Like a mermaid rising from an ocean of paper, the girl emerged across the room.

I hope the snow covers everything so all the footsteps are silenced, and the whole city can be at peace.

I majored in illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design, although I never had any intention of being an illustrator and didn't take any classes in illustration there. It was just that the illustration degree had no requirements.

I've always loved children's books - it's not that I didn't like them, I just didn't think I wanted to do that. But then I suddenly realized I did.

Since I spend such a long time making each book, I only choose books that I'm really interested in and that I really love.

I think I always knew that I would do something with art because it was the one thing that I knew I was really good at.

But I'm a fairly mechanical worker - I tend not to think about themes so much as plot. I want to get the feeling right. If it's moving through tunnels, I ask myself, what is it like to move through tunnels?