Kari Allen is an elementary teacher at a local independent school where every day she gets to share stories with kids. Kari's early readers, SlJ and Kirkus star reviewed Maddie and Mabel, and SLJ star reviewed Maddie and Mabel Take the Lead are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections. Her debut picture book The Boy Who Loved Maps illustrated by G. Brian Karas hit the shelves in 2022. Kari has authored two Little Golden Books, The Bee Gees is out now and Julia Child is coming fall of 2024. Kari's board book Whose Prints? won a Cybil award for board books. She has an MA in the Teaching of Writing and one of her favorite things is to help kids fall in love with words. She will happily chat about children's literature and all the amazing books that are out there to anyone who will listen. Kari feels happiest with her toes in the water and a book in her hand. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and two book-loving kids.