Monica Brown

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/Marisol McDonald no combina (Children’s Book Press, 2011)

In 2018, Brown launched a chapter-book series Sarai, co-authored with child actress and internet sensation Sarai Gonzalez. The series is targeted at children 7-10 and is inspired by events in Sarai's life.

In the book Waiting for the Biblioburro, Brown works to showcase the power of literacy and education by telling the story of a Colombian educator who reaches remote communities in Colombia with a donkey powered library. Brown's book Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos was selected by the New York Times as the best illustrated book of 2017.

Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash (New York: Lee & Low, 2013)

Tito Puente, Mambo King/Tito Puente, rey del mambo (New York: HarperCollins Rayo, 2013)

Waiting for the Biblioburro (Tricycle/Random House, 2011)

Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People (Henry Holt, 2011)

Side by Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez/Lado a lado: La historia de Dolores Huerta y Cesar Chavez (HarperCollins Rayo, 2010)

Chavela and the Magic Bubble (Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010)

Pelé King of Soccer (HarperCollins Rayo, 2009)

My Name is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel Garcia Márquez (Luna Rising/Rising Moon, 2007)

My Name is Gabriela: The Life of Gabriela Mistral/Me llamo Gabriela: la vida de Gabriela Mistral (Luna Rising/Rising Moon, 2005)

Giving birth to her daughters motivated Brown to begin writing children's books that reflected the significant contributions of the people of the Americas. Brown published her first children's book, My Name is Celia: the Life of Celia Cruz (Me llamo Celia: la vida de Celia Cruz), published bilingually in English and Spanish in 2004, for which she won the Américas Award for Children's Literature. Brown finds inspiration in her Peruvian and Jewish heritage and a commitment to bring diverse stories to children

My Name is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/Me llamo Celia: la vida de Celia Cruz (Luna Rising/Rising Moon, 2004)

Brown earned a B.A. in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1991, an M.A. in English from Boston College in 1994, and a Ph.D. in English from Ohio State University in 1998. She is a tenured professor at Northern Arizona University, where she teaches courses on Chicano, African American, and Multi-ethnic literature.

Mónica Brown (born October 24, 1969) is a Peruvian-American academic and author of children's literature. Known for her Lola Levine and Sarai chapter book series, as well as numerous biographies covering such Latin American luminaries as Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Dolores Huerta, and Cesar Chavez, she writes relatable characters that highlight the nuance and diversity of the Latinx experience and girl empowerment. Her motivation is to show that bicultural children are not made up of cultural fractions but whole people with a rich and vibrant cultural heritage, such as her character the bicultural red-headed Peruvian-Scottish-American Marisol McDonald. Brown is also an English professor at Northern Arizona University.

Brown was born on October 24, 1969 in Mountain View, California, to Isabel Maria Vexler Valdivieso from Piura, Peru, and Daniel Doronda Brown from San Francisco. Monica is Mestiza and Romanian Jewish on her Mother’s side and Hungarian Jewish, Scottish and Italian on her father’s side. Brown was raised Catholic and converted to Judaism as an adult. Throughout her childhood, Brown took numerous vacations to visit her mother’s family in Peru. Her diverse upbringing influences her work most notably in the character Lola Levine whose Jewish-Peruvian-American ancestry mirrors Brown's.