Photo by Tzur Kotzer
Maya Shleifer is a multidisciplinary illustrator and designer, drawn most to visual storytelling through children’s books.
Born in the former USSR, she immigrated to Israel at the age of 16. After completing her studies at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, she worked as a designer and art director for various publications. She soon began showcasing her own editorial illustrations, and at about the same time, she started to work on her first children’s books. Today her titles have wide recognition in Israel and are exhibited in the country’s major museums.
Selected Clients
Google, Little Brown and Company, Chronicle Books, Walker Books, PJ Library, Editorial Kokinos, Les Editions des Elephants, Green Bean Books, Apple and Honey Press, Kinneret Zmora Publishing House, Am Oved Publishing House
Prizes & Honorable Mentions
Winner of Bologna Children's Book Fair 2025
The Original Art selection, Society of American Illustrators 2024
Israel Museum Ben-Yitzhak Award for the Children's Book Illustration 2024
Portfolio Showcase Golden Award SCBWI 2024
Golden Apple Award, The 29th Biennale of Illustrations Bratislava, 2023
GIANT HOME shortlisted among the nominees for the Best Books for Kids and Teens Award, Spain, 2023
Society of American Illustrators 65 Selection, USA 2023
Bologna Children's Book Fair Selection, Italy 2023
Nami Concours Selection, Korea 2023
Society of American Illustrators 62 Selection, USA 2020
Ramat Gan Prize for Best Picture Book of the Year, Israel 2017
3*3 Illustration Magazine Honorable Mention, USA 2016
Hapinkas illustration merit, Israel 2013
Hapinkas illustration merit, Israel 2013
Bologna Children's Book Fair Exhibition
Italy 2025
Italy 2025
The Original Art
Society of American Illustrators, USA 2024
Society of American Illustrators, USA 2024
Illustration Annual
Society of American Illustrators, USA 2023
Society of American Illustrators, USA 2023
Illustration Annual
Society of American Illustrators, USA 2020
Society of American Illustrators, USA 2020
Familiar Stranger, solo exhibition
Mamuta Art and Media Center, Jerusalem 2016
Mamuta Art and Media Center, Jerusalem 2016
Dahlia Ravikovitch Poetry, group exhibition
Part of Israel Illustration Week, Tel-Aviv 2015
The Dwarf, the Giant, and the Princess, group exhibition
Nahum Gutman Museum, Tel-Aviv 2014
Design Plus Ten, a group exhibition showcasing the most influential young Israeli designers
Museum of Design, Holon 2011
Children's Books
Rainbow Breath | Walker Books 2025
Too Many Golems | Chronicle Books 2024
A Lion Named Anna | Kinneret Publishing House 2023
Giant Home | Kinneret Publishing House 2022
Every Wrinkle Has a Story | Am Oved 2022
Lights in the Night | Green Bean Books 2021
Hanukkah with Friends | PJ Library 2020
The Golden Thread | Dvir Publishing House 2019
The Big Babushka Book | Clasikaletet 2018
And Then the Wind Blew | Kinneret Publishing House 2017
Where’s That Monster? | Clasikaletet 2017
It’s Not Easy To Be A Superhero | Keter Publishing 2015
Princess Zohara | Tal-May Books 2013
The Rabbit That Wanted To Be A Tree | Keter Publishing 2013
Semi-White Dove Over Jerusalem | Hakibbutz Hameuhad 2011
The Magic Of Dalia And Avia | Tal-May Books 2009
My Secret | Tal-May Books 2008
Laura | Hakibbutz Hameuhad 2007