Stephanie Seales

Stephanie Seales is the California-born daughter of Panamanian immigrants and a children’s literature expert who has worked in nearly every aspect of the book industry. She is the author of the picture book My Daddy Is a Cowboy, illustrated by C.G. Esperanza, which follows a young girl and her father on an early-morning horseback ride and celebrates Black urban horsemanship and family connection.

Seales has said the book was inspired in part by the Compton Cowboys and by her desire to write a picture book featuring Panamanian American characters. Her debut picture book has received major recognition, including a Caldecott Honor, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor.