Marie-Louise Gay (born June 17, 1952) is a Canadian children's writer and illustrator. She has received numerous awards for her written and illustrated works in both French and English, including the 2005 Vicky Metcalf Award, multiple Governor General's Awards, and multiple Janet Savage Blachford Prizes, among others.

Biography

Gay was born in Quebec City and lived in Montreal and Vancouver as a child. Gay lives in Montreal. Gay co-wrote two longer books with her husband, Montreal novelist and translator David Homel, which included her black-and-white illustrations: Travels With My Family (2006) and On the Road Again! (2008). At the time, she said, "For the last twenty-five years, I have mainly been writing, illustrating and creating only for children." Gay's books received renewed attention after a public school library system in Alabama mistakenly flagged Read Me A Story, Stella as potentially inappropriate for children, because of her surname.

Awards and honours

In 2013, Canada Post released a series of stamps featuring Gay's character Stella.

Publications

Stella and Sam series

Gay's Stella and Sam books have been published in more than twelve languages. They spawned a 52-episode cartoon series in 2013 that aired on Sprout and Family Junior.

Stella series

Sam series

Sam is Stella's younger brother

Travels with My Family series

The Travels with My Family series was co-written with David Homel.

Standalone books authored

Books illustrated only