About the Author

Bex Lipp co-wrote the book 'Finding Gratitude' through Quarto Publishing in the US. Bex's own personal story of struggles with mental health issues led her to come up with the ideas behind the picture books, with a focus on emotions, anxiety and general well-being. With a passion to bring awareness to the mental health of children from her own personal story, Bex has now been asked to speak at events around the topic of the creation of Aroha's Way, anxiety and mental health. After going through two years of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), after ending up in crisis in her early twenties, Bex felt there was a real gap in what the professionals knew and what parents and teachers needed to know. Bex strongly feels that we can empower our children with skills, to help prevent them from ending up in crisis like she did. Using the skills she has learnt throughout her journey with anxiety, depression, self-harm, body dysmorphia and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) she is creating books with messages to help children connect with their emotions and learn ways to regulate them.With a gentle parenting approach, Bex feels that all children have genius within them and if we act out of a place of compassion, kindness and love, we will see our children thrive.Bex was thrilled that How Do I Feel? A Dictionary of Emotions was awarded as a Notable Book in the Storylines Book Awards 2021 and was also a Finalist in the 2022 NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults. Craig Phillips received the NZ Children & Young Adults Book Award for Best Illustration in 2018 for his first book Giants, Trolls, Witches, Beasts: Ten Tales from the Deep, Dark Woods, published by Allen & Unwin. Craig then produced the first two graphic novels in the The Adventures of Jack Scratch series for Wildling Books. Craig Phillips has worked as a professional illustrator for the US and Australian publishing industries. His client list includes Random House, Scholastic, Simon and Schuster, Hachette, Hardie Grant, Bloomsbury, Oxford University Press and many more. His work has appeared in art anthologies such as The Society of Illustrators Annual, Spectrum Fantastic Art Annual and Luerzers 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide, and has been exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration. Phillips also worked on Neil Gaiman's American Gods in 2017. His first solo work, titled Giants, Trolls, Witches, Beasts: Ten Tales from the Deep, Dark Woods (Allen and Unwin, 2017) won the NZ Book Award's Russell Clark Award for Illustration, a Gold Ledger in the Australian Ledger Awards, a Notable Book in the CBCA Awards and was also a finalist in the Aurealis Awards.Most recently How Do I Feel? A Dictionary of Emotions was awarded as a Notable Book in the Storylines Book Awards 2021 and was also a Finalist in the 2022 NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults.