Laura McGee Kvasnosky

Laura McGee Kvasnosky is an award-winning author/illustrator of nearly 20 books for young readers.

Laura is best known for her early reader series that explores the ups and down of sibling rivalry between two fox sisters. The original, Zelda and Ivy, arrived to peer acclaim by the Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) with dual Golden Kite honors for writing and illustration in 1998. Zelda and Ivy: the Runaways, in 2007 won the American Library Association’s Theodore Geisel Award that honors the year’s outstanding American book for beginning readers.

Laura grew up in the small town of Sonora, CA, where she honed her writing skills by working on her dad’s local newspaper, starting with sharpening pencils and advancing later to reporting and editing. She graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles and ran her own craft making and graphic design businesses. At age 40, she turned to her dream job of making children’s books.

Laura’s work includes board books, picture books, easy readers and a middle-grade novel, One Lucky Summer, that was a Junior Library Guild selection. Most recently she created Little Wolf’s First Howling with her sister Kate McGee that debuted in Spring 2017 to three starred reviews (Kirkus, SLJ and Booklist).

Laura lives in Seattle, WA, with her husband, John, and they are proud parents of two grown children. She is a school presenter and conference speaker, and has taught writing at the University of Washington and Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program for children’s literature.

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