Authors & Illustrators

Mele Brink was born in Bielefeld in 1968, spent her youth in the East Westphalian hinterland and came to Aachen to study architecture. After successfully completing her degree in the form of a mobile memorial for Lady Di, however, she preferred to go freelance as an illustrator in 1998. Since then, she has produced mainly…

Born in 1978, after graduating from high school and learning a “decent” profession, Andrea Lienesch has concentrated entirely on writing and reading aloud since 2018. To give the characters from her books a voice of their own, she has had herself trained by a vocal coach. She can’t sing or dance and hasn’t studied anything…

David Füleki was born and raised in the Ore Mountains. As a child, he tried his hand at carving traditional Christmas decorations, but this led to such a high demand for sticking plasters that he switched to drawing. Later he studied media sciences and began working full-time as a comic artist and illustrator.

Stephanie Marian finds her inspiration in everything that is beautiful. She studied design with a focus on illustration at the MSD – Münster School of Design. Animal whisperer | Word wit and irony | Heartily laugh. Also out loud. | Actually an owl. Now mother and lark. | Passionate chocolate and art eater.

Andrea Weisbrod, born in Koblenz in 1966, did her doctorate in history on the political role of mistresses in the 18th century. In 2000, she moved with her family from Hamburg to Paris and gained some experience in journalism, after which she wrote her first novels and children’s books. As a freelance author and teacher…

Andrea Offermann, born in Cologne in 1980, studied illustration, animation design and printing technology in Los Angeles, Hamburg and Florence. Since then she has been working as a freelance illustrator, mainly for children’s and youth book publishers. Her work has won several awards, including the Youth Jury Prize of the Austrian Youth Book Prize and…

Natalia Bzdak is a freelance illustrator and designer. She works for various magazines, cultural institutions and companies. Her constant goal is to bring content, ideas and concepts to the point in a visually loving way. In terms of visual language, she loves to play with ambiguity. To present things, like interpersonal relationships, in a narrative…

Ramón D. Veiga was born in El Ferrol in 1970. He holds a degree in Hispanic Philology from the University of La Coruña and has been working in the field of publishing since 1996, which he combines with his collaboration with various blogs.

Iván R. was born in Nigrán in 1980. After having worked as an illustrator for publishing houses, cinema, press, television and advertising for fifteen years, he discovered a new illustrative language on textile medium, which led him to teach illustration and design at a fashion school, a task he combines with his work in his…

Petra Steckelmann is a child of the seventies and was born in Hamburg. After stopovers in various professions, she now lives in her native city as a freelance writer of books for children and young people and finds the ideas for her books on long walks along the banks of the Elbe.  

Patrick Bonato, born in Rum in Tyrol in 1983, grew up drawing in Innsbruck, then studied graphic design at the Angewandte in Vienna. In addition to numerous travels, he spent time abroad in Lucerne (studying illustration), where he has lived and worked as a graphic designer and illustrator since graduating. www.patrickbonato.com

Alexandra Helmig, born in Düsseldorf in 1975, studied creative writing at the LMU Munich and acting in Hamburg. Today she works successfully as an actress for theatre, film and television, is active as a narrator and author and has already received many awards for her work.

Stefanie Harjes was born in Bremen in 1967 and studied illustration and painting in Hamburg and Prague. She has been working as an illustrator and book artist in her Hamburg studio “Überm Wind” for 27 stormy years. She organises workshops, seminars and lectures for children, young people and adults worldwide and has been awarded numerous…

Maike Siebold works as a product poet (copywriter) in a communications agency. She took her first professional steps in the area of children’s and youth work. She has a pronounced weakness for dessert, a penchant for points and loves Swing. Her family includes three sons, two stepchildren, a fat cat and a great husband. www.maike-siebold.de…

Ulrike Baier was born in Erlangen in 1965. Drawing and painting were her favourite pastimes even as a child. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and still paints pictures for adults and especially for children. She has published several picture books, received awards for her illustrations from the Stiftung Buchkunst, among…

Anna Maria Praßler was born in Swabia, Bavaria in 1983. She writes screenplays and prose, was nominated for the German Film Award and read at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition in Klagenfurt. She lives in Berlin with her family.

