Diane Stanley (born December 27, 1943)[1] is an American children's author and illustrator.

[1] She earned her bachelor's degree from Trinity University and her M. A. in medical illustration from Johns Hopkins University College of Medicine.

Shaka, King of the Zulus was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and Leonardo da Vinci received the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction from the National Council for Teachers of English.

She was the recipient of the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for the body of her work.

She has three grown children and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband, Peter Vennema.