Meet the author

Mae Besom.

Illustrator · China

Mae Besom: Chinese illustrator behind Kobi Yamada's What Do You Do With an Idea? trio — painterly, atmospheric, gold-and-grey inspirational picture books for ages 4–10.

Mae Besom is a Chinese illustrator best known to UK and US children's-book readers as the visual partner on Kobi Yamada's What Do You Do With… inspirational picture-book trio (What Do You Do With an Idea?, What Do You Do With a Problem?, What Do You Do With a Chance?). Besom's style is painterly, atmospheric and tonally restrained, gold-and-grey palettes, soft brushwork, dreamy compositions, in the European-storybook tradition rather than the bright-cartoon mainstream. The What Do You Do With… books are a fixture of US and UK gift-and-classroom shelves. A reliable inspirational picture-book illustrator for ages 4–10, especially for adult co-readers.