Kaylani Juanita

Kaylani Juanita McCard, professionally known as Kaylani Juanita, is an illustrator.^[1] Her work focuses on activism, empowerment of people of color, and LGBTQ+ people.^[1] Her work has appeared in publications through Chronicle Books, Cicada Magazine, and Lee & Low Books.^[2] Her first book illustrated, Ta-Da! by Kathy Ellen Davis, was released by Chronicle Books and nominated for an Young Readers award via the 38th Annual Northern California Book Awards.^[3][4] In 2018, ELLE Magazine featured her work and interviewed her at length in context of her memorial illustrations based on the murder of Nia Wilson, a black woman who was fatally stabbed in a suspected hate crime while exiting a BART train.^[5][6][1] In 2017, she illustrated "9 Books for Woke Kids," an article by Guinevere de la Mare.^[7]

Kaylani Juanita
Juanita in 2021.
Born	Kaylani Juanita McCard
Occupation	Illustrator

Education

Juanita attended B. Gale Wilson Elementary School in Solano County's Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District as well as Rodriguez High School.^[4] While attending Rodriguez, Juanita spent a summer studying at CalArts. She then attended Solano College^[4] before transferring to California College of the Arts. She earned her BFA in Illustration from California College of the Arts.^[8][4] As of 2019, she is working on a Master's in Design at the University of California, Davis.

Personal life

Juanita is based in Fairfield, CA^[9] and identifies as a mixed-race^[10] femme queer person.

Awards and honors

When Aiden Became A Brother

Kaylani Jaunita and Kyle Lukoff published When Aiden Became a Brother in 2019. In 2020, the book was awarded the Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award,^[11] landed a top spot on the American Library Association Rainbow List,^[12] and was named a Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book.^[13]

Bibliography

• Next Level: A Hymn in Gratitude for Neurodiversity by Samara Cole Doyon, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (2024)
• Loud and Proud: The Life of Congresswoman Shirley Chishom by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (2023)
• Together We Swim by Valerie Bolling, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (2023)
• Together We Ride by Valerie Bolling, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (2022)
• A House for Every Bird by Megan Maynor, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita, (2021)
• Magnificent Homespun Brown by Samara Cole Doyon, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (2020)
• When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (2019)
• Watch Us Rise by Reneé Watson & Ellen Hagan, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (2019)
• Ta-Da! by Kathy Ellen Davis, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (2018)

Podcasts

• The Creativity Habit^[10]