Maria Leto

Maria Leto is a former actress and singer, now event planner and mom of two, living in Brooklyn, NY. Maria and her five-year-old daughter have created four illustrated children’s books, inspired by her father’s award-winning children’s songs! The books are educational, inclusive, and interactive, and they are all illustrated by five-year-old daughter, Chloe Mandzuk!

Using her father's method to music education, she developed a series of manuscripts, inspired by her father's most popular songs, with a little game or interaction at the end of each book to further the engagement and conversation with the readers. It was also really important to translate the multicultural aspect of his music into the books, so Chloe’s illustrations include a diverse group of children, based on her real-life, NYC classmates and friends.

They began working on the illustrations back in March 2020 while indoors during the NYC lockdown and the books are now published and printed. The children's books became a wonderful emotional and artistic outlet during the pandemic and a fun, three-generation collaboration!