Half-French and half-Italian, Yan Nascimbene spent his childhood and adolescence between Paris, Turin, and the south of France before moving to the United States where, as an art student, he met his wife Joan, a painter, writer and ceramist. Yan has drawn over 300 book covers and 40 fully illustrated books, some of which he wrote. His previous children’s books include Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog and Castle of Books.

Widely exhibited in France, Italy, the United States and Japan, Yan was awarded the Society of Illustrators’ Silver Medal twice and the Bologna International Book-fair Graphic Award three times.