Lissy's Garden

Ellen DeLange has been fascinated by picture books ever since she was a child growing up in the Netherlands. In the attic of her home, she assembled a small library and shared her collection with friends and family. As an adult, she started traveling and expanded her library with picture books from all over the world. Ellen also enjoyed inventing her own stories and was encouraged by her daughter to write her first picture book, A Story with a Tail. She always has new story ideas in her head and can’t wait for the moment when the text and illustrations come together to make the magic happen. Ellen has a doctorate in medical sciences, and currently lives in Canada, where she loves to walk in the woods with her Jack Russell terriers (who are featured in some of her books), drink lots of tea after a busy day, and sail on the ocean to clear her mind.

Ilaria Zanellato (1993) was born in the northwest of Italy. She graduated from the Art High School in Novara. Thanks to a scholarship, she attended the IED Institute in Turin and obtained a degree in Illustration and Visual Communication. Nowadays, Ilaria works as an author and illustrator of children’s books. She creates her own worlds by using collage, colored pencils, graphite, and acrylics. She was selected for the First Little Hakka International Picture Book Competition (2017), became a finalist in the Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Competition (2018), and won the Posterheroes Contest (2019).