It all started (a long time ago) with a very personal re-adaptation of The Bald Cantatrice and its performance in front of a bewildered but enthusiastic family audience. Many years later, her fascination for stories – illustrated stories in particular – led Hélène to work in children’s publishing, then in a school of applied arts,…

Yukiko Noritake was born in Aichi, Japan in 1989. She is a Japanese illustrator and artist based in Sartrouville, near Paris. She graduated from the illustration department of the École de Condé Paris in 2018, she published her first book Voyage au Pays des odeurs (Actes Sud junior) which was her final year project and…

Kathrin Schrocke was born in Augsburg in 1975. She studied German and psychology and then worked for several years as a press officer in the publishing industry and as a lecturer in adult education. She has been a freelance author since 2005. Her novels for young people on realistic and socially critical themes have been…

*1972, studied animation in Potsdam-Babelsberg and has already illustrated many children’s and youth books for many different publishers. Melanie Garanin lives near Berlin with her family and a bunch of animals. There have never been hawks in her henhouse. But crazy lovers have. Her autobiographical book “Nils” recently received a lot of attention. www.melaniegaranin.com

Robert Gwisdek aka Käptn Peng *1984 in Berlin, is a German actor, musician and book author. As a musician he is known under the stage name Käptn Peng and is the singer and lyricist of the alternative hip-hop band Käptn Peng & Die Tentakel von Delphi. His novel “Der unsichtbare Apfel” (The Invisible Apple) was…

Giselle Clarkson is an illustrator from Wellington, New Zealand. She once drew a picture of some biscuits that was shared online so many times that they put her on TV. As well as illustrating children’s books, Giselle is a regular contributor to the NZ School Journal. She writes a comic about children’s books for The…

Heiko Hentschel is a film illustrator, storyteller and full-time maniac. When he’s not working as a cartoonist on animated films or consuming the worst films of all time on continuous loop, he invents hair-raising adventure stories, scary-beautiful creatures and bittersweet happy endings. He lives in Hamburg with his partner. He is probably eating right now….

Lena Hach was born in Hesse in 1982. She attended a school for clowns and studied English, German and creative writing. She first worked as a journalist and then devoted herself to children’s and youth literature. In the meantime, many of her books have been published. “Der verrückte Erfinderschuppen” [The Crazy Inventors’ Hut] was awarded…

Ann Cathrin Raab, born in 1979, studied Illustration in Hamburg and has worked as a freelance illustrator since 2007.. She is a member of the Hamburg illustrators’ group “Die Krickelkrackels”. Her picture book Zeckengeflüster (Hinstorff, 2008) was nominated for the Oldenbourg Children’s Book Award, received the prize of the  Biennal of Illustrations Bratislava and honored…

Gavin Bishop ONZM, Tainui, Ngāti Awa, is a leading New Zealand illustrator. He has published over 70 books internationally and been translated into 12 languages. He has written for television and theatre, as well as a libretti for the Royal New Zealand Ballet. His awards include the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement 2020, the…

Pilar Serrano Burgos (Madrid, 1977) has a degree in Primary Education and specializes in that of young children. She works as a teacher in a public school. Since 2014, the year she debuted as an author, she has published about fifteen books that have been translated into Chinese, Korean, English, Italian and Catalan.

Joaquín Camp (Buenos Aires, 1987) studied Illustration and Graphic Design at the University of Buenos Aires. He has worked for publishers around the world and in the printed press. His illustrations have been seen in exhibitions in Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Peru and Japan. He currently lives in Madrid.

Josephine Wolf, born in Berlin in 1992, is an illustrator and communication designer majoring in children’s and educational media. Besides illustrating children’s books, animated movies, and games she is currently working on her frst graphic novel and supports diverse smart educational thinkers, for example Tetrapix and the Education Innovation Lab.

