Kęstutis Kasparavičius (1954) is a Lithuanian author and illustrator of children’s books, whose works have been translated into 28 languages. The author was born in a small village near Aukštadvaris, a town particularly rich in nature, where he used to attend an elementary school established in an abandoned manor house, which he loved.

As a young adult, Kasparavičius studied choir conducting. Later he found himself not liking the conducting part of the studies and decided to transfer to visual arts… which turned out to be the best decision he could have made, at least for his readers.

Throughout his 34-year career, Kasparavičius has drawn illustrations for over 60 books. The illustrator’s favorite painting method is watercolor, and although his style tends to be realistic, the author himself has said that he has drawn plenty of unrealistic illustrations as well, full of weird creatures that he designs while looking at the natural habitat.

During his career, Kasparavičius has won numerous awards, including the UNICEF award for the “Illustrator of the Year” (1994), the award for the best Lithuanian book of the year (“Florencius the Gardener”, 2008), and in 2012 was included on the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Honour List for his achievements in book illustration.