The Little Team

  • Rebecca Juetten
    朱婷 (Zhū Tíng)

    Founder and Author
    aka THE Little Crab

    Perpetual student, compulsive teacher, idea machine

  • Lisa Zak

    Layout/Graphic Designer, Illustrator, and Professional Sounding Board

    Highly productive procrastinator, predominantly left-handed

  • Zhang Xianjing
    张娴静 (Zhāng Xiánjìng)

    Consulting Editor and Author

    Highly educated bilingual thriver

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Rebecca's Full Bio

I am a lifelong teacher (like, my sister and I used to play “school” as kids, and I was always the teacher, then I grew up and went to university to become a teacher and worked as a CELTA certified ESL teacher and private tutor). I am also a perpetual student of Mandarin (taking my first classes in high school, getting my degree in Pacific and Asian Studies, China Concentration at university, and studying independently ever since). I wrote and self-published our flagship Mandarin/English children’s storybook, Little Byron (小白任), as a means of maintining my Mandarin.

Lisa's Full Bio

From a childhood spent making our own magazines and measuring and sketching plans for my bedroom; to teenage years spent posing for, capturing, and self-taught-digital-editing photographs; to a first career in young adulthood in interior design, creativity was always in the cards for me. I design all of our company visuals, curate our social media, handle the back-end for everything related to our website, layout and assemble the files for our print-on-demand books and our digital products, dabble in illustration for said products, and act as a professional sounding board for Rebecca’s unbridled ideas.

Xianjing's Full Bio

I was born and raised in a small village in the southeast of China and came to Canada as an international student where I received my second Master of Arts degree in International and Intercultural Communication, becoming even more passionate about intercultural competence and equity, diversity and inclusion. I joined the Little Crab team as an author (Vegetables! 蔬菜! published December 2023) and consulting editor in early 2022 because our team shares a passion for promoting diversity and inclusion through the production of completely original bilingual learning materials and stories.

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Mikaila's Full Bio

Mikaila graduated in 2005 with an MFA in painting, and then left for Ireland, where she painted murals, nannied, and rode her bike through the countryside. She moved back to the US and, in 2008, began her illustration career. She has illustrated several children’s books, is a regular cartoonist for iPhoneLife Magazine, and continues creating her own art.

Mikaila’s artistic and professional experience includes:
• illustrations for published children’s books
• illustrations for marketing and advertising
• commissions for families looking to preserve precious memories as illustrated works of art
• murals for commercial and private clients
• cartoons for online and print magazines
• logos, packaging, and product designs
• professor of art at Maharishi University of Management

Visit www.mikailamaidment.com to see more of her amazing work and inquire about commissions.

Matt's Full Bio

Ever since Matt was able to pick up a crayon, he’s been creating art and exploring the fun and exciting realms of imagination! In 2003 he attended the Art Institute of Vancouver where he not only graduated the Digital Animation Masters Program, but also met his future wife Andrea. Together they live in North Vancouver with their two littles (and golden retriever Beau) and somehow still manage to create art of all kinds on a daily basis.

If you are interested in working with Matt or commissioning work from him, email him with your inquiry. And - coming soon - Matt is starting up an Instagram account showcasing his art!

Jayme's Full Bio

Jayme's bio is coming soon. In the meantime...

You can check out his most recent creative production on his YouTube channel.