I am Mauri Mendes, an illustrator and animator from Brazil, based in The Netherlands. I love all things related to woodcut and printmaking! My dream in life is to live in a little eco-farm surrounded by nature, with my wife and daughter, producing beautiful books in a little tower. A dream in the making! In the meantime, I am producing my books here in our apartment in Amsterdam, observing the world passing by, children playing and people walking their dogs, from our window on the second floor. Also a very inspiring place to be!

I love books that challenge the little readers and make them think about the world we live in and about themselves, inspire them and make them laugh. When my wife read my book project Mama is a Wildebeest to my 1.5 y.o. daughter, who was sitting on her lap, my daughter gave her a hug after seeing the hug image on the last page! So If I manage to inspire at least one more child with my books, or make one more child spontaneously hug their parents, then my mission is complete!

Drop me an e-mail at maurimendes@hotmail.com and let’s make some beautiful books!