Best of the City 2026: Best Bedtime Storyteller

Photo by Mickaela Colvin Photography, courtesy of Janay Brown-Wood

JaNay Brown-Wood started creating children’s books when she was still a youngster herself. Not finding her identity reflected in the books on offer, she simply wrote and illustrated her own stories while still in grade school. “I knew that I had a voice I wanted to share. I wanted to talk about the Black experience that wasn’t stereotypical and that could be pulled from my own experience,” she told Publishers Weekly. Now this wildly prolific children’s book author from Fair Oaks has published over 30 titles, including those she wrote while earning her master’s in child development and Ph.D. in education. She has two new books appearing this fall alone, both distributed by Penguin Random House: Amara Visits the Library (Oct. 6) and Acacia: A Rapunzel Tale (Sept. 8), the latter an empowering reimagining of the traditional fairytale where the titular character teams up with Red Riding Hood-inspired Mahogany to outsmart a wicked witch and take on the world. janaybrownwood.com 

READ MORE: Pick up our Fall Issue for the full Best of the City 2026 list