Meet the author

Kobi Yamada.

Writer · United States

Kobi Yamada: American author of What Do You Do With an Idea?, Maybe and Trying — high-concept inspirational gift-shelf picture books about resilience, possibility and self-belief.

Kobi Yamada is an American author best known for the inspirational picture-book trio What Do You Do With an Idea?, What Do You Do With a Problem? and What Do You Do With a Chance?, all illustrated by Mae Besom, plus Maybe (with Gabriella Barouch) and Trying. Yamada's books sit firmly in the inspirational-gift end of the picture-book market, high-concept, sparse text, painterly art, deliberately giftable. The What Do You Do With… series in particular has become a fixture of US elementary classrooms, graduation gifts and parental shelves of "books to teach my child resilience". Strong appeal for ages 4–10, especially for adults reading alongside.