About

Niña (neen-yah) Mata

Niña is an award-winning illustrator and author known for creating books for kids, including New York Times bestsellers I Promise by LeBron James and Ways to Make Sunshine by Renee Watson and the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honored Ty’s Travels series by Kelly Starling Lyons. Her work for I Absolutely Positively Love My Spots by Lid’Ya C. Rivera was nominated for an 55^th NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature.

Niña’s debut author-illustrated middle-grade book, Girls to the Front: 40 Asian American Women Who Blazed a Trail, was released in January 2025 and received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly.

She was born in the Philippines and raised in Queens, New York. Because her parents worked and went to night school, Niña spent a lot of time drawing. Her afterschool activities were watching Bob Ross, Reading Rainbow and looking for adventures in the library.

She attended the High School of Art & Design (NYC) and studied illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC).

Niña has always been inspired by the world around her. Her work is a consistent ode to the diverse community she was raised in. She believes that everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in the stories they read and that we should all be celebrated.

When Niña is not illustrating or writing, she is singing karaoke, napping with her cats, dancing at a hip hop class, or on a beach people watching with her husband and daughter.

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