Valeri Gorbachev Valeri Gorbachev moved to the United States from his native Ukraine in 1991. He has illustrated more than fifty children's books, half of which he also wrote, including Me Too!; Nicky and the Big, Bad Wolves; That's What Friends Are For; and Turtle's Penguin Day. His books have been translated into many languages, and he has participated in numerous exhibitions of children's book illustrations in the United States, the former Soviet Union, and Europe. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.