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Jeff Chiba Stearns

Goodreads Author

Born

Canada

Website

http://www.meditatingbunny.com

Genre

Children's, Graphic Novels, History

Member Since

June 2018

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Jeff Chiba Stearns is an Emmy® nominated and multi-award-winning animation and documentary filmmaker. He is also an accomplished illustrator and artist. After graduating from Emily Carr University with a degree in Film Animation, he founded the Vancouver-based production and publishing company Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. in 2001.

Jeff has directed and produced nine award-winning short animations and feature length documentaries including “What Are You Anyways?” (2005), Yellow Sticky Notes (2007), One Big Hapa Family (2010) and Mixed Match (2016). His work has broadcast around the world, screened at hundreds of international film festivals, and garnered dozens of awards.

Being yonsei, fourth generation Japanese Canadian, and having mixed Ja Jeff Chiba Stearns is an Emmy® nominated and multi-award-winning animation and documentary filmmaker. He is also an accomplished illustrator and artist. After graduating from Emily Carr University with a degree in Film Animation, he founded the Vancouver-based production and publishing company Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. in 2001.

Jeff has directed and produced nine award-winning short animations and feature length documentaries including “What Are You Anyways?” (2005), Yellow Sticky Notes (2007), One Big Hapa Family (2010) and Mixed Match (2016). His work has broadcast around the world, screened at hundreds of international film festivals, and garnered dozens of awards.

Being yonsei, fourth generation Japanese Canadian, and having mixed Japanese and European heritage, Jeff’s work often deals with themes of multiethnic identity. He coined the term “Hapanimation” to describe his distinctive blend of anime and manga influences with a North American cartoon aesthetic. Jeff is also the co-founder of Canada’s largest festival celebrating multiracial arts and culture, the Hapa-palooza Festival in Vancouver, BC.

In 2018, he wrote and illustrated his first picture book Mixed Critters, an ABC book inspired by his own children’s mixed Japanese backgrounds. His second children’s book, Nori and His Delicious Dreams (2020), follows a Japanese Canadian boy who dreams of sleeping on foods from around the world. In 2021, Jeff collaborated with sansei artist Lillian Michiko Blakey to create the bestselling graphic novel On Being Yukiko. Published by The National Coalition of Canadians Against Anti-Asian Racism (NCCAAR), Jeff released his second graphic novel Tomey: The Unyielding Spirit of Tomekichi Homma in 2025, chronicling the life of Japanese Canadian civil rights leader Tomekichi Homma.

In October 2026, Jeff will be releasing his third graphic novel, Ojiichan’s Dragon, a fantasy-based story that takes place during WWII in a Japanese Canadian internment camp.

Jeff has a Bachelor of Education from UBC and taught at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. As a speaker, Jeff has delivered hundreds of key notes, guest lectures, presentations and workshops at schools and universities across North America and around the world. In 2011, Jeff was awarded the Emily Award from the Emily Carr University for his outstanding achievements as an alumnus and that year was also awarded the Cultural Pioneer Award by Harvard University for his exploration of multi-ethnic identity in his work. The Vancouver Asian Film Festival awarded Jeff the Lifetime Diversity in Film Award in 2017 for his vast catalogue of films exploring multicultural themes and identity. ...more

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Jeff Chiba Stearns’s books

Average rating: 4.61 · 95 ratings · 33 reviews · 5 distinct works • Similar authors

	On Being Yukiko by Jeff Chiba Stearns (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator), Lillian Michiko Blakey (Illustrator) 4.57 avg rating — 70 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mixed Critters 4.69 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nori and His Delicious Dreams by Jeff Chiba Stearns (Goodreads Author), Jen Kato (Editor) 4.57 avg rating — 7 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ojiichan's Dragon it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tomey: The Unyielding Spirit of Tomekichi Homma by Jeff Chiba Stearns (Goodreads Author), Ally Adachi (Illustrator) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Jeff Stearns rated a book it was amazing Ojiichan's Dragon by Jeff Chiba Stearns (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 24, 2026 09:46PM · like