All the Ways We Learn

Chloe Ito Ward is a Japanese American author. A former curriculum director, she has a master of education degree in curriculum and instruction and spent the last decade teaching kindergarten, where she discovered her passion for picture books. Chloe is the author of Love Grows Here (2024) and Made for More (2025). When Chloe isn’t perfecting her ramen recipe, you can find her rock climbing or dancing in the kitchen with her husband, son, and their imaginary dog, Miso.

Author Residence: Lihue, Hawaii

Yaroslava Apollonova is a neurodivergent author-illustrator and character designer with an uncontrollable desire to know everything about anteaters (and all other weirdly shaped animals). She enjoys creating stories and characters to inspire kids to embrace who they truly are and never give up on their dreams. When Yara isn’t drawing, you can find her baking white chocolate chip cookies; drinking coffee before bed; having deep conversations with her cats, Ciri and Nala; and gathering new ideas for illustrations from documentaries at 3 a.m. You can even find her doing all of that while drawing, too!

Illustrator Residence:Berlin, Germany