Authors

Of Indian heritage, Ashia Ismail-Singer was raised in Malawi and the UK, before moving to New Zealand. One of four girls, food has always played a big part in her life and she believes it is one of life's simple but great pleasures. Ashia was taught to cook by her mother, learning the traditional Indian way, without shortcuts, but since then she has combined influences from Malawi, the UK and New Zealand into her cooking. She is a regular contributor to New Zealand House & Garden, and appears in a number of other food-related media. Ashia Ismail-Singer lives in Auckland with her family.

Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngai Tahu, Ngati Kahungunu ki te Wairoa) is an award-winning illustrator based in Poneke, Aotearoa. She incorporates kowhaiwhai and native New Zealand plant life into most of her work. She has worked on over 30 children's books and won the Whitley best children's book award in 2020 for

Tame Iti (Ngai Tuhoe) is a New Zealand Maori activist, artist, and agitator, known for his advocacy for Maori rights and te reo Maori revitalisation.

Tāme Iti (Ngāi Tūhoe) is a New Zealand Māori activist, artist, and agitator, known for his advocacy for Māori rights and te reo Māori revitalisation.

Hiroshi Ito was born in Tokyo, Japan, and graduated from Waseda University with a degree in education. He began creating picture books while still a student and has since published many award-winning books.

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Denise Ives, founder of Mamas in Lockdown is a qualified Breastfeeding Counsellor. Prior to moving to New Zealand in 2009, Denise trained with National Childbirth Trust and University of Bedfordshire in England. Denise and her family now live on the Otago Peninsula in Dunedin and proudly became Citizens of New Zealand in 2016. In 2010 Denise founded The Breast Room (R), a registered charity based in South Dunedin that runs a free one to one breastfeeding support drop in clinic, as well as providing free education, information and support to families online, via email, phone, text and - more recently - via Zoom. It was during the time of lockdown and Zoom consults that Denise realised how much families needed to talk about their experiences of being pregnant, giving birth and learning to feed their babies during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many women were feeling isolated, alone and lacking in support, and were trying to come to terms with how their birth had been changed beyond their control. Being someone who likes to write to empty her head of busy thoughts, Denise wondered whether this might be a tool that these mothers would find useful. When Denise discussed the idea of writing everything down as a way of moving forward and putting things into perspective with some mothers, they thought it was a great idea and were really keen to share their stories... and the book was born.

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