Mónica Mancillas's award-winning books include Mariana and Her Familia (Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, 2022 School Library Journal Best of Picture Book), The Worry Balloon, How to Speak in Spanglish (2023 September Target Book Club Pick, 2024 Américas Award Commended Title), Sing it Like Celia, Taco Tuesdays (Scholastic, January 7, 2025), and Leyendas/Legends (Chronicle, 2025). Her books center on themes of identity, culture, and mental health, while challenging those outdated tropes that have historically left Latine voices in the margins.

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Born in the small coastal town of Ensenada in Baja California, México, Mónica moved with her parents to the United States when she was two-years-old. As a child, she loved nothing more than to study and explore self-expression through writing and music. After graduating Valedictorian from the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, she earned a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley, after which she moved to Los Angeles where she worked for ten years in the recording industry.

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Today, Mónica lives in the UK, where she spends her days writing, reading, and tending to her much-adored daughter, husband, and dog, Annie.