Month: April 2023

163 Laura Lacámara, Children’s Book Author and Illustrator

Cuban-born Laura Lacámara is the award-winning author and illustrator of Dalia’s Wondrous Hair / El cabello maravilloso de Dalia (Piñata Books), a bilingual picture book about a clever girl who transforms her unruly hair into a vibrant garden.

Laura also wrote Floating on Mama’s Song / Flotando en la canción de mamá, a bilingual picture book inspired by her mother, who was an opera singer in Havana. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales and published by HarperCollins, Floating on Mama’s Song was a Junior Library Guild Selection for Fall 2010 and was a Tejas Star Book Award Finalist for 2011-2012.

Laura illustrated the 2012 Tejas Star Book Award winner, The Runaway Piggy / El cochinito fugitivo (Piñata Books), as well as Alicia’s Fruity Drinks / Las aguas frescas de Alicia (Piñata Books).

Laura recently illustrated Mamá the Alien / Mamá la extraterrestre (Lee and Low Books, 2016), which received a starred review from Kirkus.

⁠https://www.lauralacamara.com/⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/laura_lacamara/⁠

Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/lacamaralaura⁠

Thanks for listening!

Art Teacher and Illustrator

Working as an art teacher and a freelance illustrator has been a balance. I discuss the two aspects of my career in an interview with TeMika Grooms, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Design and Illustration Manager.

My work was also featured on the homepage of the SCBWI website. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my love of teaching and children’s book illustration. I’ve been slowly but steadily building my illustration career while being an art teacher part-time. Both give me great joy!