Martin Baltscheit, born in Dusseldorf in 1965, studied communication design at Folkwangschule Essen and started his career as a cartoonist. Nowadays he works as an author, illustrator, and speaker. He madehis debut as a movie director in 2017 and was honoured with the “Kinderhörspielpreis” (Children`s Audio Drama Award) by the MDR, a German radio and…

Barbara van den Speulhof is a passionate story creator. Picture books as door openers to the world of fantasy and empathy are a special concern of her heart. Some of her books have also enjoyed international popularity or have made their way onto the theatre stage. She also writes, produces and directs radio plays. When…

Mirjam Zels was born in Regensburg in 1989 and grew up in Dresden. She trained in illustration and graphic design in Nuremberg, Hamburg and Tel Aviv. Just like Amelie, Mirjam Zels very much enjoys travelling the world and to herself, researching, collecting stories and new adventures and celebrating all the wonderful encounters along the way….

Jens Rassmus, born in Kiel in 1967, studied illustration in Hamburg and Dundee, Scotland. He has been illustrating and writing children’s books for many years, for which he has received numerous awards, including the Austrian Children’s and Young People’s Book Prize three times and a nomination for the German Children’s Literature Award. Jens Rassmus lives…

Julia Willmann, born in 1973, writes for children and adults. Her texts were published in anthologies and literary magazines before her debut novel was es ist (fontis Verlag) was published in 2017. The work on Rascha und die Tür zum Himmel [Rascha and the Door to Heaven] was supported by the Amanda Neumayer Scholarship in…

Karin Koch, born in 1961, works as a physiotherapist in her own practice and lives in a small village near Karlsruhe. She writes children’s books, short stories and dialect. She has received several awards for her dialect stories. In 2008, she received the Rotraud Dankar Authors’ Prize and in 2009 she was a prize-winner at…

Nanen García-Contreras was born in Guadix (Granada). She obtained a degree in Fine Arts specializing in painting in Granada and later studied Design and Printmaking in Seville. She currently combines her passion for telling stories through images with teaching visual arts in secondary schools and also with ceramics, animation, sculpture, engraving… She understands creation as…

Florian Pigé is a graduate of the Émile Cohl School of Fine Arts in Lyon. During his time there, he discovered his passion for children’s literature. In his work, he focuses on the simplicity of form and explores different materials. In 2019, the original “Si petit” was given to all children born or adopted there…

Matze Döbele was born in 1975 in the Black Forest and knows about roots, mushrooms and Pine cones therefore look great. His illustrations were awarded and exhibited internationally. He lives and works as a freelance Illustrator with his family in Hamburg. www.derdoebele.de

Stefanie Kolb has been passionate about drawing since she was a child, preferably tousled animals and all kinds of people. After studying art in Mainz and training as a computer graphic artist in Berlin, she went on to illustrate for various companies, publishing houses, advertising and film agencies. Today she lives as a freelance illustrator…

Anja Günther was born in Zwickau in 1982 and studied architecture in the Vogtland. Here she learned and discovered not only the design of buildings, but also her passion for graphic design and illustration. And so she has been working on various creative projects for many years. Through her daughters, she discovered her love for…

Henrike Lippa-Wagenmann was born in 1983. She’s an enthusiastic musician and lives and works with her husband, dog and turtle on the edge of the forest in Gütersloh. She discovered her love for music as a child and since 2005 she has been running the integrative art and music school in her hometown. Besides making…

The illustrator Britta Bolle loves to create new worlds and prefers not to look at the world through adult eyes. After studying illustration in the Netherlands, she returned to Germany in 2013, where she now lives and works. She has found her professional passion by specializing in illustrations for children. brittabolle.de  

Anna Aparicio Català (Barcelona, 1991) has a degree in Fine Arts (majoring in Drawing) from the University of Barcelona and studied illustration at the Escola de la Dona de Barcelona (Women’s School of Barcelona). She combines her work as an illustrator with that of an assistant in the children’s section of a public library. She…

Hanna Jansen is an author with commitment and passion. Fourteen children from all over the world, mostly from Africa, found a new home with her and her husband. She is particularly interested in the question of how people from very different origins and cultures can live together and enrich one another. After most of her children…

