I was born in Québec City, and went on to live in Ontario and British Columbia before my family decided to move back to Montréal. I did not start drawing until the age of seventeen. I studied graphic design at L’institut des Arts Graphiques in Montréal and animation at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts School. Later on, I studied illustration at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco.

I started my career as a cartoonist and then graduated to editorial illustration, illustrating for magazines such as: Saturday Night, Actualité, Châtelaine, Psychology Today and Mother Jones. I was also art director and production manager for La Courte Echelle, a children’s book publisher. For the last twenty-five years, I have mainly been writing, illustrating and creating only for children.

I have written and/or illustrated over sixty books for children, board books, picture books, chapter books, including: Rainy Day Magic, Lizzy’s Lion, Fat Charlie’s Circus, Yuck, A Love Story, the Stella and Sam books, Caramba and recently,with my husband David Homel , two novels, Travels with My Family and On the Road Again!. My books have been published in over twenty countries including the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Spain, Holland, Portugal, Brazil, Greece, Japan, Korea and very soon in China.
I have also designed clothes for children as well as many posters for Literacy or Book Festivals.I created sets for an animated film at the National Film Board: La Boîte, by Co Hoedman. I am the author of three puppet plays for children: Bonne Fête Willy, Qui a peur de Loulou? and most recently, Le Jardin de Babel. I have created the sets, puppets and costumes of these plays.

I taught illustration at the Université du Québec à Montréal for a number of years and continue to do readings and give workshops and conferences in schools and libraries across Canada, the United States, Mexico and in Europe.
I have been honored with awards for my work, such as: two Governor General’s Award, Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the E.B.White Award. I have been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2009. I live in Montréal.

EVOLUTION AND INFLUENCES
My earliest influences were Hergé who created Tintin, and Jean de Brunhoff who created Babar: funny, humourous, detailed and lively drawings. Then, for years, in my adolescence, I was mesmerised by the surrealistic, achingly funny, intellectuel and visual musings of the french bédéistes: F’Murr with his Génie des Alpages, Claire Brétécher and her Céllulite, Mandryka with his Concombre Masqué, Gotlib, Michel Folon. My sources of inspiration expanded as I attended different art schools in Montréal and San Francisco: I poured over Saul Steinberg’s and Ralph Steadman’s drawings; I discovered the quirky wonderful world of Edward Gorey, the inventiveness of André François, the bold designs of Toni Ungerer, the weird illustrations of Ian Pollock; I was influenced by painters who “illustrated”, who told a story: Fernando Botero, Edward Hopper, David Hockney. And as it became clear to me that writing and illustrating books for children were my main interest and passion, I was absorbing the perfect twinning of art and story in the humourous and lively illustrations of Tony Ross and Quentin Blake; the painstakingly detailed drawings by Chris Van Allsburg, the gentle, emotional, funny books illustrated by André Dahan,William Steig and Rosemary Wells; I admired the eastern europeans Helme Heine, Wolf Erlbruch, Lisbeth Zwerger, Henrik Drescher, Klaus Ensikat and Kveta Pacosvka. In Canada, I poured over Ken Nutt’s enchantingly detailed Zoom illustrations; I was inspired by Michèle Lemieux’s colours and light, and masterful drawing technique and Pierre Pratt’s quirky vision of the world. I was enthralled by the lovely energy and vivacity of Katy McDonald Denton’s children and animal characters. This list is far from exhaustive and the more I think about it, the more images float to my mind. All these artist’s works have become part of my visual memory and vocabulary. This is where I have found find part of my inspiration.