Cai Gao (Chinese: è¡çÂÂ; born 1946) is a Chinese childrenâÂÂs book illustrator, author and editor. She was the first Chinese illustrator to win the Golden Apple Award at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava and has twice been shortlisted for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.
Born in Changsha, Hunan province, she grew up in a threeâÂÂgeneration household as the eldest of five sisters, an upbringing that strongly influenced the family warmth and folk culture in her later work. After nearly twelve years teaching in a rural village in Hunan, she began contributing illustrations and covers to childrenâÂÂs magazines and published her first awardâÂÂwinning book âÂÂThe Beautiful Gardenâ in 1980. In 1982 she joined Hunan ChildrenâÂÂs Publishing House as an editor, while continuing to illustrate. She became an important advocate for original Chinese picture books at a time when translated titles dominated the market.
Cai is best known for picture books that adapt Chinese folklore and classical literature, including âÂÂBaoâÂÂer, The Fox Spirit in the Abandoned GardenâÂÂ, âÂÂThe Story of Peach Blossom SpringâÂÂ, and collections of folk tales from China, Korea, and Japan. Her illustrations draw on classical Chinese ink painting, folk art motifs, and impressionistic color to depict rural life, traditional festivals, and the relationship between humans and nature.
Cai has also illustrated and edited numerous other picture books.<br>