Biography
Everything that you ever wanted to know about me, and probably more. If there's anything you want to know that's actually not on this page somewhere, please email me and ask!
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The Short Version:
Michelle Knudsen is the New York Times best-selling author of more than fifty books for young readers of all ages, including the award-winning picture book Library Lion (one of Time magazine's 100 Best Children's Books of All Time). Her novels include The Dragon of Trelian (VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers) and Evil Librarian (YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults; Sid Fleischman Humor Award). Next up is the middle grade fantasy novel INTO THE WILD MAGIC, coming in August 2025. Michelle is a member of the Writing for Young People MFA faculty at Lesley University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with three humans, two cats, and one snake.
The Somewhat Longer Version:
Like many writers, I've been writing for about as long as I can remember. When I was very young, I mainly liked writing poems. I started writing short stories in high school and college, and sold a few nonfiction magazine articles, but never really thought about writing children's books until I was hired as an editorial assistant in the children's division of Random House. I wrote several books for Random as part of my job (children's book editors sometimes write books "in-house") and eventually began writing and submitting my own manuscripts. It’s great how life surprises you sometimes. I fell into children’s books pretty much by accident, but now it’s hard to imagine wanting to do anything else! I love writing books for young readers.
So far I've written more than 50 books, including board books, beginning readers, picture books, coloring and activity books, and middle-grade and young adult novels. I've also written some uncredited novelty and licensing titles. One of my best-known books is Library Lion, which was a New York Times bestseller, won many awards, and has been translated into many languages. It's also now being performed as a musical! It's currently scheduled for another run in Boston in January 2026; check back on my website and/or sign up for my newsletter for more updates/locations! My newest book is the picture book Luigi, the Spider Who Wanted to Be a Kitten, illustrated by the wonderful Kevin Hawkes.
When I’m not writing, I love watching movies, going for walks, hanging out with friends, binge-watching shows with my husband and stepdaughters, and playing fantasy RPGs (although I am between D&D games at the moment, sadly). And reading, of course! I also go to see Broadway shows with my best friends from high school as often as I can. I used to perform in community theater musicals, but I don't have enough free time right now for rehearsals, so most of my singing these days happens at karaoke. I miss being in muscials, though!
In July 2010, I received my MFA in writing for children and young adults from The Vermont College of Fine Arts. I also do some work as a freelance editor and private writing coach; see my editing page for more information on that. And in June 2015, I started teaching with Lesley University's MFA program, where I am currently the genre chair for Writing for Young People.
Agent and Publisher Info:
My agent is the fabulous Jodi Reamer at Writers House, LLC.
Most of my recent books are published by Candlewick Press, and my wonderful editor there is Sarah Ketchersid. She Persisted: Nellie Bly was published by Philomel Books/Penguin Young Readers. I have also published books with Random House, Golden Books (before they were purchased by Random House), Simon & Schuster, and Kane Press (now part of Astra Publishing House).