Profile – Patricia Daly Oe

I was born in Kent in the U.K. and graduated from Aston University in Birmingham. I have been living in west Tokyo in Japan for many years.

I write picture books (and sometimes illustrate them, too), teach English, hold narration concerts and picture book events for children, give presentations to teachers of English in Japan and translate books and documents from Japanese to English.

I started writing stories and illustrating them for children to enjoy learning English. I try to create some imaginative scenes in my stories to help children think about themes such as being kind to others, enjoying nature, searching for our dreams and never giving up. Sometimes I use humour in the story, too, and most of the books include a CD with a song and narration.

I enjoy a wide variety of interests, including making art for some of my stories, cycling, hiking and swimming, looking after my cat and tortoises and going to Japanese hot springs whenever I get the chance!

My greatest wish is for all of the people in the world to reach a deeper level of understanding and respect for themselves, each other and for nature.