Nina Mata author page

Nina Mata biography

Niña Mata is a children’s bookmaker and illustrator. Her family emigrated from the Philippines when she was six years old, and she grew up in Queens, New York. She studied illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology of New York.

Mata illustrated She’s Got This by Laurie Hernandez and I Promise by LeBron James. She also illustrated I Am More Than by LeBron James, published by HarperCollins on 2 April 2024 for readers aged 4 to 8.

Her work for younger readers includes the Ty’s Travels series by Kelly Starling Lyons. Ty’s Travels: Zip, Zoom! was a Geisel Honor Book.

Mata illustrated I’m a Figure Skater! by Sue Fliess, a 24-page Little Golden Book published by Random House Children’s Books on 14 September 2021 for children aged 2 to 5.

New is Mata’s first authored picture book. It was published by HarperCollins on 29 April 2025 and follows a young Filipina on her first day of school.