I write books for kids and translate from Japanese to English. I love playing with language. In the past, I founded a school and built curricula for teaching world languages to children from newborn through elementary. I like to explore the world through travel, books, language, and (especially) dessert!
Writing
I’m currently revising a middle grade verse novel that includes: boba tea, Yiddish, soup dumplings, beatboxing, and donuts. Once you include friends, family, and nature in that list, you know a lot about me. (The last version won the CANSCAIP Best Middle Grade award!)
I’ve written some articles for KidLitCraft and WorldKidLit.
- Humor Techniques Inspired by Kate diCamillo
- Getting My Hands on LOTS of Books in Translation
- Letter to Myself After Going Down the Twitter Hole
I’ve also written some articles for ParentMap about raising kids with an appreciation for the world.
- Cross-Cultural TV: 8 Kids’ Educational Series from Around the World
- How Do You Raise a Global Citizen? Four Steps to Start
- Great Kids’ Reads: 5 Cross-Cultural Children's Books
- Six International Bakeries to Try in Greater Seattle
Through SCBWI San Francisco/South, I host two two book clubs focused on craft. One for middle grade writers and one for picture book writers.
Translation
I love languages. I translate from Japanese to English, primarily picture books and middle grade. I also edit translations from other languages.
As the co-editor of World Kid Lit, I hope to expand the reach of children's books from around the world.
In 2020-2021, I was the first Scholar-in-Residence for SCBWI San Francisco/South where I focused on sharing the benefits of reading children’s lit from around the world.
Books I Love
