ABOUT:

Diana Murray is the author of over twenty five children’s books, including the bestselling UNICORN DAY series and Jr. Library Guild Selections like CITY SHAPES and GOODNIGHT, VEGGIES. Diana has taught picture book writing workshops at the Highlights Foundation and Storyteller Academy, and her poetry appears in many magazines and anthologies. She grew up in New York City and still lives nearby with her husband, two children, and a dancing dog. Diana is represented by Erzsi Deak at Hen & Ink Literary.

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More from Diana:

I was born in Ukraine (in the Soviet Union) and grew up in New York City, often moving between Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. When we arrived in the United States in the mid 1970’s, I was only two years old, but I was already speaking Russian by then and now I suddenly had to learn a whole new language. I remember getting some help from watching tv. Thank you, Sesame Street! 

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When I went to the playground, it was difficult to make friends, partially because of the language barrier and partially because I was very shy. But growing up bilingual made me especially interested in words. I found it fascinating that there were so many different ways to say a thing. I also loved art and drawing. I couldn’t wait to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings and I dreamed that someday I might become a cartoonist. 

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I attended Skidmore College where I studied psychology with an unofficial minor in art. After graduating, I became a graphic designer and the art director at Theory, a fashion company in Manhattan. 

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When my first daughter was born, we read loads of books together and that’s when I fell in love with picture books as a genre. I was amazed by how much emotion and humor could be packed into such a tiny book. And the art just took it to another level. I was hooked.

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I started trying to write children's books around 2007. I quickly learned that it was a tough industry to break into, but a few years later, I won the SCBWI Barbara Karlin Grant (now called the WIP Award) and that gave me a big boost. In 2012 I signed with my first agent and things took off from there.

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Sometimes I can’t believe that I get to write whimsical tales of unicorns and mermaids and I actually get paid for it! It seems too good to be true. And now that my kids are grown, I miss seeing their sense of wonder as we read picture books together, so I’m grateful that I still get to write stories with that experience in mind.