Making Friends With Feelings

For the first half of Keith Ruffner’s life, he lived a traditional lifestyle as a corporate executive. There were happy moments with his kids, but he didn’t know how to express those moments of happiness. In January 2020, with his children grown, he semi-retired to focus on creating a happy and fulfilled life. He volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate® (CASA) to help children who have experienced abuse or neglect, raised funds for BuildOn to help build a school in Nepal, and volunteered as an animal keeper aide for the Dallas Zoo.  His new lifestyle afforded him the opportunity to take a trip to Spain and walk a portion of the Camino de Santiago, meeting the most wonderful people along the way. He is an avid reader of Thích Nhất Hạnh and other compassionate thought leaders. The interpersonal connections he has experienced since semi-retirement encourage him to believe the human values displayed by the bunnies in this book can improve the world. 

Kate Gleyzer is a Ukrainian-born artist with over twenty years of experience as a professional illustrator. After graduating from The Kharkiv State School of Art, one of the oldest art educational establishments in Ukraine, she moved to Moscow. She began her career in 1990, working as a young and ambitious theater and set designer. In 1994, she received the award for the best set design at the First Festival of Municipal Theaters of Moscow Oblast. Soon after, she became interested in digital art, mastering graphic design, layout, and illustration. She has collaborated with several award-winning Russian publishers and illustrated Russian Fairy Tales, for Apricotbooks, a well-known Russian publisher focusing on children, middle-age and YA books. In January 2022 she moved to Israel with her family where she continues her passion of illustrating children’s books.