Cassandra Federman
Award-winning Picture Book Author-Illustrator & Graphic Novelist
About Cassandra
Cassandra Federman (she/her) is an award-winning author-illustrator and graphic novelist. She is the creator of the early middle-grade graphic novel Story Spinners: A Sisterly Tale of Danger, a Princess, and Her Crew of Lady Pirates (ALA’s Notable Children’s Books of 2026, Amazon’s Best Books of 2025) and the illustrator for DC Comics’s early-reader graphic novel series Aquamanatee (Amazon Editor’s Pick), written by Ben Clanton. Her picture books include Gray Squirrel Loses It! (PRH’s Biggest Books of the Year 2025), This Is a Sea Cow, and This Is a Seahorse (ILA Children’s and Young Adult Book Award). Cassandra grew up in Massachusetts reading comic books, playing with action figures, and drawing superheroes. Over the course of her life, she has been many things — a hand model, a wrestler, a manatee rescuer, an actor, and a mystic wood elf — but her favorite so far has been an author-illustrator. A proud neurodivergent creator, she currently lives in Los Angeles with her fantastic ND family and Siberian Cat, Ivan the Snuggable.
Books
Visit formats
What a visit includes
Cassandra is known for her high-energy and inspiring school visits. Her picture books Gray Squirrel Loses it!, This Is a Sea Cow, and This Is a Seahorse introduce exciting facts about animals and the ecosystem using humor and graphic novel style dialogue. Her middle grade graphic novel Story Spinners focuses on the power of storytelling, humor, and communication. During her visit, Cassandra’s goal is to get kids exploring their own role as storytellers through interactive drawing and writing activities that may include: completing a Mad Libs-style fairy tale, which they’ll help Cassandra adapt into a comic, or inventing a fictional animal food web. Some of the topics Cassandra may cover include: being a self-taught artist who began late in life, overcoming self-doubt, the time she rescued a baby manatee, and the book-making process as a writer and an illustrator for picture books and graphic novels.
Fees vary by format, travel, and your school's needs. Reach out directly for a quote and open dates.
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