Karen Su
Children's Book Writer & Illustrator
Karen is a leading educator passionate about diversifying stories for children
With decades of experience teaching and creating Asian American Studies and student programs across the US, Karen is bringing her experience to the world of children’s books. She believes that everyone has important stories to share inspired from their life experiences. Karen wants Asian American children to see more books representing them so they feel seen and valued — not just by literature, but also by their communities.Karen focuses on non-fiction picture books about Asian American life stories as well as fictional board books and picture books inspired by family stories. She has written biographies of Asian Americans for Carson Dellosa’s Leaders Like Us series geared for grades 1-4.in March 2026, Karen was selected as a Picture Book Rising Star Mentee Runner-Up, one of only 40 runners up chosen from over 4000 applications! Karen received the Many Voices Prize from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Illinois in 2022. In 2018, she was a nonfiction mentee for the We Need Diverse Books mentorship program. Karen was also chosen to be part of a mentorship group led by award-winning children's book author Maya Gonzalez in 2017. She is an active member and core organizer of Banyan: Asian American Writers Collective.Karen has published four biographies for Leaders Like Us (Carson Dellosa): Grace Lee Boggs, Philip Vera Cruz, Yuri Kochiyama, and Dalip Singh Saund. QR code below for book orders. She is available for author visits to schools and libraries. Contact her below!
