Ashley Benham-Yazdani is a picture book author/illustrator and nature lover. She graduated with her MFA from the Illustration Practice Program at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), and received her BFA in Illustration from California College of the Arts. She has taught illustration courses at MICA and at Towson University. She is the author and illustrator of A Green Place to Be, recipient of the 2020 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text from the SCBWI; and Cosmic Wonder, both from Candlewick Press. She illustrated Of Walden Pond by Lesa Cline-Ransome, which was published by Holiday House in November 2022. When not pushing pigment or pixels around, Ashley can be found reading, knitting, or running around in the great outdoors. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and son.
