Gianna Marino was born in San Francisco and spent her early years galloping horses through Golden Gate Park. Her explorations expanded after graduating from high school and in order to afford her many journeys, Gianna had several jobs at once: apprenticing a muralist, a jewelry designer, a product designer and driving horse carriages through the park. Gianna explored many corners of the world, from Africa and Asia, to the South Pacific and Europe, to crewing on sailboats in the high seas. At work and school, she became known as “Boomerang”.

Gianna finally landed a full-time freelance gig designing toys for children, but after several years in a corporate box with no windows, she left for good and began painting, illustrating and writing books.
Gianna has written and illustrated numerous articles for travel and leisure magazines. Her children's books include Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet (Chronicle Books 2005), One Too Many (Chronicle Books 2010), Meet Me at the Moon (Viking 2012), and Too Tall Houses (Viking 2012).

Though she still wanders the world, Gianna now lives in Northern California and works full-time writing and illustrating.