Dr. Isabel Schon was born in Mexico City and, in 1972, came to the United States where she obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Colorado in 1974.

She has received several national and international awards, including the:

• 2006 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from Minnesota State University Mankato for "professional success and the positive impact made to the profession and the community."
• 2005 Dorothy C. McKenzie Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Field of Children's Literature presented by the Children's Literature Council of Southern California.
• 1992 U. S. Role Model in Education Award presented by the U. S. - México Foundation.
• 1992 Denali Press Award from the Reference and Adult Services Division of the American Library Association for "achievement in creating reference works that are outstanding in quality and significance and provide information specifically about ethnic and minority groups in the U. S."
• 1987 Women's National Book Award, "One of 70 women who have made a difference in the world of books."
• 1986 American Library Association's Grolier Foundation Award for "unique and invaluable contributions to the stimulation and guidance of reading by children and young people."
• 1979 Herbert W. Putnam Honor Award presented by the American Library Association, "to study the effects of books on students' perceptions of Mexican American people."

She is the author of twenty-five books and more than four hundred research and literary articles in the areas of biliteracy/multicultural education and literature for Latino children and adolescents.

Dr. Schon has been a consultant on bilingual/bicultural educational materials to schools, libraries, and ministries of education in Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Spain, Italy, Ecuador, and the United States.

From 1989 to 2008 she was founding director of the Barahona Center for the Study of Books in Spanish for Children and Adolescents and a professor and founding faculty at California State University San Marcos.

Currently, she is director of the Isabel Schon International Center for Spanish Books for Youth, San Diego Public Library, San Diego, CA.