Avani Dwivedi is an author and illustrator of picture books including My Bollywood Dream, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. She grew up in Navi Mumbai, India and later moved to the United States to pursue her passion of becoming an artist. A Maryland Institute College of Arts graduate with a BFA in Illustration and Book Arts, Avani holds on to her most precious gems: memories of her sweet childhood, the lived experience of being a South-Asian woman, and her love for creating whimsical art.