Mike Curato

Curato worked across illustrator, writer, graphic artist, draftsperson and visual artist and 1 further recorded occupations. This article rests on 21 published texts, 1 digitised documents and 2 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

• Name — Mike Curato • Education — Syracuse University (BFA) • Awards — Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature (2021) Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Comics (2026)

Curato was born and raised in the suburbs of New York City and currently lives in Brooklyn. He received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Syracuse University before moving to Seattle to pursue a career as a graphic designer. He is Filipino-American and was raised Catholic.

The Little Elliot series follows an elephant named Elliot and consists of five books: Little Elliot, Big City (2015); Little Elliot, Big Family (2015); Little Elliot, Big Fun (2016); Little Elliot, Fall Friends (2017); and Merry Christmas, Little Elliot (2018). Accolades for the Little Elliot books • Year — Book — Accolade — Result — Ref. • 2014 — Little Elliot, Big City — Society of Illustrators' Founder's Award — Winner • Amazon's Best Books of 2014: Ages 3-5 — Selection • HuffPost's Best Picture Books: Most Charming — Winner • PBS Best Picture Books — Honorable Mention • 2015 — Ezra Jack Keats Award: New Illustrator — Honor • Communication Arts Award of Excellence: Illustration — Winner • New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association: Picture Book of the Year — Winner • Little Elliot, Big Family — Amazon's Best Books of 2015: Ages 3-5 — Selection • 2016 — Children's Book Council Children's Choice Illustrator — Finalist • NCTE Charlotte Huck Award — Recommended • IndieBound Indies Next List — Selection • 2017 — Little Elliot, Fall Friends — HuffPost's Best Picture Books: Best Friendship/Kindness — Honorable Mention

Flamer is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel, published September 1, 2020 by Henry Holt and Company. The book has received various accolades, including the Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature in 2021.

Gaysians is an adult graphic novel, published 2025 by Algonquin Books. The book has received various accolades, including the 2026 Stonewall Book Award - Barbara Gittings Literature Award, the 2026 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Original Graphic Novel/Anthology, and being selected for Kirkus Reviews' Best Fiction Books of the Year. It also won the 2026 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Comics.

• Little Elliot, Big City, published August 26, 2014 by Henry Holt and Company • Little Elliot, Big Family, published October 6, 2015 by Henry Holt and Company • Little Elliot, Big Fun, published August 30, 2016 by Henry Holt and Company • Little Elliot, Fall Friends, published August 29, 2017 by Henry Holt and Company • Merry Christmas, Little Elliot, published September 11, 2018 by Henry Holt and Company

Mike Curato is described in the collections that hold this material as the recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is children's and young adult literature, book illustration and graphic design. Curato worked as illustrator, writer, graphic artist and draftsperson, and the authority record catalogues a further 2 occupations under the same name, among them visual artist and picture book writer. Curato worked in English.

• Flamer, published September 1, 2020 by Henry Holt and Company • Where is Bina Bear?, expected to be published January 11, 2022 by Henry Holt and Company • Gaysians, published 2025 by Algonquin Books