Lea Lyon

Lea Lyon is a children’s book author and illustrator whose award-winning books address topical social issues, such as bullying, and introduce diverse ethnicities and cultures. They present engaging children and adults who find unusual and clever ways to resolve problems. The books she has written or illustrated have received honors including two ALA Notable recognitions, starred reviews, inclusion in three Bank Street Best of the year lists, NCSS Notable Social Studies awards, and acceptance by the Scholastic Book Club. "It Rained Warm Bread", by Hope Anita Smith and Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet, developed and illustrated by Lea, was named a Kirkus Best Middle Grade Nonfiction Book in Verse for 2019, and "Ready to Fly: How Sylvia Townsend Became the Bookmobile Ballerina", by Lea and A. LaFaye, illustrated by Jessica Gibson, was chosen by the New York Public Library children’s librarians as one of their 67 NYPL Spring 2021 Staff Picks. Her latest book, being released in February 2024, "The Double V Campaign: African Americans Fighting for Freedom at Home and Abroad," for 7th – 9th grade, was suggested to her by a revered female Black National Park Ranger, who retired at age 100, as a book she would like to see about the World War II era. For ten years Lea was the Illustrator Coordinator for the San Francisco/South region of SCBWI, where she organized and facilitated a popular annual children's book illustrator conference.