Heloisa Prieto is one of Brazil's most celebrated children and YA authors. She has sold over two million books in her native country. Her Mano series of YA novels, co-written with human rights activist Gilberto Dimenstein, inspired the Time Warner movie The Best Things in the world. winner of the best movie for the youth in Madrid, 2010. Heloisa began her writing career when she was still a young kindergarten teacher. Her published work, of 97 books in both short story and novel form, embraces fairy tales, fantasy fiction and the retelling of indigenous myths and legends. In 2022, she penned her English young adult debut novel, The Musician, published by Koehler Books and prefaced by Estas Tonne. Portuguese rights have been sold to Editora Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro.Heloisa was awarded Best Children's Book for "A Princesa que Não Queria Aprender a Ler" (The Princess Who Didn't Want To Learn To Read), and Best Folklore Book for "Mata" by the Brazilian Writers' Union. She was awarded Best Book Of Legends for her "O Livro dos Pássaros Mágicos" (The Book Of Magical Birds) by National Book Foundation which also selected her "Andarilhas" (Travelling Tales) in 2016 for their Bologna Catalog of Books for Children and Young Readers, "A Cidade dos Deitados (The City of Dead), was one of the winners of Best Book for young adults by Brazilian Book Chamber (Câmara Brasileira do Livro), Her "Lá Vem Historia" (Here Comes A Story) has sold over 400,000 copies and became a TV series for children on TV Cultura.Apart from her prolific published output she has also spent a lifetime researching myths and legends - both ancient and modern; organizing and curating collections of cross-cultural interest and has created and organized numerous creative writing workshops for children, teenagers and adults. She has a PhD in French Literature (University of São Paulo) and a master's degree in semiotics (Catholic University in São Paulo).