Andrea Karimé, born in 1963, grew up in Kassel between the German and Lebanese language and culture. She studied art and Music education, trained in creative writing and as a storyteller and worked as a teacher. She was awarded the Austrian Children’s Literature Award for Tee mit Onkel Mustafa (Picus, 2011), and the Children’s Book…

Verena Hochleitner was born in Vienna in 1969 and studied Graphic Design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. For many years she has enjoyed living in Vienna with a view of the flak tower in Augarten. She is a freelance graphic artist, illustrator and author, mainly illustrating children’s books and designing books.

Nicolas Gorny actually wanted to become a superhero as a child. But since neither an intergalactic magic ring nor the bite of a radioactive spider gave him the desired powers, he had to follow a different destiny. Today he writes and illustrates children’s books, collects comic books and is known as the “world’s worst dancer”….

Frank Maria Reifenberg is a trained bookseller and has been writing books for children and young people since 2003. He has been awarded the Leipzig Reading Compass several times and has been nominated for the German-French Children’s Book Prize and the Catholic Children’s Book Prize.  His books have been translated into many languages. frankmariareifenberg.wordpress.com

Sonja Kurzbach was born in East Frisia in 1983 and moved to Bremen after graduating from high school, where she trained and worked as a media designer. In 2013, she won a scholarship to AID Berlin through a competition, which eventually drew her to the capital. Away from the drawing table, she loves karate, screen…

Michael Roher, * 1980 in Lower Austria, trained as a social worker in Vienna. His love for the circus, for drawing and design as well as for working with people determines his activities and projects. He has received numerous awards for his children’s books, including: Dixi Children’s Literature Prize, Romulus Candea Prize, Illustration Prize of…

Julia Nüsch, born in Hamburg in 1979, studied Illustration at the HAW Hamburg from 2002 to 2009 and simultaneously worked as a graphic designer and illustrator for an agency in Hamburg. Since 2009, she works freelance for agencies, publishing companies and magazines. Julia Nüsch lives in Hamburg. She already illustrated other titles of the Kindermann…

Nicole Mahne was born in Verl, East Westphalia in 1972. She had to struggle through a difficult time at school before she was finally allowed to study German, linguistics and education. She has been working as a freelance editor and copywriter since 2006. She lives in Bielefeld with her husband, daughter, dog and cat. She…

The artist and illustrator Katharina Naimer was born in Lower Bavaria in 1979. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Until 2017, she ran the children’s studio PABLiTO and worked mainly on art and creative projects with children, before she turned back to her own artistic work. Her work focuses on fairytale…

Tine Schulz (* 1981), works as an illustrator and artist for publishers, magazines and organizations – preferably for children and everything that is fair, social, sustainable and makes the world a little better. After training as a media designer, a few years as a graphic designer and studying communication design, she now works as a…

Dita Zipfel, born 1981, is a writer of illustrated childrens books, theater plays, screenplays and novels. She was just awarded with the German Youth Literature Award 2020 and the Korbinian – Paul Maar-Preis 2020. www.ditazipfel.de    

Finn-Ole Heinrich, born in 1982, is one of the most acclaimed young german authors. His short story collection die taschen voll wasser was published by mairisch Verlag in 2005, picking up enthusiastic reactions from readers and critics, as did his following books Räuberhände and Gestern war auch schon ein Tag. His books for children (published at Hanser Verlag and later…

Katja Spitzer studied art history and history in Halle and illustration in Leipzig and in Luzern (Switzerland). Today she lives in Berlin, creating illustrations for books and teaching children and adults how to draw. www.katja-spitzer.de

Saša Stanišić was born 1978 in Višegrad (Yugoslawia) geboren; since 1992 he is living in Germany. His short stories and novels (Vor dem Fest, Herkunft a.o.) have been translated into more than 30 languages and he received countless awards, most notably the German Book Prize in 2019. Currently, he lives in Hamburg – and so does his son Nikolai,…

Gitte Spee was born in Indonesia in 1950. When she was eleven years old, she moved to the Netherlands with her family. She studied illustration in Amsterdam. Since then she has illustrated numerous books for international publishers, in Germany she is particularly known for the pictures for Dagmar Chidolue’s Millie books.

