Raymond Nakamura

Raymond Nakamura grew up in Toronto and studied zoology and Japanese at the University of Toronto.  He completed an M.Sc. in marine ecology from Kyushu University, Japan in 1988.  His Ph.D. dissertation in zoology at the University of Toronto is entitled A Current Affair: The Role of Hydrodynamics in the Ecology and Evolution of the Pacific Sand Dollar, Dendraster Excentricus (Eschscholtz) (Clypeasteroida: Scutellina).  Nakamura worked as an educator at the Vancouver Aquarium and then as an educational curator at Science World, B.C.   He now works as a freelance educational consultant, writer, and cartoonist based in Vancouver, B.C.

Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)

Peach Girl

Story by Raymond Nakamura, illustrations by Rebecca Bender.
Toronto: Pajama Press, 2014.
PZ8.1 .N343 P43 2014

Publisher’s Synopsis (from its website)

When the farmer and her husband find a giant peach at their door, they can’t imagine how it got there. But they are even more surprised when the skin bursts open and out leaps… a girl.

Feisty Momoko declares that she is here to make the world a better place, and what better way to start than by investigating the rumours about a fearsome local ogre? Everyone says the ogre is taller than a tree, has teeth like knives, shoots flames from his eyes, and eats small children. The villagers won’t go near him. But Momoko wants to find out for herself, and her new friends Monkey, Dog, and Pheasant might just be able to help her—as long as she’s willing to share those tasty peach dumplings.

Awards and Honours

2014 First & Best selection — Toronto Public Library

Links

Publisher Pajama Press

Raymond Nakamura personal website