MAKI SAITO is an artist and author known for her unique artistic methods using paper collage, stenciled paintings, and bin-gata, a traditional Japanese dyeing technique developed in Okinawa. She has written and illustrated several books in Japanese, inspired by her love for all living creatures in nature. Animals Brag About Their Bottoms is her first book translated into English.

“Kids just love reading about bottoms, ha!… sure to get lots of laughs from kids, but it also makes a good guessing game and a way for young kids to learn animal names."—Book Riot“Kids will enjoy the animals, and their caregivers will be grateful for the elegant text with great adjectives.... [This book] will definitely find an audience with toddlers obsessed with their bottoms! And caregivers who want to start early with body positivity will be thrilled."—Youth Services Book Review, STARRED Review“The text is light, conversational, and funny; and the painterly patoots are lovely in their texture and shading…. By the end (ha!) we’ve learned a little about these remarkable creatures.”—The Horn Book“This humorous title delivers just what it promises: fauna fawning over their own rumps. ...In Saito’s delicate renderings, each bottom is distinct and, yes, beautiful.”—Kirkus Reviews“From a cuddly round bunny bottom to a hippo’s “so-o-o big” bum, Saito celebrates animal behinds in all their forms...there’s not a trace of self-consciousness in this jaunty, no-nonsense exhibition of animal posteriors.”—Publishers Weekly“With the frisson of the forbidden, it focuses on animals’ amazingly stylish rear-ends—from fluffy to striped to spiky, with humorous charm and elegant illustrations.”—Toronto Star