Emily Rosenthal (she/her) is an illustrator and writer based in Baltimore, Maryland. Originally from New York, she graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2019 with a BFA in Illustration and Humanistic Studies. Since, she has created picture books and comics, taught art classes for kids, worked at a non-profit, and read a whole lot of books.

She loves mixing the magical with the mundane. Her goal is to ground even the most outlandish idea in heart. Monsters, Jewish folklore, disability justice, LGBTQ+ liberation, and metaphors are just some of the places she finds inspiration.

Her debut picture book LEROY HAS SOMETHING TO SAY (illustrated by Thai My Phuong) will be published by Bloomsbury in 2026.

She can be contacted at: ekrosenthalart@gmail.com and is represented by Alexandra Weiss at Azantian Literary Agency.

She can be found on Instagram here.

The above image is a Publishers Weekly announcement for my picture book debut. On the left are two pictures, first of Emily Rosenthal (a white gender nonconforming woman with glasses) and then Thai My Phuong (an asian woman with hair pulled back) to her right. The announcement reads: Alex Borbolla at Bloomsbury has bought world rights to Leroy Has Something to Say, a picture book by Emily Rosenthal (l.), illustrated by Thai My Phuong. Leroy, a gardening ghost, tries to use the language of flowers to befriend those who move into his abandoned manor, but no one understands him until he meets Tara, a non-speaking girl who shares Leroy’s passion for plants and uses a tablet to communicate. Publication is set for spring 2026; Alexandra Weiss at Azantian Literary Agency represented the author, and Christy Ewers at the CAT Agency represented the illustrator.