The Great Blue Heron and the Blue Whale

Görkem Özen Çömez was born in Germany in 1978. She graduated from Bilkent University. She chose to follow the trail of words and colors in a world woven with dreams. She loves reading, writing, designing, capturing the quiet moments of photography, the infinite language of art, and rediscovering the world every day with her children. Since 2007, she has continued to create at LastRender Art Studios and AYO Publications, of which she is a co-founder.

Çağrı Odabaşı was born in 1987. Several of his illustrated books, including "The Lonely Panda" which he both wrote and illustrated, have been translated into English, French, Chinese, Hindi, Croatian, and Arabic, and published in over 20 countries including the USA, China, Canada, Switzerland, France, Belgium, India, Lebanon, Croatia, and Egypt. He received the 2019 Aydın Doğan Foundation National Children's Book Illustration Success Award and the 2021 Brightness Mag. exhibition awards. He was nominated for the 2022 Le Prix Escapages in France. In his books, he aims to bring specific issues children face while integrating into social life to the reader through their own eyes. He currently continues his projects in Istanbul, focusing on illustration work produced with traditional techniques.