BeautifulBird Books

 
Our Author

The Wombat Stole My Shoe is Katrina Griffiths’ first published story book for children and was actually inspired by a real life encounter whilst camping in Kangaroo Valley, with a very quirky wombat who literally stole her shoe! Her 3 young daughters, Ava, Edie and Bali loved hearing the story so much that she finally decided to write it for them.

Although Katrina’s background is in hospitality and sales, she began her love of the arts by attending UNSW College of Fine Arts, studying painting and sculpture. This was followed by years of travel with her husband Mark. Katrina and Mark have enjoyed many years living in England, Bali and Singapore, and visiting the surrounding regions

Katrina is passionate about books and absolutely loves to write for children. She is also happy to visit your school, playgroup or library, so please don’t hesitate to contact her on if you would like to have a chat. Katrina also writes a blog at www.beautifulbirdbooks.wordpress.com so have a look if you would like to read more about the making of the book. Your thoughts and feedback are very welcome too, so please don’t be shy!
 

Our Illustrator

Lee Kowling is a children’s book illustrator from Singapore. She has illustrated more than 20 children’s books and has worked with major publishing houses like Times, MPH, Federal and Landmark Books.

A designer by training, Kowling is much sought after for her water-colour paintings for children’s books . Her artistic and creative contribution to the set of two books," A Home in the Sky" and "A Friend in Need", commissioned and sponsored by American Express International Inc., in which she teamed up with children's author Jessie Wee, has won her accolades from book reviewers in the '90s. Together they work on two more books on the Five Little Kittens Series. Kowling is also the illustrator of 4 books on "The Travel of Wiglinton & Wenks" by John Bittleston.

Kowling is currently working with an award-winning author, Adeline Foo on four children books on The Story of Puteh, a new heritage series aimed at encouraging children to learn about Singapore’s rich Peranakan history, through the stories as well as visits to the Peranakan Museum.

Please feel free to contact Kowling on kowling90@gmail.com if you would like to have a chat.
 

Our Designer

CleverBird is a Singapore based design and branding consultancy headed up by Creative Director Sam Dunham.

Sam originally from the UK, is a mother of two young children, Lily 3 1/2 and George just 1 year. Sam has always had a love of words and pictures, particulary childrens books. Whilst studying she explored illustration, but decided to focus on design. After graduating from university with a Bachelor of Art with honours she worked in publishing at the Times educational supplement before moving into corporate branding. This role gave her much exposure to wonderful illustration and conveying a message through image.

Sam has worked for 15 years in the global branding arena in london, sydney and now singapore, In australia she won 6 AGDA (Australian Graphic Design Assocation) awards for her orginal work.

Working with high profile clients such as Babcock and Brown, Australian Stock Exchange, Nokia, Cycle and Carriage, Orange and Nike has given sam a wealth of brand experience. She is now focusing on the Small to Medium Enterprise market of Singapore, marrying conceptual thinking with beautiful design. This approach can be applied to any vehicle, corporate design + branding, publishing, and websites.

For an informal chat please feel free to call Sam on (+65) 9188 2432 or email