Born in Columbus, Ohio, Emily C. Feinberg lived in Florida, Arizona, and California before the age of thirteen. She attended San Dimas High School (of Bill & Ted fame) before earning a degree in Literatures in English from the University of California, San Diego.

Drawn eastward after college, Emily moved to Boston with no clear plan for what came next. She worked as an office manager at the boutique recruitment firm Laufer & Associates before beginning graduate studies at Simmons University, where she earned both an M.A. in Children’s Literature and an M.A. in English Literature. There, she studied with professors including Susan Bloom, Cathryn Mercier, and Afaa Weaver. Her favorite course was a required picture book class taught by Susan Bloom—the last one she would teach—which opened Emily’s eyes to the history, artistry, and joy of picture books.

After graduating, Emily worked at the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts before moving to New York to join Neal Porter Books at Roaring Brook Press as an Editorial Assistant. Over the next seven years, she worked closely with Neal Porter on hundreds of picture books while building her own list. Authors and illustrators she has worked with include Erin and Phil Stead, Jason Chin, Jerry Pinkney, Antoinette Portis, Jessixa Bagley, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Stephen Savage, Elisha Cooper, Elana K. Arnold, Jessica Lanan, Barbara McClintock, and many others.

Emily is now an Executive Editor at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, where she has worked for more than fifteen years. Her list includes acclaimed and award-winning books such as Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper, a Caldecott Honor recipient; Jumper by Jessica Lanan; Go With the Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann; and White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War, Then Rewrote the History by Ann Bausum. She acquires and edits picture books, graphic novels, illustrated fiction, and nonfiction for readers of all ages.

In addition to her editorial work, Emily teaches picture book writing and history at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She divides her time between Brooklyn and Woodstock, New York, where her dogs live.