Siski Kalla

Siski Kalla

Award-winning author and illustrator of science-led creative non-fiction

www.siskikallaillustration.com
Booking enquiry
Siski Kalla - author tools

Available for

Workshop, Reading, Interview

Audiences

Age 3 to 5, Age 5 to 7, Age 7 to 11

Genres

Adventure, Mind, Non-Fiction, Picture book, Science, STEM

Book types

Non-fiction for children, Picture book

Awards

  • SCBWI Sparks Award

Organisations

  • Society of Authors

Details

I'm an autistic author-illustrator with school presentation, radio interview, and TV experience. I can present on topics including: writing and illustrating children's books, neurodiversity, and, based on my popular Urban Wildlife Explorer books, the wonderful wildlife we can all discover right on our doorsteps in the city! I've written and illustrated award-winning non-fiction children's books – Let's Explore Hedgehogs, Let's Explore Pigeons, Let's Explore Ducks (Catch a Leaf Publishing), as well as fiction in Gertie is Not All Dogs (Clavis Publishing).  I'm also the illustrator of Kite Day by Lisa Varchol Perron (Moon+Bird Publishing) which explores the issues of living with mental health issues in a tender helpful manner.  

I can create workshops around the topics of neurodiversity (based on my book Gertie is Not All Dogs), or around my non-fiction wildlife titles, focusing on the science (KS1 or KS2) within those books in relation to classification and/or food webs, for example, as well as biodiversity and ecology. As an author and illustrator, I'm happy to lead workshops on both writing and/or illustration; to talk about how a picture book is put together, how I illustrate a story, how I create my characters, and how I learn to draw new things, too.

“Siski’s visit was truly fantastic from start to finish. The children were completely engaged and inspired by the perfect blend of real-life nature learning, humour and storytelling. It was such a memorable experience for them, they were buzzing with excitement afterwards and continued talking about it long after the day. A brilliant, enriching experience that brought learning to life.” Rebekkah Howlett, John Wood school, Croydon

Books by Siski Kalla

I specialise in creative non-fiction books about urban wildlife – the creatures we can all find right on our doorsteps! I'm autistic and have also written and illustrated a book, Gertie is Not All Dogs, about being neurodiverse but from a dog's POV! I think laughter is an important way to engage children, and so I try to infuse all my stories and presentations with a little humour.

Upcoming events

Monday, 11 May 2026: Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week

A week of raising awareness about mental health

Monday, 04 May 2026: Hedgehog Awareness Week

Hedgehog Awareness Week

From the 4th of May to the 10th it's Hedgehog Awareness Week

Keywords

BIODIVERSITY DUCKS ECOLOGY ENVIRONMENT KS1 KS2 MOTHS NATURAL HISTORY NATURE REWILDING REWINDING SCIENCE SNAILS URBAN WILDLIFE