Once upon a time, in Mrs. Hershner’s kindergarten art class, Katie Mazeika painted the perfect butterfly. Then she accidentally stuck her thumb in the middle of its right wing. To fix the problem, she stuck her other thumb in the other wing. Mrs. Hershner announced that Katie was a “Little Artist.” She decided to go with it.

Many years later, Katie is an award-winning author and illustrator who can’t imagine a better job than making books. She loves creating stories based on real people and events. Katie is passionate about highlighting disabled voices in her work. She strongly believes all children should see themselves in books. Katie hopes her work as a creator and advocate creates a space to openly discuss disability and neurodiversity. She does this through presentations, panels, and workshops for educators, kidlit creators, and young readers.

When she’s not drawing, writing or visiting schools and libraries, Katie likes to spend her time gardening or reading other people’s books. Katie currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Katie is a member of the SCBWI.

AWARDS

• Georgia Children’s Book Award 2027 Finalist

• NCTE Charlotte Huck Award 2026, Recommended Read

• Bank Street Books Best Board Books 2025

• Junior Library Guild Gold Selection

• Bank Street Books Best Books 2023

• CBC Best Trade Social Studies Book 2023

• Northern Lights Book Award, Picture Book of the Year 2022

• Septima Clark Award 2022

 Past Presentations/Panels:

• Empowering Children Through Picture Books (Panel) Ohioana Book Festival 2025

• Disability Made Visible (Panel) Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books 2025

• Changing the Status Quo: Picture Books That Differentiate (Panel) American Library Association Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2025

• The Highlights Foundation- Summer Camp in Illustration 2025

• Prioritizing Disablity Representation in Kidlit, The Indiana Federation of Libraries 2024 Conference

• Digging Deeper: Shedding Light on Hidden Histories, (Panel) SCBWI Middle of The Map 2024 Conference

• Making Positive Disability Representation in Children’s Books a Priority, Ohio Educational Media Libraries 2024 Conference

• Claiming Space: Disability Representation on the Page, (Panel), Columbus Book Festival 2024

• Disability Representation in Picture Book Illustration (two-night workshop co-taught with Kaz Windness). The Highlights Foundation 2024

• Using Authentic Stories About People with Disabilities to Advocate and Be Inclusive of All Students, (panel), National Council of Teachers of English 2023 Convention

• Neurodivergent and Disabled Authors and Author-Educators on Kidlit, (panel), National Council of Teachers of English 2023 Convention

• The Power of Pivoting: When the Only Way Forward is Changing Direction, (Keynote) SCBWI Ohio: North Conference 2023

• Making Your Portfolio POP: Advice from Both Sides of the Query, (workshop with Agent Lillian Mazeika), SCBWI Ohio: North Conference 2023