Doug Salati author page

Doug Salati Biography

Doug Salati is an American author and illustrator acclaimed for his contributions to children’s picture books. He is the creator of Hot Dog (2022), which received the 2023 Randolph Caldecott Medal and the Ezra Jack Keats Award. The book was also recognized as one of the best books of the year by publications including The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews.

Born in 1985 in Oneida, New York, Salati pursued his passion for art from a young age. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he was also a collegiate swimmer. He later completed a Master of Fine Arts in Illustration as Visual Essay at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City in 2014. Following his graduation, he became a faculty member at SVA and was selected as a 2015 Sendak Fellow.

Salati’s illustration debut was In a Small Kingdom (2018), written by Tomie dePaola. He subsequently illustrated Lawrence in the Fall (2019) by Matthew Farina, which was honored by the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and selected for the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show. His other illustration credits include Pip and Zip (2021) by Elana K. Arnold and the Milkweed Meadow series by Elaine Dimopoulos.

In March 2025, Salati is set to release Words with Wings and Magic Things, a poetry collection written by Matthew Burgess.