Meet the author

Nomoco.

Illustrator · Japan

Nomoco: a Japanese fine-artist and illustrator whose fluid, luminous inks turn poetry and non-fiction, like the water cycle in Once Upon a Raindrop, into something quietly beautiful.

Nomoco, who also works under her full name Kazuko Nomoto, is a Japanese artist and illustrator born in Fukuoka and now working internationally. Trained at Osaka University of Arts and then in London at the London College of Communication and Central Saint Martins, she brings a fine-artist's sensibility to children's books, working in inks, silkscreen and lithography with nature and sound as her guiding inspirations. Her fluid, luminous artwork for James Carter's Once Upon a Raindrop turns the science of the water cycle into something genuinely beautiful, its ocean spread nodding to Hokusai's great wave. That book was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal and shortlisted for the UKLA Award. Nomoco's illustration suits gentle, contemplative non-fiction and poetry for five-to-nine-year-olds, offering a quieter, more painterly alternative to busier picture-book styles.