Rui Umezawa

Rui Umezawa was born in Tokyo. A black belt in karate and judo, he is the author of The Empty Hand: A Karate Wordbook. Aiko’s Flowers is his first picture book. He lives in Toronto with his family.

Yuji Ando is an award-winning artist and cartoonist. In 1992, he was awarded Best New Artist designation at the Modern Children’s Artist Association exhibition. His work has been selected for representation by UNICEF and for the renowned Illustrators Exhibit in Bologna. Yuji Ando lives in Japan.