Meet the author

Amber Aü.

Writer & illustrator · United Kingdom

Amber Aü: author-illustrator whose quietly beautiful debut The Blue Tomato turns one blue tomato's wish to fit in into a gentle celebration of self-acceptance.

Amber Aü is an author-illustrator originally from Hong Kong and now based in the UK, who works digitally to create charming, characterful art often built around whimsical food characters. Her debut picture book, The Blue Tomato, is a tender story about Blu, the only blue tomato in a town full of red ones, who sets to work on an elaborate project to make himself fit in, until he learns, gently, to love exactly who he is. Drawn from Amber's own experience of rebuilding a difficult relationship with herself through drawing, it is a warm, quietly beautiful meditation on personal growth and self-acceptance, told with quirky humour and a pared-back palette. Highly commended at the World Illustration Awards, The Blue Tomato is a reassuring read for any child aged three to six who has ever wished to be a little less themselves.