Hi, I am Xin, a picture book illustrator & author.
photo by: June Witzøe
Short bio:
Xin Li (李莘) is a Children's book illustrator and writer. In her stories, she aims to capture what it feels like to be a child, hoping to leave young readers with a sense of being understood and seen. She grew up in China and currently lives in Norway together with her spouse and daughter.
How to pronounce my name:
Xin Li is pronounced as “sheen Lee”.
A little bit more about Xin:
After spending years living abroad, Xin chose to paint and write, as stories helps her make sense of a world that is often lost in translation.
Her debut author/illustrator picture book, I Lived Inside a Whale, won the Barnes & Noble Children's & YA book award for best picture book of 2024, the 2025 International Literacy Association Children’s Book Award for Primary Fiction, and was included in the Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature 2025 Best Books of the Year. She was also featured on Publisher Weekly’s Flying Starts section with her debut book.
In addition to her authored books, Xin has illustrated picture books such as You and the Universe by Professor Stephen Hawking and Lucy Hawking, you are not alone by New York Times Bestselling author & Newbery Honoree Ingrid Law.
Xin is also a winner of the SCBWI Conference Portfolio Showcase award in 2021.
Before transitioning to writing and illustrating books, Xin studied graphic design and interaction design, lived in five different countries, and worked for several software companies. One of the projects led her to work as a designer in Unicef Uganda for 18 months, helping bring solar-based computer systems to youth centers in rural Uganda.
Represented by:
Selected Clients:
HarperCollins
Little Simon
Cappelen Damm
Penguin Random House
Scholastic UK
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Rocky Pond
Astra Publishing House