SCBWI Japan Book Shelf

Kazumi Wilds is a Japanese picture book author-illustrator. She has published a number of picture books in Japan and the US , including 'KOJIKI-The Birth of Japan,' 'The Peace Tree from Hiroshima' and 'The Wakame Gatherers'. Kazumi loves the process of making picture books and teaches these skills to university students in Tokyo. She is also the Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI Japan.

Holly Thompson (www.hatbooks.com) divides her time between Massachusetts and Japan. She has a B.A. in biology and an M.A. in Creative Writing and presents at schools worldwide. She teaches creative writing at Yokohama City University, GrubStreet, and U.C. Berkeley Extension. Author of verse novels Falling Into the Dragon's Mouth (Henry Holt), The Language Inside (Delacorte) and Orchards (Delacorte); picture books Listening to Trees: George Nakashima, Woodworker (Neal Porter Books) Twilight Chant (Clarion), One Wave at a Time (Albert Whitman), The Wakame Gatherers (Lee&Low); and novel Ash (Stone Bridge Press), she also compiled and edited Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction--An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories (Stone Bridge Press). Holly is a Regional Advisor Emeritus of SCBWI Japan.

Naomi Kojima is the author and illustrator of Tetsuko Puu -The Girl Who Turned Into a Balloon, and The Singing Clams, among many other picture books. Her picture books have been published in the U.S. and Japan, and have been translated in France, Sweden, and Indonesia. Her picture books have been selected for the American Institute of Graphic Arts Book Selection and the Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year. Naomi has given presentations at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC), Singapore, Bookaroo Festival of Children’s Literature, India, and the Asia Oceania Regional IBBY Congress, Indonesia. She has served on the judging panel for the Scholastic Asia Picture Book Award, the Scholastic Asia Book Award and the SCBWI Bologna Illustrator’s Gallery. Naomi lives in Tokyo and serves as Illustrator Coordinator of SCBWI Japan.

Annie is an American wife of a Japanese national and mother of two bi-national, bi-cultural, bilingual adults. She has lived in a multi-generational home (with her children's Japanese grandparents living downstairs) in Japan for more than two decades. Her novels are drawn from her family, neighborhood and Japanese public school life. She has taught university intensive English in Texas, Malaysia, and Japan. Annie spends most of her time now writing, taking photographs, and gardening.

Yusuke Watanabe is a Japanese illustrator of children’s books. He relocated to the United States to study storytelling at CalArts, where he received a BFA in Character Animation. Yusuke also shares his expertise as a guest lecturer, holding special classes at art universities. He is currently based in Japan and is represented by Jemiscoe Chambers-Black from the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. His debut picture book, A FISH CALLED ANDROMEDA embraces childhood creativity and celebrates the power of intergenerational friendships. Written by Cynthia C. Huijgens, Illustrated by Yusuke Watanabe

Andrew Wong was born and raised in Singapore and now resides in Tokyo with his family. Having spent years away from the little red dot, he considers Japan his adopted home, where he discovered the joy of sharing picture books with children. Wandering in and out of stories feeds a passion to share them on his blog in hopes that they will find a larger audience. Andrew is a member of the SCBWI Japan translation group and a contributor to the group's blog.