Mia Wenjen is half Japanese & half Chinese American and married to a Korean American. This unusual ethnic combination made her seek out all kinds of Asian representation in children’s books for her three kids. Mia blogs on parenting, children’s books, and education at PragmaticMom.com and is the co-creator of Read Your World, a non-profit celebrating diversity in children’s books.
Her debut picture book, Sumo Joe (Lee and Low, 2019) was selected as a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year. She wrote Asian Pacific American Heroes for Scholastic (2020) and Changing the Game: Asian Pacific American Female Athletes as a Kickstarter pandemic project. Scholastic is reprinting Changing the Game in June of 2023.
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World came out spring of 2023 through Barefoot Books. Food for the Future is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection and received a starred review from School Library Journal. Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World was selected by dPICTUS for their list of 100 Outstanding Picturebooks of 2023, and showcased at the Bologna Children’s Book Festival in 2023.
We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court (Red Comet Press) and Boxer Baby (Eifrig Publishing) releases in 2024.
Postcards from Malcolm X: How Yuri Kochiyama Became a Civil Rights Activist (Red Comet Press) releases in 2025.
Mia is also the co-author of two books with Alison Foley, HOW TO COACH GIRLS (a primer on how to keep girls in sports for coaches), and THE ELUSIVE FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP: AN INSIDER’S GUIDE.
To find the best diverse books, she wrote BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: MY FAVORITE DIVERSITY BOOKS FOR KIDS AGES 1-12 published by Audrey Press.
She is also the co-founder of Aquent, the global leader in talent and recruiting for marketing, creative, and design.
Follow her @pragmaticmom on social media.
For her book events, please go here.
