ABOUT MIKEY BROOKS
Illustration has always been a love of Mikey’s. His art has been seen in many forms from picture books to book covers, to murals for community art productions, to theatrical posters. He loves to doodle on almost anything. He works part-time as a freelance illustrator and cover designer and part-time as an elementary school art teacher. Check out his art in the Portfolio tab.
Aside from writing and illustrating, Mikey also loves to read middle-grade and young-adult fiction, narrate picture books, sing, and even sew. That’s right he also sews! He’s made practically everything from, Elizabethan costumes for the Utah Shakespearean Festival, to wedding dresses. Mikey’s greatest love is his family (a wonderful wife, 5 gloriously destructive kiddos, 4 chickens, and 1 or 2 invisible dragons). He gets more than inspiration from them; he gets support, courage, and most of all happiness.
Mikey Brooks has a BS in English, emphasis in Creative Writing, from Utah State University, in 2009. His middle-grade books include The Dream Keeper, The Dreamstone, The Dream Makers, The Stone of Valhalla, The Gates of Atlantis: Battle for Acropolis, Museum Adventures: The Maya Mystery, Museum Adventures: A Night in Nottingham, The W.H.O. Files: Potions in the Pizza, and many more to come in the future. His picture books include: If You Give a Teacher an Assignment, ABC Adventures: Magical Creatures, Bean's Dragons, and Trouble with Bernie.
Picture books he's illustrated include Lucius and the Christmas Star, by Jim Long; Hippopotamus Gus, Bongo Flo, and Ocelot Scott, all by Carolyn Quist; Popcorn, by Monique Bucheger; The Magical Leaping Lizard Potion and I Wish I Were a Brownie, both by Marsha Casper Cook; (3x Best of State Winner 2020) Tragic Magic, (Best of State Winner, 2016 and Beverley Hills Book Awards finalist) Ice Cream U.S.A, by Thal Dixon, (Beverly Hills Book Awards finalist, 2017) Princess Priscilla: Enough is Enough, by Thal Dixon, and Lunch with the Slunches, by Mary Hawran, and many more to come.
He's had various illustrations published for several authors as well as professional children's theaters and enjoys every minute he gets to create art. He’s had poetry and personal essays published in several university-sponsored literary magazines 2007-2009 and was awarded 3rd place for his personal essay, Waiting for the Morning Sun to Rise, in the Utah Arts 23rd Annual Writing Competition, 2011. He won the Hugh Howey Award in 2014 for Best Children's Book Author, Best of State 2016 for his artwork in Ice Cream U.S.A, and made finalist in the Beverly Hills Book Awards both 2016 and 2017, 3x Best of State 2020 for his work on Tragic Magic, and most recently, 3x Best of State 2021 for his illustrations on Just Call Me Chicken.
Mikey is also one of the hosts on the Authors' Think Tank Podcast a show by writers for writers. While the show no longer runs, 68 episodes can be downloaded anytime absolutely free. Episodes include writing advice and interviews with New York Times Best Selling authors and top notch agents and editors.
When he is not writing, illustrating, or trying to save the world from evil villains, he can be found hanging out with his family. He is married to the love of his life and they have six kids ranging from ages 0 to 11 years. So you can imagine he's a pretty busy guy. They have at least two imaginary dragons as pets who occasionally wreck the house. Mikey loves to watch Disney films with his kids, play superheroes, and read--of course. His favorite books include: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The FarWorld series, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Anne of Green Gables, and The False Prince (all of which you should read yourself). Know of a good book to read, let him know, via the contact page below.
Mikey is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and strives to make his books family friendly.
Feel free to connect with Mikey on social media by following the links at the very bottom of this page. If you'd like to connect via email, use the contact page below.
