Suharu Ogawa was born in Japan, worked in California as an art librarian then moved to Canada in 2011. She is an illustrator and an assistant professor at OCAD University in Toronto.
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Oto and the Little Yellow Train
Toronto: Annick Press, 2026.
forthcoming in Oct. 2026
Publisher’s Synopsis
Oto is on her way home back to the city from the best summer in the Japanese countryside with her Obah-chan. She knows that summer has to come to an end, but maybe on this train ride, she can make her memories last a little longer.
For fans of My Neighbor Totoro and Last Stop on Market Street, this timeless story features hand-painted illustrations and offers a beautiful take on the perennial theme of endings and new beginnings and the complicated nature of living far away from those we love. Readers will be swept along by the lyrical cadence of the train’s rhythm, and follow Oto as she and Obah-chan make their journey from the Japanese countryside into the city to say goodbye for another season.