Michael Bedard (born June 26, 1949) is a Canadian children's writer. He was born and raised in

Toronto, Ontario 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 ...

, Canada. He graduated from 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 ...

in 1971 with a BA in philosophy and English. He began writing when his former high school teacher showed him works of

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...

and

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

. Bedard currently lives in Toronto with his wife Martha. He has four children and five grandchildren.

Works

* ''Woodsedge and Other Tales: A Gathering of Tales'' (Toronto: Gardenshore Press, 1979), stories * ''Pipe and Pearls'' (Gardenshore, 1980), stories * ''A Darker Magic'' (Atheneum, 1987) * ''The Lightning Bolt'', illustrated by Regolo Ricci (1989) * ''Redwork'' (Atheneum, 1990) * ''The Tinder Box'', illus. Ricci (1990) – retelling Hans Christian Andersen's "

The Tinderbox "The Tinderbox" ( da, Fyrtøjet) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a soldier who acquires a magic tinderbox capable of summoning three powerful dogs to do his bidding. When the soldier has one of the dogs transport a sle ...

" * ''The Nightingale'', illus. Ricci (1991) – retelling Andersen's "

The Nightingale The common nightingale is a songbird found in Eurasia. Nightingale may also refer to: Birds * Thrush nightingale, a songbird found in Eurasia * Red-billed leiothrix, a songbird of the Indian Subcontinent Literature * "Nightingale" (short sto ...

" * ''Emily'', illus.

Barbara Cooney Barbara Cooney (August 6, 1917 – March 10, 2000) was an American writer and illustrator of 110 children's books, published over sixty years. She received two Caldecott Medals for her work on ''Chanticleer and the Fox'' (1958) and '' Ox-Cart Ma ...

(1992) – biographical fiction, featuring

* ''Painted Devil'' (Atheneum, 1994) – sequel to ''A Darker Magic'' * ''Glass Town: The Secret World of the Brontë Children'', illus.

Laura Fernandez Laura Maria Fernandez (born 1960 on 20 May) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, music producer, artist, radio host, and real estate agent. Fernandez was born in Madrid, Spain. In 2003, she was named Best Soft Rock musician at the New York I ...

and Rick Jacobson (1997) – biographical, featuring the

Brontë family The Brontës () were a nineteenth-century literary family, born in the village of Thornton and later associated with the village of Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–1848) ...

* ''The Divide'', illus.

Emily Arnold McCully Emily Arnold McCully (born July 1, 1939) is an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's books. She won the annual Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration in 1993 recognizing ''Mirette on the High Wire'' which she ...

(1997) – biographical, featuring

Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including ''O Pioneers!'', '' The Song of the Lark'', and ''My Ántonia''. In 1923, ...

* ''The Clay Ladies'', illus. Les Tait (1999) * ''The Wolf of Gubbio'', illus. Murray Kimber (Stoddart Kids, 2000) – "based on a legend of St. Francis of Assisi", * ''Stained Glass'' (Tundra, 2001) * ''The Painted Wall and Other Strange Tales: Selected and Adapted from the Liao-Chai of Pu Sung-ling'' (Tundra, 2003) – retelling of ''Liaozhai Zhiyi'' (

Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio ''Liaozhai zhiyi'', sometimes shortened to ''Liaozhai'', known in English as ''Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'' or ''Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio'', is a collection of Classical Chinese stories by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling, ...

) by

Pu Songling Pu Songling (, 5 June 1640 – 25 February 1715) was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty, best known as the author of '' Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'' (''Liaozhai zhiyi''). Biography Pu was born into a poor merchant family from Z ...

* ''William Blake: The Gates of Paradise'' (2006) – biographical, featuring

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

* ''The Green Man'' (Tundra, 2012) – sequel to ''A Darker Magic''

''A Darker Magic''

Bedard's first novel, ''A Darker Magic'' (1987), is about an old teacher (Miss Potts) who discovers a handbill for a magic show which reminds her of the death of a friend from her childhood which she blames on the magic show. With the help of a student (Emily), they are able to prevent the show from happening. Dale Gale calls the work "rich in language and riveting in tone: it brims with a sense of foreboding that is sustained throughout" and a "well-crafted eerie novel that demands to be read again".

''Redwork''

Bedard's second novel, ''Redwork'' (1990), won the

Governor General's Literary Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

, the

Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award The Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award is a literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian children's book. The book must be written in English and published in Canada during the preceding year (and nominated by ...

and the IODE Violet Downey Book Award. According to Margaret A. Chang, the novel "falls short of the high standard set by

Margaret Mahy Margaret Mahy (21 March 1936 – 23 July 2012) was a New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. Many of her story plots have strong supernatural elements but her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growi ...

's ''Memory'', the consummate tale of interaction between young and old". Another reviewer said that Bedard was "working on a new level" and that "everything is described in detail and every point is made through dialogue".

''The Painted Devil''

''The Painted Devil'' is a sequel to ''A Darker Magic'', set in the same town of Caledon 28 years later. The story features Emily and her niece Alice.

''The Green Man''

''The Green Man'' is a sequel to ''A Darker Magic''. The story follows Emily's niece, Ophelia, as she battles the next generation of the same dangerous magic her Aunt Emily faced as a child. The publisher blurbed, "At once an exploration of poetry, a story of family relationships, and an intriguing mystery, ''The Green Man'' is Michael Bedard at his finest."

Awards and honors

''Redwork'' * Governor General's Literary Award, Canada, 1990 * Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Award for Children, 1991 * IODE Violet Downey Book Award, 1991 ''The Nightmare on main street by freddy krouger * IODE Children's Book Award, 1991 (Bedard and Regolo Ricci) ''The Clay Ladies'' * IODE Children's Book Award, 1999 (Bedard and Les Tait)"IODE Children's Book Award"
. ''Literary Awards in Canada, 1923–2000''. Litawards.library.mun.ca. Retrieved 2015-07-22. ''The Green Man'' * IODE Violet Downey Book Award, 2013
(homepage featuring 2014 and 2013 winners). IODE Canada (iode.ca). Archived 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2015-07-22.

References

External links

* *
LAC 0101H6833 (Michael John Bédard, born 1949)
– Library and Archives Canada data at

VIAF The Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) is an international authority file. It is a joint project of several national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). History Discussion about having a common ...

.org– "not the same person as author of ''

Sitting Ducks ''Sitting Ducks'' is a lithograph created by the poster artist Michael Bedard in 1977. It depicts a literal interpretation of the idiom "sitting duck". Three ducks are relaxing in the sun on white chairs by the poolside, one looks up and noti ...

'' (Windsor, Ontario-born Los Angeles poster artist) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedard, Michael 1949 births Canadian children's writers University of Toronto alumni Writers from Toronto Canadian male novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Living people 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers