Lela Nargi is an author and veteran journalist living in Brooklyn, NY. Her first picture book, The Honeybee Man (Schwartz and Wade, 2011, illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker), was a Junior Library Guild Selection, A Kirkus starred review, an NSTA "Outstanding Book", a Bank Street "Best Book of the Year", a 2012 Cook Prize Honoree, a Cornell University/Spoons Across America Agricultural Literacy 2013 & 2015 read-aloud pick, and a First Book.

She published Karl's New Beak in 2019 (Capstone, illustrated by Harriet Popham), which was a California Reading Association Eureka honoree and an NSTA/CBC best STEM book of 2020; additionally, it made Betsy Bird’s 2019 School Library Journal list of best science and nature books, and The Nonfiction Detective’s 2019 roundup.

Lela is also the author of Absolute Expert: Dinosaurs and Absolute Expert: Volcanoes (National Geographic, 2018; Volcanoes received an ALA Booklist starred review; Elephants on the Move (Capstone, 2022); The Book of Bees (Black Dog & Leventhal, 2022); Day and Night (Bonnier Books UK/Templar, 2023); several science book series for  Capstone, Jump! Library, and Amicus; and Drift and Cling (Bonnier Books UK/Templar, 2024, illustrated by Xuan Le).
 
In 2025, Random House Studio publishedThe Lonely Goose (illustrated by Anne Hunter), a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard that’s so far received rave reviews in Kirkus, PW, SLJ, and The Horn Book. Also out in 2025: Miss Betti, What Is This? (Sleeping Bear Press, illustrated by Kristen Uroda), which SLJ calls “an excellent addition to nonfiction collections for elementary students”; and Nature’s Journeys (Bonnier Books UK/Templar, illustrated by Xuan Le.

As a journalist, Lela writes extensively for adults about agriculture, climate science, and  social justice issues. She’s also written about science for kids, in Ask, Highlights, MSN Kids, Muse, Odyssey,  Scholastic’s Storyworks, Science News for Students, and Washington Post KidsPost. Find her at lelanargi.com.

Publications

• The Lonely Goose, illustrated by Anne Hunter, Random House Studio, 2025

  •  A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

•  Miss Betti: What Is This? How Detroit’s School Lunch Lady Got Good Food On the Menu, illustrated by Kristen Uroda, Sleeping Bear Press, Summer 2025

• Nature’s Journeys, illustrated by Xuan Le, Templar Books, Bonnier, Fall 2025

• Day and Night, illustrated by Xuan Le, Templar Books (Bonnier), 2023

• Elephants on the Move, Capstone/Smithsonian, 2022

• Karl's New Beak, Capstone, 2019

  • California Reading Association Eureka honoree 

  • A best STEM book of 2020, National Science Teaching Association/Children’s Book Council

  •  A best science and nature book of 2019. School Library Journal 

•  A Heart Just Like My Mother's, Kar-Ben/Lerner, 2018

Twitter: @LelaNargi
Website: lelanargi.com