Backpacks!

About the Author

Kimberly Andrews is a trained biologist and geologist who grew up in the Canadian Rockies. She has lived and worked in New Zealand, Borneo and the UK. In London, she worked for The House of Illustration, whose main ambassador is Quentin Blake. She also worked at the Natural History Museum in the live Butterfly House and also behind the scenes, assisting the curation of mammal specimens in the dry stores. Kimberly's picture book illustrations have been widely acclaimed. She was awarded Storylines Notable Book Awards for Tuna and Hiriwa by Ripeka Takotowai Goddard (2016) and Song of the River by Joy Cowley (2019). In 2019, the first story Kimberly wrote and illustrated, Puffin the Architect (2018), won the Russell Clark Award for Illustration and was a finalist for Best Picture Book in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. It also won a Storylines Notable Picture Book Award as well as the NZ Booklovers Award for Best Children's Book. It has been published in five languages, with rights sold to Romania, Russia, China and Taiwan. More stories followed featuring favourite animal characters from Puffin the Architect's charming world: Hound the Detective, highly commended by Storylines and a finalist for the Best Picture Book Award in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2021, and Moose the Pilot (2021) and Goose the Artist (2022), both Storylines Notable Picture Books. Kimberly lives with her husband and two young daughters in a shipping-container house near Wellington, where she illustrates and writes, and runs her business Tumbleweed Tees, screen-printed clothing featuring her illustrations of New Zealand plants and wildlife.