Illustrator Day and PB Author Day—LIVE! In Lancaster 2025: Faculty Bios

Matt Phelan is the author and illustrator of many books for young readers, including the picture books Druthers and Turtle Walk, the chapter book Leave It to Plum!, the middle grade novel Knights VS. Dinosaurs, and others. His acclaimed graphic novels include the Scott O’Dell Award-winning The Storm in the Barn and the New York Times bestseller Snow White. In addition to his own work, Matt has illustrated books by renowned authors such as Linda Sue Park, Jeanne Birdsall, Patricia MacLachlan, and Jane Yolen. Matt lives with his family in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

Véronique Lefèvre Sweet grew up in the Rhône-Alps region of France. After working in Paris as a graphic designer, she moved to New York City in 2003 and has worked in children’s book publishing ever since. Over the years, she has designed every format for every age range, from picture books, graphic novels, chapter books, YA, and middle grade titles. She has had the chance to work with renown artists like Bryan Collier, Marc Brown, Serge Bloch, and R. Gregory Christie. She is currently an Art Director at Random House Children’s Books working on trade picture books and Little Golden Books. Véronique loves to share her knowledge and expertise on children’s books and is always inspired by meeting passionate, dedicated illustrators, no matter where they are in their artistic journey.

Mela Bolinao has a B.A. degree in Art History with a concentration in Visual Arts from Barnard College. She is the agent and sole owner of MB Artists, a talent agency that represents illustrators whose work is primarily intended for the juvenile market in trade and text books, editorial publications, licensed merchandise, advertising, toys, game boards, and other applications. The agency currently represents over 60 award winning children's book illustrators in the United States, Argentina, Spain, Columbia, Portugal, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, England, Malaysia, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, and Italy.

Catherine Laudone is the senior editor at Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. She has over twelve years of experience editing children’s books and has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She Kept Dancing: The True Story of a Professional Dancer with a Limb Difference is her picture book debut, coauthored with Sydney Mesher and illustrated by Natelle Quek. When not writing or editing, she enjoys traveling, drinking chocolate tea, baking, and playing with her cat, Biscotti. Learn more at catherinelaudone.com.

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