Joyce Wan

The winning design


With former Governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis, in 1985 at ceremony honoring greeting card design contest winners.

Joyce Wan is the author and illustrator of bestselling books for children including You Are My Cupcake, The Whale in My Swimming Pool, Peek-A-Boo Farm, and Sleepyheads. Her signature style—bold, joyful, and irresistibly cute—has reached millions, with over 30 published titles and more than 2 million books in print worldwide.

Joyce's creative journey began in the first grade when she won a city-wide greeting card design contest sponsored by the Art Institute of Boston. Her winning card design was sold through a major department store chain—and two decades later, that early success inspired her to launch her own design studio, creating greeting cards, apparel, and gifts sold in boutiques around the world. A serendipitous meeting with an art director at a gift trade show led to her debut picture book Greetings from Kiwi and Pear, in 2009. 

Her work has since been recognized with the 2015 Mills-Tannenbaum Award for Children's Literacy from Reach Out and Read of Greater New York. Her illustrations have been featured in the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show, and her empowering book Dream Big was named to the 2020 Amelia Bloomer Book List by the American Library Association, highlighting outstanding feminist books for young readers.

Originally from Massachusetts, Joyce now lives in northern New Jersey with her husband and daughter. She creates to spark joy, inspire wonder, and celebrate the meaningful moments that connect us all—one book (and giggle) at a time.

Joyce's Studio:

More about Joyce:

• Joyce was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Joyce's parents are from China and immigrated to the United States in 1977.
• When Joyce was a young child, her mother couldn’t speak or read English—but every weekend, she brought Joyce and her siblings to the library. Together, they explored picture books, using the illustrations to imagine and invent stories of their own. It was one of the greatest gifts her mother ever gave her—a love for storytelling that transcended language. (Read Joyce's essay on Why Picture Books are Important)
• Joyce spent the early part of her childhood in Boston. That's when her parents used their life savings to open a small Chinese takeout restaurant called New China Garden and they moved to Westwood, Massachusetts, a small town 10 miles south of Boston. Joyce worked at this restaurant every Friday or Saturday night all throughout her middle school and high school years.
• Joyce’s parents immigrated to the U.S. with little formal education, no knowledge of English, and nothing but a dream for a better life. She deeply admires all they’ve accomplished with such humble beginnings. Their courage, resilience, and hard work instilled in her a powerful belief: that with determination and heart, dreams can come true—a philosophy that continues to guide her journey today.
• Joyce graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University with a liberal arts degree in Architecture. A self-taught artist with a lifelong love of drawing, she often jokes about having “art school envy” but she's proud of the unique, unconventional path that led her to a career in children’s books.
• When Joyce launched her design business, she was working full-time at an architectural firm from 9 to 6 and spending her nights building her own dream. Running on just a few hours of sleep, she juggled both for two years before finally taking the leap to pursue her business full-time.

• A self-proclaimed night owl, Joyce still finds her creative spark in the quiet hours between midnight and 3am, when the world is asleep and quiet.