Bernadette Vermeij was born in Woerden in the Netherlands in 1979. She works for the Dutch foundation for children who are deaf or hard of hearing in Amsterdam. She is particularly interested in the promotion of language development in children. Let’s Build a Hut! is her first children’s book.

Thomas Kriebaum was born in Vienna in 1968. He lives and works in Vienna. He creates comical drawings for the Augustin or AutoTouring, among others. He received the Outstanding Artist Award 2010 in the category “Caricature and Comic”. https://www.derkriebaum.at/

Rosemarie Eichinger came to Vienna to study history and still lives in Vienna today with her husband, daughter and snail. She works as a freelance writer and has received various awards and grants for her work.

Katrine Clante, born in Copenhagen in 1973, grew up in the Danish countryside. She studied visual communication at the Danish School of Design and has been working as an illustrator since 2003. She has received various prestigious awards. www.katrineclante.dk  

Katrin Stangl, born in 1977, studied at the Leipzig School of Graphics and Book Art. She uses different techniques to illustrate her own and other authors’ texts. She has been a member of the artist group SPRING since 2009. She teaches drawing at the FH Aachen and gives workshops in Germany and abroad. Her works…

Jennifer Bouron is a Fench illustrator. After studying fashion, Jennifer worked in children‘s fashion in the Netherlands for three years. She subsequently decided to become a freelance illustrator and print designer. Jennifer has been working with clothing brands such as Lazzari and Lucy & Yak, but also for magazines (Flow, Frankie) and stationery (Lagorn Design)…

Lisa Maria Wagner was born in 1986. Studied psychology in Graz. Drawings for the theater play “No distance left to run”, (theater acme- / dramagraz), Graz 2013. In 2014 she founded the design label lisalottchen and participated in the design festival assembly from 2011 to 2014. Lisa is currently busy with colorful blackmail letters for…

Born in 1966, Anna Schindler grew up in a house full of books in the Odenwald with four siblings. She was deeply impressed by personal encounters with Astrid Lindgren and Michael Ende. At the age of 14, she moved to Switzerland. She wrote stories, a play and read. Since 2015, she has immersed herself as…

Katrin Dageför was born in 1966. Following her A-levels, she lived in Montreal for a year, then went to Krefeld to study Graphic Design. Once she had obtained her diploma, she looked for a job in Hamburg, where she worked as Art Director in various advertising agencies. After her parental leave she dedicated herself entirely…

Klaus Ensikat, born in 1937, is one of Germany’s most brilliant illustrators. He won numerous awards for his works. In 1996, he was honoured for all his contributions to children’s literature with the most important internationalmark of honour: the Hans-Christian-Andersen Award. Between 1995 and 2003, Klaus Ensikat held a professorship at the Hamburg Academy of…

Christine Schulz-Reiss (born in 1956) is an author of Children’s books as well as a freelance journalist. She studied history, politics and Communication Sciences in Erlangen and Munich. Afterwards she worked as a political editor and journalist, until she became self-employed in 1991. She is known for her popular series of Children’s Non-fiction books »Who…

Raffaela Schöbitz is a freelance illustrator and author from Vienna. Her graphic novel The Blissful Islands appeared as part of the five-volume debut novel People are Sitting at the Edge of the World Laughing (Suhrkamp Verlag, 2018). In addition to graphic novels, she mainly illustrates children’s books, but also record covers or illustrations for magazines….

