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 best-selling 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 40 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, daughter and two canaries. She creates to spark joy, inspire wonder, and to make little readers (and big readers) smile. 

Joyce's Studio:

More about Joyce:

• Joyce was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts.
  
• Joyce’s parents immigrated to the United States from China in 1977 with little formal education, no English, and a hope for something better. From humble beginnings, they built a life rooted in hard work and love. Their resilience planted in Joyce a lasting truth: with courage, determination, and heart, dreams can bloom. It’s a belief that continues to guide her work and life today.
• When Joyce was a child, her mother couldn’t speak or read English. But every weekend, she took Joyce and her siblings to the library. Together, they wandered through picture books, letting the art spark stories only they could imagine. From those quiet afternoons grew one of the greatest gifts of Joyce’s life: a love of storytelling that speaks beyond words. (Read Joyce's essay on Why Picture Books are Important)
• Joyce spent her early childhood in Boston, where her parents poured their life savings into opening a small Chinese takeout restaurant called New China Garden. The family moved to nearby Westwood, Massachusetts, and from middle school through high school, Joyce worked at the restaurant nearly every Friday and Saturday night. Those years behind the counter shaped her understanding of sacrifice, grit, and the quiet courage it takes to build something from nothing.
• Joyce graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University with a degree in Architecture. Though she is a self-taught artist with a lifelong love of drawing, she often jokes about having “art school envy.” In truth, she cherishes the unconventional journey that helped her find her voice and build a career in children’s books.
  
• Working 9 to 6 at an architectural firm, Joyce built her design business in the quiet hours after work. It meant late nights, early mornings, and very little sleep. After two years of balancing both worlds, she took the leap to pursue her dream 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 quiet and ideas sparkle a little brighter.

• For fun, Joyce enjoys karaoke night with friends, time with her two canaries Ringo and Sunny, and exploring the creative corners of New York City.  For more of her art-filled wanderings and reflections on living a creative life, visit her Substack.