Samara Cole Doyon is a poet, educator, and award-winning children’s book author living on unceded Wabanaki / Abenaki territory. She is a neurodivergent mother of neurodivergent children, continually learning more from her progeny than they could ever learn from her. She earned both a Lupine Award and an International Literacy Association Award for her debut picture book, Magnificent Homespun Brown (Tilbury House, January, 2020). Next Level (Tilbury House, 2024) is her third picture book and a love letter to her amazing, non-speaking, Autistic son. Debuting in April, 2024, Next Level has already garnered a star review from Kirkus and glowing praise from bookstagrammers like Maya Lê from MaiStoryBook and Kristin from Reading with Red + the Magpie. Samara works at Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance and resides with her husband, two children, and rescue pup in central Maine.