Juleesa Iris Espinoza is a children's book illustrator and author. Juleesa is Latina with Guatemalan heritage living in Chicago. As a young child, she was captivated by the wonders of children's literature. Their whimsical and imaginative worlds fascinated her and took hold of her imagination. Even as she grew older, Juleesa never left those books behind. As an artist, she now creates those worlds for herself.

Juleesa loves working with watercolor and also exploring digital techniques with her illustrations. Juleesa strives to create vivid characters full of emotion and worlds filled with color and texture

With her illustrations, Juleesa hopes to contribute to the wondrous nature of children's books, inspiring young readers for generations to come.

Some of Juleesa's favorite artists include Bill Watterson and Jim Henson. As a child, her favorite children's book was Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, written by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault and illustrated by Lois Ehlert. In her spare time, Juleesa creates comic strips and chats with her pet tortoise, Picasso!

Juleesa published her debut children's book, Emilia's Corte, in 2024, which she co-wrote with her mother. Juleesa has also created comic strips for Cricket Magazine in 2022 and 2023.

juleesatorres.com

• Emilia’s Corte, Souring Kite Books, ‘24

  
  * Chosen as one of the books for the 2026 Illinois Reads literacy program. 

  https://illinoisreads.org