Vanessa Brantley-Newton - Click to see all titles by this author.

Vanessa Brantley-Newton is an illustrator, doll maker, and crafter, who studied fashion illustration at FIT and children’s book illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

She is the author-illustrator of Grandma’s Purse, Just Like Me, and Becoming Vanessa, and has illustrated numerous children’s books, including The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes and Sewing Stories by Barbara Herkert.

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats was the first time Vanessa saw herself in a children’s book. It was a defining moment in her life and has made her into the artist she is today. As an illustrator, Vanessa includes children of all ethnic backgrounds in her stories and artwork. She wants all children to see themselves in the books they read so they can feel the same sense of empowerment and recognition she experienced as a young reader.

Learn more about Vanessa and her artwork at VanessaBrantleyNewton.com and on Facebook and Instagram.

Check out Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s original artwork on the front of this calendar.