About Brian

Welcome website visitor! You have visited the website of Brian Kirby, a picture book author/illustrator creating humorous stories for children and their caregivers to enjoy together. His books feature involved dads, quirky characters, and skeptical kids who meet offbeat challenges with humor and a bit of rebellion. Brian enjoys breaking the unspoken contract between adults and kids, pulling back the curtain on kid culture (like the moralizing in picture books, the zippers on theme park characters, the “tricks” parents rely on to get kids to bed), then flipping those reveals into stories that are fun, honest, and meant to be reread.

A native New Yorker, Brian often wonders how he ended up living in the Cleveland area, helping the wonderful lady he married raise two delightful children in a loving home.

Brian is a 2024 & 2025 #pbparty Illustration Showcase Finalist, and has a degree in English literature from Fordham University. He spends his days running marketing campaigns (he has 18 years of agency and independent print and digital marketing experience for Fortune 500 clients, mostly in helping candidates from all walks of life find employment), designing shirts for Shelf Life Clothing that have impacted the national discourse on negative native stereotype sports mascots (no, really!), colluding with other kidlit creatives like Debbie Ohi and Charlene Chua to help connect the community, and planning what Godzilla movies to watch with his kids on the weekend. He’s taught art to elementary school kids in after-school art programs and participates in school activities whenever he gets the opportunity.

An SCBWI member, Brian helps out in managing social media for the SCBWI: Ohio North chapter.

Brian is represented by Kaitlyn Sanchez at Bradford Literary Agency.