About the Author

Kirsten Hunter is a clinical psychologist and has had the great fortune of having worked with child clients for 21 years. It is an absolute honour that children let her into their worlds to hear their struggles and their confusion. Helping them and preventing their problems from continuing to haunt them into their future is the most meaningful job that you could imagine. Beautiful Squish represents these thousands of children who have shared their world with her, and now hopefully Squish can relate to and help thousands more. On a personal side, her husband and Kirsten are so fortunate to have five sons of our own. Children are just awesome creatures, let's listen to them and learn from them. Emma is an Australian-born artist from Toowoomba. Ever since she was little, she's loved to draw. It's been her escape from how overwhelming the world can be - and having grown up with autism, that escape has been vital. It has always been her dream to share her art with the world, and these books are my first step. She loves working with pencil and paper, with some digital work as well. As a child she only worked in black and white, she is now learning that it's okay to use a bit of colour! These illustrations connect with her experiences growing up. She hopes to connect with you through each picture.