Tina Athaide is a children's book author who writes stories to capture the texture and richness of a wide scope of cultural experiences, recent or distant, with the hope to open readers' hearts. Tina was born in Uganda and emigrated to London and then Canada. As a child, she loved reading, whether outside under the shade of a tree, curled up by the fire, or under the covers with a flashlight. But, she never saw someone like her reflected inside the pages—a samosa loving, brown skinned, salwar kameez wearing Asian Indian person. Her love of books continued past High School. She even worked at a bookshop, while finishing her bachelor's degree at the University of Alberta, and spent much more than she earned. Nowadays, you can find Tina in Southern California where she lives with her family. She has been a teacher for thirty years. Believing that books can present different experiences to children in an organic, natural way, she started writing for kids by publishing early literacy readers to promote diversity in children's literature. Now she not only gets to share her stories with her own students, but readers all over the world.

As a Girl Guide in her younger days, Tina learned to be a friend to all. Now she is a member of SCBWI and the marvelous debut picture books writers and illustrators, 21 For The Books. She's also a proud member of KidLit in Color with other diverse writers! Tina's other books include the award-winning middle-grade novel Orange For The Sunsets, about the expulsion of Asian Indians from Uganda in 1972. The picture book, Meena's Mindful Moment, about a young girl who learns to calm her hurly, burly hullabaloo with some mindful techniques. And a collection of early readers: Best Friends, Pran's Week of Adventure, Yum, Apples!, Flora's Box, and At The Firehouse With Dad. Her story is to be continued . . .

Visit Tina online. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Books by Tina Athaide