Janna Matthies at Tyson Library

Janna Matthies’s early years consisted of inventing stories on her cassette recorder, practicing piano and violin (preferably by moonlight), and searching the garden for additions to her bug collection. Today she’s a picture book author and early-elementary music teacher in Indianapolis, where her gardening interests have turned to flowers and veg.

Forthcoming titles include BABY, LET’S GO TO THE ORCHESTRA (Creative Editions, 2025). Other titles are OVER IN THE GARDEN (Random House Children’s Books, 2025), MY TOWERING TREE (Beach Lane/S&S, 2024), HERE WE COME! (Beach Lane Books/S&S, 2022), which earned a 2024 Indiana Authors Award, a Horn Book starred review and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection; GOD’S ALWAYS LOVING YOU (WorthyKids, 2021); TWO IS ENOUGH (Running Press Kids/Hachette), which made the Bank Street list and NYT Book Review; THE GOODBYE CANCER GARDEN (Albert Whitman), which earned a School Library Journal starred review, “Best Foreign Children’s Book” at the Sharjah International Book Fair, and inclusion in the CCBC Choices list; PETER, THE KNIGHT WITH ASTHMA (Albert Whitman); and MONSTER TRUCKS (Piggy Toes Press).

Janna is represented by Rachel Orr of Prospect Agency. She holds a BA from Northwestern University and is a long-time participant in the Indiana SCBWI. She also edits the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s “Teddy Bear Concert” picture book series. When not reading, writing, singing, or gardening, you’ll find Janna on long walks with her family and howling husky, Juneau.