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