Yuyi Morales author page

Yuyi Morales biography

Yuyi Morales is a children’s author and illustrator who was born in Mexico. She immigrated to the United States in 1994 and has drawn on her family legacy and Mexican heritage in creating Latino children’s books. She has won the Pura Belpré Medal for Illustration multiple times, and her other recognised awards include the Américas Award, the Golden Kite Award, the Christopher Award, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, the California Book Award and the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award.

Morales illustrated Kathleen Krull’s Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, which received a Pura Belpré Award and a Christopher Medal. She also illustrated Marisa Montes’s Los Gatos Black on Halloween, another Pura Belpré Award-winning book. For Maya Soetoro-Ng’s Ladder to the Moon, published by Candlewick on 26 March 2013, Morales created the artwork for a 48-page picture book for ages 5 to 9.

Dreamers, written and illustrated by Morales, was published in hardcover on 4 September 2018. The Spanish-language edition, Soñadores, was also published on 4 September 2018, with a paperback edition published on 27 April 2021.

Bright Star, written and illustrated by Morales, was published as a 40-page picture book for ages 4 to 8. In that book, Morales tells the story of a fawn moving through a landscape described as dangerous, beautiful and full of potential. Little Rebels, written and illustrated by Morales, was published by Neal Porter Books on 2 September 2025.