Hi, I’m Bobbi! I’m an illustrator and designer, and I live in a little place I call Cat Cottage. Yes, it really exists—a tiny, ancient house tucked away in the countryside, not far from Lake Garda. Here I draw, run my small creative business, and open my doors to cats in need of a home. My love for animals started the moment I was born. According to my mom, my very first proper word was “Micio” (Italian for kitty). Looking back, it feels like fate—but at the time, nobody suspected how much those early words would shape my whole life. I rescued my first pets while I was still in elementary school. As a child, my world revolved around two things: animals and drawing. I could spend hours with pencils and scraps of paper, illustrating the stories in my head. My mom worked in publishing and often brought home beautifully illustrated books. That’s how I discovered the worlds of Beatrix Potter and Tasha Tudor—and realised that telling stories through drawings could be a way of life. Books and comics soon sparked a passion for words as well. I devoured novels far beyond my age: Born Free, Life with Bears, the works of Jack London, Anne of Green Gables, and of…