Illustrator's cutting-edge ambition

Acclaimed author takes techniques used on paper from the distant past to inspire young readers and artists of today.

Illustrator Yu Rong sits in a lounge chair in her studio in the small village of Coton, near Cambridge, England, and contemplates her journey.

"If I hadn't gone back to Cambridge to have my babies, I think I would have done much better in the art industry," she says.

The studio is part of her house, where cherry trees, moonflowers, peonies, and lush greenery surround the backyard. It is the place where she transformed herself from a homemaker of 13 years to a cherished children's book illustrator.

During the past decade, Yu has made a name for herself by collaborating with leading authors in China and abroad, and publishing at least 20 picture books that have been sold in the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, and elsewhere.

And she has won prizes and been shortlisted for awards, including one of the most prestigious in her field - the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration, the UK's highest honor for children's literature.