Authors & Illustrators

Eilika Mühlenberg was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1969 and studied art education and German language and literature there. In Hamburg, she studied communication design at the University of Applied Sciences, specialising in children’s book illustration. Since 1999, she has worked as a freelance illustrator for various children’s book publishers, newspapers and magazines. At…

Pascale Osterwalder, born 1979 in eastern Switzerland, is a freelance illustrator, graphic designer and animation artist. She studied visual communication at the University of Art and Design Zurich and, after an artist residency in New York, finally ended up in Vienna. In her artistic work, she mainly focusses on the intrinsic life of everyday objects….

Francis Kaiser, born in 1988, studied art, literature and education. After several years working in schools, museums and nurseries, she is now devoting herself to drawing and painting. “Then my name was Rita” is her picture book debut. Francis Kaiser lives in Detmold.

Lutz van Dijk, born in Berlin in 1955, was a teacher in Hamburg before working at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. He wrote his doctoral thesis on “Oppositional Teacher Behaviour 1933-1945” and played a leading role in educational peace work in the 1980s. Since 2001, he has lived in Cape Town as a writer…

Andrea Hensgen grew up in a small village on the border with France. Her childhood between barns and stables, eccentric farmers and quirky neighbours is still the treasure from which her joy of storytelling draws. Her books for children and adults have won numerous awards. Today Andrea Hensgen lives in Frankfurt am Main. www.andrea-hensgen.de    

Hannah Brückner, born in Berlin in 1989, studied illustration in Hamburg. Her first picture book “Mein fantastisches Baumhaus” (Jacoby & Stuart) was honoured with the German-French Youth Literature Prize. Hannah Brückner lives in Hamburg, where she works on her picture books and for magazines and journals. www.hannahbrueckner.de

Kristina Andres, born in Greifswald, grew up in Mecklenburg, where she now lives again. She initially studied art history and literature in Hamburg and then moved to the local University of Fine Arts there. She has been working as a freelance artist since 2002. Her children’s books are published by numerous publishers. www.kristinaandres.com        

Emilio Urberuaga was born in Madrid in 1954. He began working in the world of illustration in 1982, and is the creator of the drawings for Manolito Gafotas, the character conceived by Elvira Lindo. He has illustrated all the books in the series, as well as other works by the same writer. Throughout his career…

From an early age, Hardy Hinrichs wanted to make the images of his imagination visible to everyone; be it with a pencil, a brush, a spray can or a graphics tablet. Today, he creates many small drawings or elaborate illustrations for small and large people. He would never have succeeded in such a huge project…

Martina Vogl, born in 1975, studied literature and art history in Munich. She and Sascha Mamczak both work in Munich publishing houses and regularly give talks for children and young people on the topics of ecology and the future. Together they have written the YA non-fiction books Es ist dein Planet – Ideen gegen den…

Sascha Mamczak, born in 1970, studied political science, economics and public law in Munich and Edinburgh. He is intensively involved with future issues and questions of intergenerational justice. Sascha Mamczak and Martina Vogl both work in Munich publishing houses and regularly give lectures for children and young people on the topics of ecology and the…

In her early years, Iris Genenz was head of a secret service centre, rock star and ruler of an entire kingdom. Then she grew up and was supposed to learn something “proper”. After studying to become a social pedagogue and working in various youth welfare services, she now works at a primary school where she…

Petra Bartoli y Eckert lives near Regensburg in Bavaria. She studied social education and worked for many years with children and young people with behavioural problems. She has always loved stories – in books, on TV, on the radio or made up herself. That’s why she took a different path in 2008: After training as…

Giulia Orecchia, born in Turin in 1955, is one of Italy’s most prolific illustrators. She lives in Milan and has illustrated books from Italo Calvino to Andrea Camilleri, from David Grossman to Luigi Malerba and was awarded the Premio Andersen.

Heike Brandt was born in Jever in 1948 and grew up in Berlin. She was a co-founder of the Kreuzberg children’s bookshop. She has been a freelance translator, author and reviewer since 1986.

Hilary Jean Tapper is an illustrator and creative arts therapist. Her picture books include What To Say When You Don’t Know What to Say (by Davina Bell), ABIA Children’s Picture Book of the Year, 2023.

Harriet Grundmann, born in Berlin in 1969, grew up in Büsum among dikes and the cries of seagulls and now lives in Hamburg as an author and freelance artist. She has been writing stories for many years, which have been published by renowned publishing houses and translated into many languages. She also inspires adults and…

Yayo Kawamura, born in 1967, grew up between Germany and Japan. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, she moved to Berlin where she studied communication design and now lives with her family. She has been working as a children’s book artist since 2001 and has developed and illustrated over 100 books, games and nonbooks….