Ayano Imai is the illustrator of The 108th Sheep, Chester, Puss in Boots, and The Town Mouse and Country Mouse. She studied Japanese painting, with a focus on mineral pigment painting, at Musashino Art University in Tokyo.
Each [tale] a stunner, with the slyest little details bedecking the edges of the bottom pages. I love them all but it's The Lion and the Mouse here that has my heart. I don't know why no other illustrator has ever considering trapping not just the lion but other animals and creatures in nets, but Imai has and it's brilliant. --Elizabeth Bird, A Fuse #8 Production, School Library Journal