Kady MacDonald Denton (born 22 July 1941) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

creator of

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

, primarily an illustrator of

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

. She observed in 2011 that "I'm in that quickly-shrinking group of illustrators who doesn’t use a computer at any stage in the illustration process."

Life

Denton was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. She studied at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, the

Banff School of Fine Arts Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

, and the

Chelsea School of Art Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher educat ...

. She and her husband live in

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

Career

Early in the 1990s Denton illustrated three Kingfisher collections of retellings by

Ann Pilling Ann Pilling (born 17 October 1944) is an English author and poet best known for young adult fiction. She has also written horror fiction under the pen name Ann Cheetham. For 'Henry's Leg', published by Viking Kestrel in 1985, she won the annual ...

, which have been reissued. For another Kingfisher collection several years later, ''A Child's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes'', she won the 1998 Governor General's Award for English language children's illustration, and also the 1999

Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award was presented annually by the Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliothèques (CLA) to an outstanding illustrator of a new Canadian children's book. The book must be "suita ...

and

Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award The Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award is an annual literary award for children's picture illustrators. It was established in 1985 following the death of Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver, one of Canada Canada is a country in N ...

s. (1986–2008).

IBBY Canada IBBY Canada is the Canadian National Section of the International Board on Books for Young People, a non-profit organization which represents an international network of people who are committed to bringing children and books together. The mission ...

(ibby-canada.org). Archived 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2014-07-15. Previously, she had won the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon award for Til All the Stars Have Fallen: Canadian Poems for Children'', edited by David Booth. She won the Mrazik-Cleaver award again in 2006 for ''Snow'', written by

Joan Clark Joan Clark BA, D.Litt. (hon.) (née MacDonald) (born 12 October 1934) is a Canadian fiction author. Born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Clark spent her youth in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. She attended Acadia University for its drama progr ...

.. Release 4 March 2007. IBBY Canada (ibby-canada.org). Archived 2010-03-07. Retrieved 2014-07-15. The

Children's Literature Association The Children's Literature Association (ChLA) is a non-profit association, based in the United States, of scholars, critics, professors, students, librarians, teachers, and institutions dedicated to studying children's literature.Margaret W. Denman- ...

named ''Would They Love a Lion?'' (Kingfisher, 1995), which Denton both wrote and illustrated, as an Honor Winner of the 2015 Phoenix Picture Book Award, which annually recognises a picture book with lasting value that did not win a major award 20 years earlier. "Books are considered not only for the quality of their illustrations, but for the way pictures and text work together.""Phoenix Picture Book Award"
. Children's Literature Association. Retrieved 2014-07-20.

Selected works

As illustrator

* ''What Are You Doing, Benny?'' by

Cary Fagan Cary Fagan (born 1957) is a Canadian writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. His novel, ''The Student,'' was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award and the Governor General's Literary Award. Previously a short-story collection, ''My ...

(Tundra, 2019) *The ''Bear and Mouse'' series by Bonny Becker (Candlewick) **''A Christmas for Bear'' (Sep 2017), **''A Library Book for Bear'' (Jul 2014), **''A Birthday for Bear'' (Sep 2012), **''The Sniffles for Bear'' (Sep 2011), **''A Bedtime for Bear'' (Sep 2010), **''A Visitor for Bear'' (Feb 2008), *''The Good-Pie Party'', by Liz Gartlon Scanlon (Arthur A. Levine, Mar 2014), *''The Queen of France'', by Tim Wadham, (Candlewick, Mar 2011), *''You're Mean, Lily Jean!'', by Frieda Wishinsky (North Winds, Sep 2009) *''A Sea-Wishing Day'', by Robert Heidbreder *''Snow'', by Joan Clark *''A Second Is a Hiccup: A Child's Book of Time'', by Hazel Hutchins *''I Gave My Mom a Castle'', by Jean Little *''Amber Waiting'', by Nan Gregory *''Elephant Child'', by Mary Ellis *''In the Light of the Moon and Other Bedtime Stories'', by Sam McBratney *''Two Homes'', by Clare Masurel *''I Wished for a Unicorn,'' by Robert Heidbreder *''The Arctic Fox'', by Mary Ellis *''If I Were Your Father'', by Margaret Park Bridges *''If I Were Your Mother'', by Margaret Park Bridges *''The Umbrella Party'', by Janet Lunn *''Toes Are to Tickle'', by Shen Roddie *''The Kingfisher Children's Bible: Stories from the Old and New Testaments'', retold by Ann Pilling *''Realms of Gold: Myths and Legends from Around the World'', by Ann Pilling *''Jenny and Bob'', by David Wynn Millward *''The Travelling Musicians'', retold by P.K. Page *''Before I Go to Sleep: Bible Stories, Poems and Prayers for Children'', selected and retold by Ann Pilling *''The Story of Little Quack'', by Betty Gibson *Til All the Stars Have Fallen: Canadian Poems for Children'', selected by David Booth *The ''Ned'' series by Pam Zinneman-Hope **''Find Your Coat, Ned'' **''Let's Play Ball, Ned'' **''Let's Go Shopping, Ned'' **''Time for Bed, Ned''

As author and illustrator

*''A Child's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes'' (1998) *''Watch Out, William!'' (1996) *''Would They Love a Lion?'' (1995) *''The Christmas Boot'' (1990) *''Janet's Horses'' (1990) *''Dorothy's Dream'' (1989) *''Granny Is a Darling'' (1988) *''The Picnic'' (1988)

Notes

References

External links

*
Kady MacDonald Denton
at

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

, Kingfisher imprint * {{DEFAULTSORT:Denton, Kady Macdonald 1941 births Artists from Winnipeg Canadian children's book illustrators Canadian children's writers Governor General's Award-winning children's illustrators Living people Canadian women artists Canadian women children's writers Writers from Winnipeg