Anoosha Syed

Anoosha Syed is a Pakistani-Canadian illustrator and visual development artist. While she was born in Pakistan, she moved around the world growing up in Switzerland, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Toronto. Anoosha’s debut author-illustrator picture book That’s Not My Name! was a Texas Library Association 2×2 Reading List selection, 2023 Blue Spruce Award Nominee, and Bank Street Best Books of the Year 2023 Selection. Her newest author-illustrated project Lost Stick (Viking) received a starred review from School Library Journal. Anoosha has illustrated several picture books including, Bilal Cooks Daal written by Aisha Saeed (Salaam Reads/S&S), which was awarded the 2020 Asian/Pacific American Award Picture Book Honor by the American Library Association. Download these fun Bilal Cooks Daal activity sheets! She also illustrated I Am Perfectly Designed written by Karamo Brown with his son (Macmillan), Rise Up and Write It by Nandini Abuja (HarperCollins), Swaddled with Love by Alessandra Preziosi (Clarion), and just out Sari Sisters, by Anitha Rao-Robinson (Viking). Watch for The Salt Princess coming in 2025!

Anoosha illustrated the chapter book series, Monster and Boy, by Hannah Barnaby (Holt) and also enjoys illustrating middle grade book covers, including the 2020 Newbery Honor Book Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga, A Place at the Table by Saadia Farqui and Lauren Shovan, Silverworld by Diana Abu-Jaber, and many others. She received her BFA in illustration at the French speaking Cerebellum Ecole d’arts Visuels in Lausanne, Switzerland where she also became fluent in the language. She began working in the animation industry, starting on the preschool series ‘Dot’ for Sprout and  Disney Jr before beginning to work extensively in children’s books. As a woman of color, Anoosha’s priority in her work is always diversity; she never saw herself in the media she consumed as a child and wants to correct that with more diverse stories and characters.

Download Anoosha Syed’s Illustrator Showcase

To see more of Anoosha’s work, visit her on the web at http://www.anooshasyed.com or follow her on Instagram @anooshadraws