AUTHOR-ILLUSTRATOR

BIOGRAPHY

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Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson is a children's book author-illustrator:

 

• THE MOCHI MAKERS (Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane Books, 2024)

• SHELL SONG (Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane Books, 2025). 

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A Japanese American who grew up in both America and Japan, Sharon now lives in California in a house filled with three generations of family, two languages, and countless books and art supplies. THE MOCHI MAKERS, her debut picture book, was inspired by the sweet sight of her two children making mochi with their grandmother. SHELL SONG is based on the seashells collected by Sharon’s grandfather while he was unjustly incarcerated in Hawaii during World War II.

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Sharon creates gentle stories with spare, lyrical prose paired with soft, textured art. Her work is rooted in her heritage but more broadly seeks to normalize all types of diversity through the stories of underrepresented characters who don't fit mainstream boxes, whether due to cultural marginalization, neurodiversity, gender diversity, or disability.

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Sharon is represented by Anne Moore Armstrong at The Bright Agency.