Laura Smetana

Laura Smetana is an award-winning children’s book author and illustrator. She loves creating bright, joyful cut-paper watercolor collages inspired by nature. Her latest author-illustrated book, My Love for You Is Like a Garden, was recognized as one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2023 and received a starred Kirkus review. She is also the author of Ice Cream with Grandpa: A Loving Story for Kids About Alzheimer’s & Dementia (illustrated by Elisabete B. P. de Moraes), which won a Northern Lights Book Award, and Little Squiggle’s Lake Adventure, which she co-authored with her son.

Laura lives with her family in the Chicago suburbs and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Downers Grove Artists’ Guild, and The Morton Arboretum’s Nature Artists’ Guild. When she isn’t writing or painting, Laura can be found sharing her enthusiasm for writing and illustrating at author-illustrator school visits with preK- 6th graders, exhibiting her art at local museums and libraries, and teaching collage art courses to adults and children. In-person or virtually, Laura’s goal is to allow children and adults opportunity to see the creativity in themselves—leaving them confident and inspired to write and illustrate their own stories, and create their own art.