Book of the Month: July 2018

The UK is currently experiencing an unusually long lasting heatwaves. Britons usually complain about the lack of sunshine but now … More

How to Be a Children’s Illustrator – My Way

In 2015, I was going through emotionally pretty tough time (breakup, moving out, near redundancy and near deportation). That’s when … More

BOOK OF THE MONTH: MAY 2018 The fifth of May in Japan is Children’s Day, a day to respect children’s … More

Last year I wrote a post called ‘A Beginner’s Guide to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair by a Beginner’ after … More

Hello. How are you doing in this snowy spring? As today, the third of March, is the Girls’ Festival (Hina-matsuri) … More

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, this month I picked a classic story about loyalty, devotion and love without boundaries … More

It’s December again. Let the Christmas countdown commence! And let me share a Christmas picture book that makes a perfect … More

Dr Samuel Johnson once said, ‘When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.’ His oyster-loving cat … More

Foggy morning, golden but faint daylight, rustles of fallen leaves and the smell of candied apples. Yes, it’s Autumn that … More

The last Sunday (9th July) I had my art fair debut as an exhibitor at the House of Illustration’s Illustrators … More

Summer has finally arrived in London (well, more or less…) so it would have been nice to share a sunny … More

Cake recipe cards in collaboration with The Cat’s Whisk, featuring Clementine the Baker Cat. These cards will be available for … More

YES! I did it! I went to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, which was on my bucket list! I almost … More

Living abroad, I often miss and feel nostalgic about Japanese traditions. In Japan, the 3rd of March is a … More

Every month I write about one of my favourite inspiring picture/children’s books from my bookshelves because they are so wonderful … More

It must be hard to guess my age simply by looking at my bookshelves. They certainly do NOT look like … More

This post is about what creative process means to me. I draw, paint and make things because I enjoy it, but … More

One day when October was just around the corner, my illustrator friend said he was thinking about doing Inktober. I … More

I’m ashamed to tell you that I read one of the greatest children’s book classics, The Lion, the Witch and … More

When I took a short course on picture book illustration, the tutor told us that we should include some black … More