Brave Like a Lion!: How a Puppeteer Found Her Voice

Megan Piphus taught herself puppetry and ventriloquism at age ten by watching VHS tapes. Since 2020, Megan has played the role of Gabrielle, a 6-year old black girl Muppet, on Sesame Street. After training for a year to learn Muppet style puppetry with the cast of Sesame Street, Megan became the first full-time Black woman puppeteer to perform on Sesame Street in September of 2021. Megan is a mom of two young boys--Leo and Ty.

Niña Mata is the New York Times Bestselling Illustrator of I Promise by LeBron James and She's Got This by Laurie Hernandez. Niña's family emigrated from the Philippines when she was 6 years old, and settled in Queens, New York. Because her parents worked and went to night school, Niña spent a lot (like a whole lot) of time drawing. She studied Illustration at The Fashion Institute of Technology of NY. Niña currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, their daughter, and Tabi, the cat.