Yolanda T. Marshall

Marshall, the oldest of three sisters, was born in Guyana and grew up in Scarborough, Toronto.^[1][2] Her family moved to Canada when she was 14. Her mother was already in Canada, working and saving to buy a home. Her father is a jazz musician.^[3][4]

Marshall's first children's book, Keman’s First Carnival, was published in 2016. Her children's books generally center around children partaking in elements of Caribbean culture, such as food and music.^[3] She has written more than 20 children's books,^[4] including:

• A Piece of Black Cake for Santa (2017), where children give Santa sorrel and black cake.^[5][6]
• My Soca Birthday Party (2020), where a girl has a birthday party with Caribbean and African food and music;^[1][7] CBC.ca called it one of "the best Canadian picture books of 2020."^[8]
• C is for Carnival (2021), an A to Z book about children at the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.^[9][10][11]
• Hot Cross Buns For Everyone (2022), about children baking hot cross buns and having an Easter party.^[12]
• Brown Girl in the Snow (2025), inspired by a traditional Caribbean folk song, about an immigrant child's determination to grow her favourite plant and adapt into her new snowy home.^[13][14] It was included in lists of the best children's books of 2025 by CBC.ca^[15] and The Globe and Mail.^[16]

She has also written two books of poetry, Obayifo (2008) and Messages on Dried Leaves (2017).^[17]

As of 2020, Marshall lives in Scarborough, Toronto. She has a son,^[5][7] who inspired several of her books.^[18] As of 2020, she works in academic publishing.^[3]