Luca's Bridge/El Puente de Luca

Author Mariana Llanos is a Peruvian-born writer of children's literature. She has published several children's books, including the bilingual Luca's Bridge/El puente de Luca (Penny Candy Books, 2019), and the award-winning bilingual books Kutu, the Tiny Inca Princess (Campoy-Ada Awards ), Poesia Alada (International Latino Book Awards), Tristan Wolf (IPNE Book Awards), among others. In 2017, Mariana received the Oklahoma Human Rights Award for her work visiting schools around the world via virtual technology, to promote literacy. That same year she was selected as the Best Latino Artist by the Hispanic Arts Council of Oklahoma. Mariana developed an early love for reading and writing in her native Peru. She studied theater in Lima, but moved to the United States where she decided to pursue her passion: to become a children's author. She dedicates her time to creating multicultural, poignant, and engaging stories and lives with her husband and their three children in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Elena Napoli is an Italian illustrator and character designer who studied entertainment design at the NEMO Academy of Digital Arts in Florence. Growing up in the Italian art scene, she has drawn for as long as she can remember and has always known that making art would be her future. Starting with digital and traditional techniques, like watercolor and ecoline, Elena initially focused on animated films and then moved to illustrations. Among her interests are music, young adult fiction, children's books, indie video games, films and TV series, as well as her dream of traveling doing what she loves and finding her own place in the world. She lives in Florence, Italy.