The Boy Who Loves to Lick the Wind

Fiona Carswell is the mother of two boys – one autistic and the other neurotypical – and lives in East Lothian, Scotland. By day, she is a publicist in the Arts & Books sector, promoting (other people’s) books, literary prizes, book festivals, cultural projects, venues and events. In her spare time, Fiona writes occasionally for the Scottish press – mainly the Scotsman – and enjoys flying the flag for Autism Awareness Week each year, giving readers a glimpse into a world they may know very little about and which can be as hilarious as it is challenging, as life-affirming as it is sometimes heart-breaking, and as brilliantly, heart-burstingly bananas as it can be serious, overwhelming and utterly terrifying. The Boy Who Loves to Lick the Wind is Fiona's first book.

Yu Rong is an acclaimed British-Chinese children’s picture book illustrator. She obtained a BA degree in Chinese Painting and Contemporary Art Design from Nanjing Normal University’s Art College and an MA degree in Communication and Design from London’s Royal College of Art, where she studied under Quentin Blake. Her first picture books with Walker Books have been published in Britain, America, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, France, Sweden, New Zealand and other countries. In recent years, she has been working with several Chinese publishers and has worked with leading Chinese authors, including the Hans Christian Andersen award winner Prof. Cao Wenxuan and Andersen award nominee Mrs Qin Wenjun. She has received several international and national, prestigious illustration awards. Yu Rong’s art work combines traditional hand paper cuts with drawing, which allows the pencil drawing to bring plain two dimensional paper cuts into a vivid rich three dimensional art work. Yu Rong lives in the countryside of Cambridge with her husband, Donkey, her three children, Caterpillar, Chilli Pepper and Bean, and their German Pointer, Captain Sniff.