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Le bonnet magique Wins the Trillium Award For Children’s Books

Last week, at a very glamourous and well attended ceremony in Toronto, my picture book Le bonnet magique won the Prix Trillium du livre jeunesse (Trillium Award for Children’s Books). What an incredible honour to receive this prize!

2025 marks my 25th year as an author and Le Bonnet magique/The Magic Cap is my 30th (ish!) children’s book. Needless to say that I had been dreaming of being selected for this award for a long time.

2025 also marks the first time that a picture book wins this award since the category covers ALL children’s books aimed at readers 0 to 18 years old. This year’s finalists in my category included Michèle Laframboise with her sci-fi novel Rose du désert and playwrite Eudes La Roche-Francoeur with Le Roi Poubelle, an environmental-themed play for middle graders.

Le bonnet magique/The Magic Cap is a story of hope, friendship, and magic. And that is exactly what I felt in that room as I addressed the assembled crowd of book lovers, writers and publishers attending the ceremony at the Toronto Reference Library.

By awarding my picture book this award, the jury confirmed the importance of magic, hope and gentleness in children’s litterature as a salve to the harshness of everyday life.

Winning the Trillium award motivates me to keep creating stories for kids for years to come.

I would like to thank the team at Ontario Créatif/Ontario Creates and the members of the jury for their hard work showcasing our local creators.

Lastly, I would also like to thank my editor, Nadie Robert at Comme des géants and the illustrator of Le bonnet magic, Charlotte Parent, without whom this book would not exist.

Here are a few pictures of the wonderful event – a night which will stay etched in my memory for a long time.

Thank you and long life to children’s books!

Another nomination for The Magic Cap!

More good news! El barret màgic, the Catalàn version of The Magic Cap, has been nominated for the XXVI Premi Llibreter (the Librarians’ Award) in the picture book category.
Thank you to the team at Flamboyant for taking out little gnomes under their wing. I love it when my words travel the world.

 

Le Bonnet magique is a Finalist for the French Trillium Children’s Book Award!

Good news! Le Bonnet magique (The Magic Cap) has been nominated for the french Trillium Children’s Book Award! It is a great honour to be nominated with such talented authors and varied stories.

Since 1987, the Trillium Book Award / Prix Trillium encourages excellence in literature by investing in writers from Ontario. Past winners include Margaret Atwood, Timothy Findley and Michael Ondaatje. This year, I have the pleasure of being nominated at the same time and in the same category as sci-fi writer Michèle Laframboise and playwright Eudes La Roche-Francoeur.

⏰ Winners will be announced live in Toronto on June 18th! 

To learn more about the other finalists, click on the picyure bellow. Bonne chance à tous!  

Something New Just Arrived!

Look what just arrived. It’s my new picture book, Nevin Knows! Isn’t it beautiful?

I got the inspiration for Nevin Knows during the pandemic. Everyday as I sat at my desk trying to write, I watched my neighbour (actually called Frank, like in the book) take his grandson to the park. They went everyday – rain or shine. The routine of it was soothing during a time when the world was particularly chaotic. It radiated love. I wanted to capture that and put it in a book.

I hope Nevin Knows will bring you as much joy as it has brought me.

Nevin Knows will be in bookstores February 11th 2025. It is also available in French.

No Horses in the House Colouring Pages

Look what just dropped!
New No Horses in the House colouring pages are now available!
Free to use, share and enjoy! Thank you, Anna Bron!

2024-25 School Year – Limited Availability for In-Person Visits

This upcoming school year I will have much less availability for in-person school visits in the GTA. I have a handful of dates in early Decemebr, late January/early February and late March. If you are interested, please contact me soon as spots are going fast.

If virtual visits are a viable option for your school, my schedule will accomodate those much more easily. And, they are a more buget-friendly alternative. Just sayin’… 😉

Click here for more information about my presentations.

Don’t hesiate to contact me if you have any questions or to book one of the rare spots left for in-person presentations.

 

Thrilled To Be A Part of This Beautiful Initiative!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Toronto (June 19, 2024)—The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) is pleased to announce the selection for the 2024 TD Grade One Book Giveaway. Violet Shrink, written by Christine Baldacchino, illustrated by Carmen Mok and published by Groundwood Books, will be distributed to approximately 500,000 Grade 1 students across Canada this fall. Translated into French by Mireille Messier, francophone Canadians and French immersion students will receive copies of the French translation, Violette Cent-Soucis.

Through the generous support of TD Bank Group, the CCBC is thrilled to deliver—for the twenty-fifth year—the gift of a Canadian picture book to every Grade 1 student across Canada. Books are taken home by each child to keep and to read and re-read with their caregivers. The impact of the TD Grade One Book Giveaway is undeniable, with 12.5 million books given to Grade 1 students across Canada since 2000. In a survey after last year’s giveaway, 96% of Grade 1 educators felt that this program allows students to feel included and demonstrates that books and reading are important!