At the age of five, he was given the Jardim Jaleco record and was never the same again.

It was around this time that he began climbing onto his father's bookshelf to read all the comic books he could find.
At the age of 10, he knocked over an old lady while riding his yellow bicycle, and this memory, along with his remorse and guilt, never left him.

At the age of 16, he met Isabel and Madalena, who introduced him to the vicissitudes of intellectual life.

At 17, psychometric tests indicated ‘92% outdoor air’. 

At 19, he enrolled in the Communication Design Course at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon. At a certain point, he decided to leave (the psychometric tests were right).

Around that time, he took a drawing course at the Society of Fine Arts.
At the age of 22, he delivered pies to cafés in a van. Anyone who knows him will have no difficulty guessing the reason for his dismissal (‘crushing and theft of pies’ was stated in the file). That is how he began his career as a designer.

In 1999, he founded Planeta Tangerina.

Since then, it has won several awards: 
BolognaRagazzi Awards (Non-fiction, 2019 / Opera Prima, 2015); Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize (Germany, 2017); Honourable Mention in the Leipzig Foundation's ‘Best Book Design From All Over the World’; “Best Illustrated Album” at Deutscher Jungendliteraturpreis (2017), “Best Edited Book” at CJ Picture Book Festival in Korea; National Illustration Award 2009 and 2020; “Best Book” Banco del Libro (Venezuela); Nomination for the IBBY Honour List.

Her books are published in more than 25 countries.