Eugenie Fernandes — Author/Illustrator

Biography

My world is yellow and blue and green. I grew up on the beach. I painted with my father — comic-book illustrator Creig Flessel. We made up stories sitting on the front porch. Birds flew down from the sky and sat on my shoulder. Cats purred. Frogs hopped. I have always lived on islands …a house on Long Island, an apartment on Manhattan Island, a thatch hut on an island in the middle of the South Pacific, and now … I live and work in a little house … on a little island … in a little lake in southern Ontario. Summer and winter …starting at the crack of dawn, I paint every day. Sometimes, I write stories. Sometimes, I sell the stories. Then I paint again … I paint my stories … I paint other people’s stories. Sometimes, I paint paintings for myself … abstract paintings … big … free … Sunshine fills my studio.I am surrounded by water and birds and trees.My world is yellow and blue and green. Eugenie graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1965. Her paintings from Earth Magic and One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference are at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art.

Awards

Earth Magic

2007 - Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award, Short-listed
2007 - Golden Oak Award, Short-listed
2006 - Governor General’s Literary Award, Children’s Illustration, Canada Council for the Arts, Short-listed

Kitten’s Autumn

2013 - Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Winner
2011 - Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Winner

Kitten’s Spring

2012 - Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Winner
2011 - Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Winner

Kitten’s Summer

2013 - Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Winner
2012 - Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Winner

Kitten’s Winter

2012 - Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Winner

Mimi’s Village

2013 - Red Cedar Award, BC Young Reader’s Choice, Short-listed
2013 - Hackmatack’s Children’s Choice Book Award, Short-listed
2013 - Best Books for Kids & Teens, Starred Selection, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Winner
2013 - Best Children’s Books of the Year, Bank Street Children’s Book Committee, Winner

One Hen

2010 - Alberta Children’s Choice Rocky Mountain Book Award, Short-listed
2010 - Golden Oak Award, Ontario Library Association, Winner
2009 - Outstanding International Book, USBBY, Winner
2009 - Norma Fleck Award, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Short-listed
2009 - Silver Birch Award, Ontario Library Association, Short-listed
2009 - Notable Book for a Global Society, International Reading Association, Winner
2009 - Children’s Africana Book Award, African Studies Association, Winner
2009 - Children’s Choices, International Reading Association, Winner
2009 - Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Winner
2009 - Best Bet for Children and Teens, Ontario Library Association, Winner
2008 - Skipping Stones Honor Award, Winner
2008 - Massachusetts Book Award, Winner