clothes. She continues to live in the Dominican Republic, spending time with her three kittens, Momo, Ginny and Lilo.
Jorge Garza
Jorge Garza is a Mexican-American illustrator from Indiana, where he currently resides. Jorge is best known for an art style mashing up Aztec art and pop culture called Azteca Pop. Jorge’s art went viral with his Azteca Pop drawings of various cultural icons and his ongoing art series highlighting essential and frontline workers. His artwork has exhibited at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago as well as the Amor Eterno Art Gallery in Oakland. He also enjoys writing and drawing his own comic books.
Juan Moreno
Juan Moreno is a Mexican American, born and raised in Compton, CA. Growing up he played soccer with his friends, read books, and wrote poetry during his free time. As he got older, he found a passion for mentoring student-athletes in his community through his coaching career, which led him to graduate school, where he earned a master’s degree in Sport & Exercise Psychology. He now uses his experience and education to guide him in his current role as a University Advisor. He is a husband and father who wishes to inspire by creating stories that will capture bonding moments between parents and children.
Katherine Trejo
Katherine Trejo is a first-generation Salvadoran-American college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in politics and Latin American/Latino studies from UC Santa Cruz. She lives in Historic Filipinotown with her Boston Terrier Lily, mom, brother, cousins, aunts, grandma, niece, and nephew in the same apartment complex where she was raised. She enjoys spending time with friends and family, watching cartoons, and listening to K-pop. She co-authored this book with Mr. Scott Martin-Rowe, one of her most influential and favorite teachers in high school.
Luis San Vicente
Born in Mexico City, the eldest son of Don Miguel and Doña Pilar, Luis San Vicente showed a devotion to drawing since his childhood and embedded artwork on notebooks, papers, desks, and any surface that allowed ink or pencil. With childhood ambition, he studied graphic communication design at UAM. For almost twenty years, he worked as the coordinator of the art department of the Reforma newspaper. He has illustrated more than 50 children's books for publishers in Mexico, the United States, and other parts of the world. His work has been recognized with several national and international awards, having won twice the catalog of illustrations for children and youth and been the recipient of the Noma-Concours Encouragement Prize.
Marcela Valladolid
Marcela Valladolid is an Emmy-nominated celebrity chef, television personality, designer, author, mother, and businesswoman. Growing up around expert and traditional cooks in Tijuana, Mexico, Marcela was raised to be passionate about food.
She has authored numerous nationally best-selling cookbooks, including her most recent Casa Marcela: Recipes and Food Stories of My Life (2017) and Fiestas: Tidbits, Margaritas & More (2019).
In January 2021, Marcela launched Casa Marcela, a lifestyle online store offering artisanal pieces from all across Mexico. She is currently co-hosting the “Marcela & Carina Show,” a virtual live cooking class & entertainment show with her sister, Carina Valladolid. Marcela resides in Chula Vista, CA with her partner Philip Button and their three children, Fausto, David, and Anna Carina, and their dog, Kongo.
María Rosana Mestre
María Rosana Mestre believes imagination should be protected and defended in all children. Born in Venezuela, she is a reader, writer, and sworn translator; teaches Spanish as a foreign language to grandmas and grandpas, kids, and adults; and runs a building company with her husband. María Rosana received an MD in Literature from the Universidade Federal do Paraná (Brazil), a postgraduate degree in Creative Communication from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain), and a BA in Print Journalism from the Universidad Rafael Belloso Chacín (Venezuela). She is the author of Trato Feito (Brazil, 2012). María Rosana believes in democratic values; for this reason, she is exiled from her country, which is under a dictatorial regime. She lives in Indiana with her daughter Amélie, her husband, her mom, and a little puppy named Río.
Mariana Galvez
Mariana Galvez was born in Mexico and grew up in South Los Angeles. It was during weekend trips to the library in her childhood that her love for illustrating and writing was forged. After a number of years in the corporate world, she was called back to illustrating when creating art for her three children. Little Astrology Catrinas will be her first collaboration with Lil’ Libros. She wants to bring a fresh and imaginative perspective to catrinas. She currently resides in Whittier, CA with her husband where she loves to garden, cook vegan food, and chase after her beloved dog and cat.
Melanie Romero
Melanie Romero is a trilingual writer based in Orange County with overseas connections in Mexico City, Paris, and London. It was during childhood weekend trips to Randy's $1-a-book stall at the OC Market Place that she discovered a passion for reading and, eventually, writing. Today, she serves as the Editor at Lil' Libros. In her free time, she can be found indulging in challah and kanelbullar or getting lost among the shelves of independent bookstores.
Michelle Winters
Michelle Winters is a funny, creative, and resilient Mexican who will always make yousmile with one of her analogies. She resides in Colorado where she works in the IT industry, focused on launching startups and optimizing the customer experience. Her inspiration for creating this book is to help diverse communities see themselves, as well as entertaining readers, thus generating an interesting conversation.
Nayeli Reyes
Nayeli Reyes was born in Mazatlán, Mexico. She is Emilio’s mother, a chef and photographer specialized in food and products. She recalls devouring any book that came to her hands at a young age; with a special weakness for children’s books; now she’s trying to share this lovely activity with Emilio. She likes to combine her love for books with her cooking, creating recipes inspired by literature for her youtube channel. In her spare time, you may find her doing DIY projects: crochet, watercolor or origami, baking sourdough bread and playing with Emilio and her husband Alejandro.
Patty Rodriguez
Patty Rodriguez, unable to find bilingual first concept books she could enjoy reading to her baby, Patty came up with the idea behind Lil’ Libros. Mother of two and a community leader that enjoys empowering tomorrow’s young leaders at conferences and summits, can be seen on a Saturday morning cheering her oldest son at a soccer game. You can listen to her every morning on On Air with Ryan Seacrest.
Scott Martin-Rowe
Scott Martin-Rowe is a National Board Certified teacher librarian in the Los Angeles Unified School District and the first in his family to graduate from college. Aside from teaching, he enjoys reading, writing, running, and spending time with his family and friends. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, writer Kate Martin Rowe, his four energetic children, and one lazy dog. Though he has many favorite students from his 15 years of teaching, Katherine Trejo is one of his most favorite (but don’t tell the others).
Tessa B.H. Ruiz
Tessa B.H. Ruiz grew up in Portland, Oregon. She received her BA in Fine Arts at the University of Southern California, where, in the depths of the library, she first became acquainted with the allure and architecture of New Orleans. After spending two years in the French Quarter, her debut picture book, The House, the Ghost, and Me, was written under the watchful eye of her newborn baby. She lives, once again, in Portland with her husband and two daughters.
Victoria Roth
Victoria Roth was born in Montevideo, Uruguay and grew up in Orange County, California. Her childhood experiences as an immigrant have influenced the stories she tells. She is driven by a desire to see Latino culture represented in children’s books. Victoria graduated from the University of Michigan with master’s degrees in both Education and Spanish. She currently resides in Redondo Beach with her husband, daughter and dog, Stitch. When she’s not typing away on her computer, she can be found at the local dance studio or on her phone talking to friends and relatives in Uruguay.
Zaida Hernández
Zaida Hernández is a Latina space engineer, first-generation Salvadoran American, and STEM advocate. Growing up, she always had a fascination with space – stars, planets, and the unknown! When she is not spending time with family, she loves participating in outreach events locally and worldwide, spreading her love for space. In her first collaboration with Lil’ Libros, she hopes to inspire future bilingual scientists, engineers, and space explorers! Currently, she is working as an engineer at NASA.