Rachel G. Payne is coordinator of early childhood services at Brooklyn Public Library. She pens the “First Steps” column for School Library Journal and the “Board Book Roundups” for The Horn Book Magazine. She chaired the 2016 Caldecott Award Committee and she was a founding member of the Margaret Wise Brown Board Book Award Jury. She has a master's degrees from Bank Street College of Education and Long Island University in early childhood/elementary education and library science respectively. Her debut picture book Let’s Rumble: A Rough-and-Tumble Book of Play illustrated by Jose Pimienta will be published in summer 2025 by Rise x Penguin Workshop. Visit Rachel online at RachelGPayne.com.