Juan Feliu Sastre (Mallorca, 1971), a versatile artist, studied Engineering, Technical Architecture as well as Geography and History. Founder of the Mallorcan band Vacabou (2002-2014), in which he played an instrument and was a composer, he has collaborated with writers such as Agustín Fernández Mallo, with whom he created the group Frida Laponia, or Bernardí…

Lisa Biggi was born in Italy in 1975. After completing her studies in Philosophy, Lisa Biggi discovered the pleasure of writing and has experimented with it in many ways. She participates in poetry contests and contributes to literary magazines. She has published a book of tragicomic stories and several children’s albums. Lisa writes at night…

Paloma Corral (born in Madrid, 1982) has a degree in Fine Arts. Since 2011 she has been working for different publishers, design studios and institutions. She is currently combining illustration work with teaching at IED Madrid. She received the Lazarillo Illustration Prize in 2018 and was selected, among others, at the Bologna Book Fair (Italy)…

Olivia Huth loves rainy days. Her first wellington boots, or rather those, that she can remember, were red with white dots. From an early age she was a master in dam construction; serious competition for the beavers. Now she has children of her own and very much enjoys romping around in the rain with her…

Christine Ziegler was born in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1971. After her A-levels she studied Restoration Sciences and worked in various museums. She is fascinated by the field of tension between the past and the future. Today she writes and lives near Munich with her family, which includes an excessive computer gamer, and two chatty cats near…

Grit Poppe was born in Boltenhagen on the Baltic Sea in 1964.  She studied at the German Institute for Literature in Leipzig and from 1989 to 1992, she was the regional general secretary for ”Democracy Now“. Today, she writes books for children, adolescents, and adults. Her young-adult novel Weggesperrt (Locked Away) is read in schools…

Graduated from the Superior School of Epinal Art [l’École Supérieure d’Art d’Épinal], Margaux began to actively illustrate in 2018 in Besançon. She has always dreamed of wonderful tender worlds. Margaux is very interested in the microcosm of plants, a refuge that constantly inspires her. Born at the tip of her brush, er world of soft…

Katja Gehrmann, born in 1968, studied Illustration in Mexico, Spain and Hamburg. She works for magazines and various publishing houses. Besuch beim Hasen (Visiting Rabbit), written by Christian Oster and illustrated by Katja was nominated for the German Children’s Literature Award in 2014. Stadtbär (Town Bear) won the Children’s Book Prize NRW 2019 and was…

David Böhm(* 1982) is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Apart from his book publications, his work has been presented in art galleries in New York, Ber-lin, Kiev and other cities. He is the co-author and illustrator of Kopf im Kopf, which was nominated for the German Children‘s Literature Award 2017.

Jonathan King’s comics have featured online and in anthologies. King is a prominent filmmaker whose debut feature Black Sheep remains one of New Zealand’s biggest-selling feature films. Its international awards include the Audience Award at the Gérardmer Fantastic Film Festival, the Silver Raven at the Brussels Fantastic Film Festival and the Sir Julius Vogel Award…

Claudia Gliemann is an author, literary translator, publisher of the children’s book publishing house MONTEROSA and singer-songwriter. With her books she wants to tell difficult topics in a way that children and adults feel understood and seen. Her picture books have received various nominations and awards. www.monterosa-verlag.de

Rocío Araya was born Bilbao, Spain in 1982. She studied Fine Arts in the University of País Vasco, Spain, and finished her Master in Education in 2010.Her training as an illustrator is has been largely self-taught and also tutored by illustrators such as Violeta Lópiz, Roger Olmos, and Rotraut Susan Berner. She has published a few illustrated…

Megan Herbert is an Australian-born, Amsterdam-based writer and illustrator whose career as a television and film writer, journalist, product designer, editorial cartoonist, and children’s book creator has spanned twenty years. www.meganherbert.com  

David Elliot is one of New Zealand’s leading children’s book illustrators. He has won many awards including the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award and the Russell Clark Award for Illustration at the 2017 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults for Snark. Elliot has an international reputation, and has illustrated for…

Hunter, Eirlys (1952 –) is a London-born fiction writer for children and adults. She moved to Wellington in 1983, as ‘a refugee from Thatcher’s Britain’. In 1991, Hunter joined the Original Composition class at Victoria University, and in 1998 completed an MA in creative writing there. Her short stories have appeared in Landfall and Sport,…