Maya Gottfried was born and raised in New York City, loves animals, and writes books, essays, and articles for children and grown-ups. 

 

Maurice Sendak said of Maya's first children's book, Last Night I Dreamed a Circus: "Ingenious; original; simply a delicious wonder!" The book was also honored with a Parents’ Choice 2003 Recommended Award. Maya received the Pennsylvania School Librarians Young Reader’s Choice Award for her second book, Good Dog, which was also a Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee. Her book Our Farm: By the Animals of Farm Sanctuary, now in its second printing, was selected as the official children’s companion to Jonathan Safran Foer’s New York Times bestseller Eating Animals for Fairfield, CT’s month-long "One Book, One Town" program.

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In addition to her books for children, Maya has written various essays, blogs, and articles appearing in outlets ranging from Oprah Daily to Lilith magazine. Her essay “Untitled,” published in the anthology Half / Life: Jew-ish Tales from Interfaith Homes (Soft Skull Press), was consistently picked as a favorite of the collection by reviewers. The NY Observer wrote of her "Untitled" reading at Makor in New York City, "I can't wait to see what she writes next for adults. Because everything she had said was real, precise and full of meaning."

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