Hans Wilhelm was born in Bremen, Germany in 1945. In his early teens he wrote and illustrated several stories, bound them into little books and sent them off to publishers, but they were always rejected. After graduating from art and business schools, Wilhelm moved to Africa, where he worked for a major corporation for several years. Still very much interested in the arts, however, he wrote and illustrated stories for fun. Eventually, he gave up his job and began traveling the world in search of a different kind of life. Wilhelm traveled for three years and lived in many places in Australia, Asia and Europe. He finally came to America to publish his stories and ended up settling down in Connecticut. Since then he has written and illustrated more than one hundredand fifty books for children and adults that have been translated into many languages. They have won numerous international prizes and awards and were developed into more than 80 television shows.