When Monika Aichele is not teaching at Mainz University of Applied Sciences or designing gigantic, inflatable monkey sculptures, she creates whimsical illustrations with a life of their own. The award-winning illustrator and designer studied at the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts, lived in New York, Barcelona and Berlin and is now based in Munich. In addition to books, Monika also illustrates for magazines and newspapers such as the New York Times and the Süddeutsche Zeitung.