Louise-Andrée Laliberté (1958–) Biography

Born 1958, in Québec City, Québec, Canada; Education: Laval University, B.A. (visual arts), 1982, teaching certificate, 1983. Hobbies and other interests: Swimming, skiing, writing, reading, talking, sleeping, non-commercial music, non-commercial movies, "I love wind, sun, rain, snow, heat, freezing cold, storms, ice storms … birds, dogs, trees, wild flowers, water, rivers, oceans, friends and people … hate stinging insects. November, contempt, injustice … Idols: Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Don Quixote, and Santa Claus for their integrity, their optimism, and their ingenuousness."

Career

Illustrator and graphic designer, beginning 1980s. College teacher and art specialist in secondary schools. Performer in school and library visits. Exhibitions: Has exhibited painting and photography at galleries, including Galerie Magella-Paradis, Québec City.

Member

Association des illustrateurs et illustratrices du Québec, Communication-Jeunesse, Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec.

Honors Awards

Salon de l'illustracion québecoise jury selection, 1990, for editorial illustration; Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in Communication Gold Prize for book illustration, 1997; Biennale de l'illustration québecoise jury selection, 2003, for book cover; Resource Links Year's Best designation, 2004, Edmonton Public Library Best of the Best Book list inclusion, 2005, and Chocolate Lily Book Award nomination, 2005–06, all for Mormor Moves In by Susin Nielsen-Ferlund; Mr. Christie Book Award Silver Seal, and Resource Links Year's Best distinction, both 2004, and Blue Spruce Award nominee, Kentucky Bluegrass Award nominee, and Chocolate Lily Book Award nominee, all 2004–05, all for Hank and Fergus by Nielsen-Ferlund; Young Readers Choice, Communication-Jeunesse awards, 2004–05, for Vendredi 13 by Gilles Tibo; Edmonton Public Library Best of the Best Booklist, Shining Willow Award nomination, and Canadian Toy Council Great Book Award, all 2005, all for A Noodle up Your Nose by Frieda Wishinsky.

Illustrator

M.C. Hall, Whitney's New Puppy, CTW (New York, NY), 1998.

Frieda Wishinsky, A Noodle up Your Nose, Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2003.

Susin Nielsen-Fernlund, Hank and Fergus, Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2003.

Danielle Simard, Dans le coeur de mon grand-père, Édi-tions du Renouveau pédagogique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 2003.

Frieda Wishinsky, A Bee in Your Ear, Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2004.

Susin Nielsen-Fernlund, Mormor Moves In, Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2004.

Frieda Wishinsky, Dimples Delight, Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2005.

ILLUSTRATOR; "LA BANDE DES CINQ CONTINENTS" SERIES

Camille Bouchard, La mèche blanche, Soulières (Saint-Lambert, Québec, Canada), 2005.

Camille Bouchard, Le monstre de la Côte-Nord, Soulières (Saint-Lambert, Québec, Canada), 2006.

Camille Bouchard, L'etrange M. Singh, Soulières (Saint-Lambert, Québec, Canada), 2006.

Camille Bouchard, Les vampires des montagnes, Soulières (Saint-Lambert, Québec, Canada), 2007.

ILLUSTRATOR; "NOÉMIE" SERIES

Gilles Tibo, Le secret de Madame Lumbago, Québec-Amérique (Boucherville, Québec, Canada), 1996, translated as Naomi and Mrs Lumbago, Tundra Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Gilles Tibo, L'incroyable journée, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 1996.

Gilles Tibo, La clé de l'énigme, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 1997.

Gilles Tibo, Les sept vérités, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 1997.

Gilles Tibo, Albert aux grandes oreilles, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 1998.

Gilles Tibo, Le château de glace, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 1998.

Gilles Tibo, La nuit des horreurs, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 1999.

Gilles Tibo, Le jardin zoologique, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 1999.

Gilles Tibo, Adieu, grand-maman, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 2000.

Gilles Tibo, La boîte mystérieuse, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 2000, translated as Naomi and the Secret Message, Tundra Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

Gilles Tibo, Les souliers de course, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 2001.

Gilles Tibo, La cage perdue, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 2002.

Gilles Tibo, Vendredi 13, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 2003.

Gilles Tibo, Le voleur de grand-mère, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 2004.

Gilles Tibo, Le grand amour, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 2005.

Gilles Tibo, Grand-maman fantôme, Québec-Amérique (Montréal, Québec, Canada), 2006.

Work in Progress

Illustrating more books in the "Noémie" series by Gilles Tibo and the "La bande des cinqu continents" series by Camille Bouchard; preparing photos and text for a book about Québec City churches, titled L'art dans les églises de Québec, forthcoming, 2008; a comic-book project with author Denis Côté.

Sidelights

Louise-Andrée Laliberté told SATA: "Before learning to read I used to pick up picture books and, inspired by the images I saw, loudly improvise stories of my own, and make everybody laugh.

Laliberté's artwork brings to life Susin Nielsen-Fernlund's Mormor Moves In, a story about a young girl whose anticipation over the arrival of her Swedish grandmother is crushed by the woman's dour mood.

"I also loved to draw. I drew with everything, everywhere: with all kinds of pencils on the cardboard pieces that came along with my father's cleaned shirts, or on every kind of 'drawable' surfaces my mother gave me; on the basement walls with chalk; on the street with pieces of plasterboard we took from the builder's yards all around; even with markers on my bedroom walls, but this used to put me into trouble.

"In school, I was a kid who didn't like to read. I loved books though, but I only liked to look at the images in them and let my imagination travel. One of my favourite was the real big Dictionnaire de la langue française au Canada. About five inches thick, the fabulous book presented numerous glossed colour plates covered with fishes, mushrooms, butterflies, birds, flowers, boats, planes…. I never stopped looking at the pictures, but it softly drew me to love reading quite as much.

"I never stopped drawing everywhere either, colouring everything, so now it's me who makes the pictures in the books. Images help words succeed in interesting all those kids for whom reading is hard or boring. With intelligence and versatility, illustrations help words to communicate with everyone: illiterates, kids, teens as well as good readers. Before words get winded, illustrations back, clarify, simplify, describe, intensify, interrogate, and invite readers to enter the beautiful world of books that inspire curiosity, imagination, and dreams: the fascinating country of 'going ahead.'"