Yoko Matsuoka is a freelance writer, artist, and graphic designer/illustrator currently living and working in her native Japan. As the fifth child in a large family of twelve children, she learned to get along with all types of personalities from an early age. As a young adult, she ventured out to travel the world and has lived in the U.S. and Mexico, where she spent a few years editing and illustrating a number of children's publications. Her motto is "Illustrating a world where dreams come true," and as such she looks forward to working with a variety of people, helping them tell their stories, bringing their ideas to visual life. Her greatest sense of satisfaction comes from a job well done and a product that is both useful and beautiful.