A World of Mindfulness

Erin Alladin is the Associate Editor at Pajama Press. Suzanne Del Rizzo has always loved getting her hands messy. She traded her job in scientific research for a career in children’s illustration, using Plasticine, polymer clay, and other mixed media to bring rich texture and imagination to her books. Her picture book My Beautiful Birds was a New York Times selection and won the Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children's Literature and the SCWBI Crystal Kite Award, among many other honours. Suzanne lives in Oakville, Ontario. Author/Illustrator Rebecca Bender is best known for her award-winning Giraffe And Bird books. Her illustrations also grace Slug Days, Penguin Days, and Peach Girl. Rebecca graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design with the medal for illustration and is now an art director and designer. She lives in Burlington, Ontario, with her husband and three children. Gabrielle Grimard transformed her love of design into a career in illustration over the course of her studies at Concordia University and the University of Quebec. In 2018, Gabrielle’s picture book Stolen Words won the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award and was a finalist for the TD Canadian Children’s Book Award. Not My Girl was a USBBY Outstanding International Book. Her creativity has been applied to children’s publishing, advertising, and educational contexts. A folk artist and award-winning illustrator who trained at the Ontario College of Art and Design, Tara Anderson is known for her lively and humorous illustrations of animals. Her books include the illustrated novels Harvey Comes Home, Harvey Holds His Own, and Sapphire the Great and the Meaning of Life, the holiday picture books Pumpkin Orange, Pumpkin Round and Easter Morning, Easter Sun, and the award-winning Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That. Tara shares a farmhouse in Tweed, Ontario, with her husband, her young daughter, and several cats. François Thisdale’s work blends traditional drawing and painting with digital imagery. He is the illustrator of The Stamp Collector, which is on IBBY Honor List, and That Squeak, an honour book for the IBBY Canada Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Picture Book Award. Missing Nimama won the TD Canadian Children's Book Award. François lives in Montreal, Quebec. Scot Ritchie is an award-winning illustrator and author with more than 60 books to his credit. His books have been translated into French, Korean, Indonesian, Polish, Finnish, Arabic and Dutch. Scot has worked with the National Film Board of Canada and has had his illustrations exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Miki Sato is a Japanese-Canadian illustrator who uses a variety of different textures and materials to create three-dimensional images. Originally from Ottawa, she moved to Toronto to complete her degree in illustration from the Ontario College of Art and Design. Her picture books include Golden Threads written by Suzanne Del Rizzo and Snow Days and Sunny Days written by Deborah Kerbel. Tamara Campeau works digitally, using strong lighting and vibrant colour palettes to bring stories to life in her painterly illustrations. She loves creating endearing characters with a strong sense of personality and emotions, taking inspiration from wildlife, children, and the environments they reside in. When she’s not at her desk, Tamara can be found breaking a sweat at the local gym or exploring nature around Montreal, QC with her standard poodle, Peanut. Emma Pedersen is an illustrator and concept artist with a love for visual storytelling and character design. With BFAs from the Ontario College of Art and Design in drawing and painting, and from Sheridan College in illustration, Emma specializes in children’s illustration. Her first picture book is Queenie Quail Can’t Keep Up (2019). Emma lives in Toronto, Ontario, with her partner and a beloved, and smelly, little dog. Carmen Mok is an illustrator who received her formal training from the University of Waterloo and Sheridan College. Her books include Waiting for Sophie, Violet Shrink, Cone Cat, and Grandmother's Visit. Numerous magazines, including Today's Parent and Owl Kids, have also published her work. Carmen lives in Niagara Region, Ontario. A child of newcomers, Aino Anto grew up one of four rambunctious kids in a big city, with summers spent exploring forest paths. Aino graduated from the University of Toronto and earned an associate’s diploma from the Ontario College of Art, now the Ontario College of Art and Design. Aino’s first picture book is The Moon Watched It All. She lives in a leafy corner of Toronto and still treasures her earliest notebook of stories. Sue Macartney's creative style as an author-illustrator has been shaped by life on four continents and work as a graphic designer and children's art educator. She has a deep love of nature and lives in Victoria, British Columbia with her husband and a backyard full of birds. Amélie Dubois is an artist living in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. She has worked as an artist for almost two decades in the domains of animation and visual effects. Her knowledge in the field led her to work as a visual effects artist in various post-production studios for television and film. Today Amélie is devoted to illustration. When she isn’t drawing she can be found walking her dog or playing guitar and signing songs. Andrea Blinick is an artist and an art educator with a passion for children’s literature. After graduating from the Ontario College of Art and Design with an illustration diploma, she went on to receive a Bachelor of Design through OCAD in conjunction with Thompson Rivers University and then pursued a Bachelor of Education at York University. Her first picture book, Outside, You Notice (2021), earned a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. Andrea lives in Toronto with her husband and two daughters, who often inspire the storytelling behind her art. She enjoys music, writing, comedy, travel, and making a mess on her art table.