KAITLYN WELLS

Hi, I’m Kaitlyn Wells (she/her), a journalist and children’s book author passionate about helping people live better, safer, and more informed lives. At Wirecutter, a product review site owned by The New York Times, I cover the intersection of productivity, remote work, and technology.

At heart, I’m a service journalist with over a decade of experience showing readers how to navigate the world as smarter, savvier consumers. Whether it’s advising on the safest way to gift a pet, warning about the hazards of infant bath seats, or exposing how romantic partners exploit digital tools to spy, my mission is to equip readers with trustworthy, actionable information to protect their families and stretch their dollars further.

My work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, Consumer Reports, MarketWatch, ABC News, Nautilus, Techlicious, The Simple Dollar, BookPage, and more. I’ve also contributed commentary on diverse children’s literature and media literacy, and essays about cultural history, including to the anthology Forty Acres of Fun, chronicling student life at The University of Texas at Austin.

I hold an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University and a B.J. from The University of Texas at Austin. I call New York City home, where I live with my wonderful husband, a precocious toddler, and two delightfully mischievous pets. In my downtime, you’ll find me volunteering with the ASPCA and DiverseSources.org, a database amplifying underrepresented expert voices in media.

As an author, I’m proud of A Family Looks Like Love, which received the NABJ Outstanding Book Award and was named a Children’s Book Council Pick. My upcoming titles include Under the Clam Moon (2026), a lyrical story about a child’s nighttime clamming adventure, and National Geographic Kids Encyclopedia of African American Heritage and Culture (2026), a sweeping look at Black history from ancient Africa through today.

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