Hélène Desputeaux (; born July 10, 1959) is a Canadian educator, writer and illustrator from

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. With writer

Christine L'Heureux Christine L'Heureux () is a Canadian educator, author, and publisher who, with illustrator Hélène Desputeaux, created ''Caillou'', a successful series of children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and pubert ...

, she created and illustrated the character

Caillou ''Caillou'' ( ; , stylized in lowercase) is an animated educational children's television series that aired on Teletoon (both English and French versions) with the first episode airing on the former channel on September 15, 1997 until the fou ...

, who has appeared in a series of children's books and a television series.

Career

Desputeaux has produced more than 100 children's books. In 1995, she received the Médaille Raymond-Blais for her body of work. Desputeaux and the publisher Éditions Chouette went to court to resolve a dispute over the ownership of the Caillou character. A Quebec arbitrator found that the character was jointly owned. This decision was reversed by the

Quebec Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal of Quebec (sometimes referred to as Quebec Court of Appeal or QCA; ) is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada. It hears cases in Quebec City and Montreal. History The court was created on May 30, 1849, as the Court ...

, which found that the arbitrator could not rule on the question of copyright, but the appeal court's ruling was overturned by the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

Selected works

* ''The Emperor's New Clothes'' (1984), text by

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

* ''Purple, Green, and Yellow'' (1992), text by Robert Munsch * ''Caillou, la petite soeur'' and ''Caillou, le petit pot'', text by Joceline Sanschagrin; received the Mr. Christie's Book Award in 1993 * ''Where is Gah-Ning?'' (1994), text by Robert Munsch

Personal life

Desputeaux married children's author Michel Aubin; they have two daughters.

web site

https://www.desputeauxaubin.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desputeaux, Helene 1959 births Artists from Quebec City Canadian children's book illustrators Canadian women children's book illustrators Canadian educators Canadian women educators Living people Writers from Quebec City Université Laval alumni