Yuyi Morales, Mexican-American author and illustrator of children’s books, was born Nov. 7, 1968, in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. She is the oldest of four children, and as a child loved drawing and making up stories to go with her art.
Yuyi Morales, Mexican-American author and illustrator of children’s books, was born Nov. 7, 1968, in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. She is the oldest of four children, and as a child loved drawing and making up stories to go with her art.
She was a top competitive swimmer in high school and studied physical education at the Universidad de Xalapa, planning to teach gym. After graduation, she worked as a swim coach in Mexico and met Tim O’Meara, an American citizen. They married, had a son Kelly and moved back to San Francisco in 1994.
Morales missed her native country and her family until her mother-in-law took her grandson Kelly to the public library, and Morales was in awe of all the picture books and wondered if she could create some like those.
She enrolled at UC Berkeley and took a course on writing for children and soon her first self-illustrated book, “Just a Minute,” was published in 2003. She has illustrated books for different authors and soon became one of the most prominent latina children’s book authors.
Her book “Viva Frida” received the 2015 Caldecott honor, making Morales the first latina to be a Caldecott recipient. This book also received the 2015 Pura Belpre Medal for illustration. Morales is a six-time winner of this illustration award.
