Renee Kurilla is a children's illustrator, author, and designer. She loves drawing nature, animals, and working on projects that require a little bit of research.

She has illustrated many books for kids including ORANGUTANKA (by Margarita Engle), CHICKS RULE! (by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen), RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE (by Lisl H. Detlefsen), and the ADA LACE series (by Emily Calandrelli).

ONE SPRINGY, SINGY DAY, Renee's debut picture book as both author and illustrator, published in March 2021. THE FLOWER GARDEN, Renee's first young graphic novel, published in Spring 2022.

Renee has a BFA in Illustration and a minor in Graphic Design from Lesley University College of Art and Design. Before transitioning to a full time career in children’s books, she was a Lead Artist at FableVision Studios in Boston for 10 years.

She currently lives in MA with her illustrator husband Keith Zoo, their 6 year old daughter, Zoey, and Yoshi the fish.

Emily Calandrelli is a #1 NYTimes Best Selling Author and the host and co-executive producer of the hit Netflix series Emily’s Wonder Lab. Each episode features Emily and a group of kid-scientists as they learn about STEAM through experiments and fun activities. Emily is also an Executive Producer and Emmy nominated host of FOX’s Xploration Outer Space and was a correspondent on Netflix’s, Bill Nye Saves The World.

Emily, who was named to Adweek’s “11 Celebrities and Influencers Raising the Bar for Creativity in 2017”, is also an accomplished writer and speaker on the topics of space exploration, scientific literacy, and equality. Her chapter book series, The Ada Lace Adventures, centers around an eight-year-old girl with a knack for science, math, and solving mysteries with technology, The second book in the series, Ada Lace: Sees Red, was included in the National Science Teachers Association’s list of best STEM books for 2018. The third book, Ada Lace: Take Me To Your Leader, was part of the initiative from NASA and CASIS, Story Time from Space where the book was launched into space and read by an astronaut aboard the ISS to an audience of kids. The fifth and most recent book in the series, Ada Lace: and the Suspicious Artist which was released in February 2019.

Emily has given talks about the importance of science literacy, the benefits of space exploration, and the challenges for women in STEM careers for clients like Google, Pixar, MIT, Texas Instruments as well as dozens of K-12 schools across the nation. Her first two TEDx talks, “I Don’t Do Math” and “Space Exploration Is The Worst,” have garnered over one million views on YouTube.

Prior to her work in science communication, Emily attended West Virginia University, where she received a Bachelors of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering, and MIT where she received two Masters of Science degrees, one in Aeronautics and Astronautics and the other in Technology and Policy. Through her work, she wants to make science relatable, easy to understand and more exciting today than ever before in history.