Kyo Maclear (born 1970) is a Canadian novelist and children's author.
Maclear was born in London, England and moved to Toronto, Canada at a young age. Her father is journalist and documentary filmmaker Michael Maclear and her mother is Japanese artist and gallerist Yoko Maclear (nee Koide). She studied fine art and art history at the University of Toronto, completed a Master of Arts in cultural studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 1996, and obtained a doctorate in environmental humanities and education at York University in 2018.
Awards and honors Three of Maclear's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Bloom (2018), Operatic (2019), and It Began with a Page (2020).
Four of her books have been included on lists of the best books of the year. In 2016, Shelf Awareness included The Liszts on their list of the best picture books of the year. In 2019, Kirkus Reviews and the Chicago Public Library named It Began with a Page one of the best books of the year. Booklist included it on their 2020 "Top 10 Biographies for Youth" and "Top 10 Arts Books for Youth" lists. In 2019, Booklist included Operatic on their "Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth" and "Top 10 Arts Books for Youth" lists. In 2021, The Horn Book Magazine and Publishers Weekly named The Big Bath House one of the best picture books of the year.
Kumo the Bashful Cloud, illustrated by Nathalie Dion, won the 2023 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration.
In 2023, she was the winner of the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, a career achievement award for her body of work.Nicole Thompson, "Kai Thomas wins Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for debut novel". Toronto Star, November 21, 2023.
+Awards for Maclear's writingYearTitleAwardResultRef.2018Birds Art LifeTrillium Book AwardWinner2008Amazon.ca First Novel AwardFinalist2017Birds Art LifeHilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for NonfictionShortlist2019BloomAmelia Bloomer Book ListSelectionIt Began With a PageBooklist Editors' Choice: Books for YouthSelectionOperaticCybils Award for Elementary and Middle Grade Graphic NovelFinalist2020It Began With a PageALSC Notable Children's BooksSelectionIt Began With a PageBoston Globe–Horn Book AwardHonorOperaticForest of Reading Red Maple AwardFinalist2021It Began with a PageRise: A Feminist Book ProjectTop 102022ALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection2023UnearthingGovernor General's Award for English-language non-fictionWinner"Anuja Varghese wins Governor General's literary award for fiction". Toronto Star, November 8, 2023.
Bibliography
Novels The Letter Opener (Toronto: HarperCollins, 2007) Stray Love (Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2012)
Nonfiction Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation (New York: Scribner, 2017) Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets (Scriber, 2023)
Children's literature Spork (Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2010. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault) Virginia Wolf (Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2012. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault) Mr. Flux (Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2013. Illustrated by Matte Stephens) Julia Child (Toronto: Tundra Books, 2014. Illustrated by Julie Morstad) The Good Little Book (Tundra Random House, 2015. Illustrated by Marion Arbona) The Specific Ocean (Kids Can Press, 2015. Illustrated by Katty Maurey) The Liszts (Tundra Books, 2016. Illustrated by Júlia Sardà) The Wish Tree (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2016. Illustrated by Chris Turnham) The Fog (Tundra Books, 2017. Illustrated by Kenard Pak) Yak and Dove (Tundra Random House, 2017. Illustrated by Esmé Shapiro) BLOOM: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli (Tundra Books, 2018. Illustrated by Julie Morstad) Flo (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018. Illustrated by Jay Fleck) Operatic (Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2019. Illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler) It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way (New York: HarperCollins, 2019. Illustrated by Julie Morstad) Story Boat (Tundra Books, 2020. Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh) The Big Bath House (Random House Studio, 2021. Illustrated by Gracey Zhang) Hello, Rain! (Chronicle Books, 2021. Illustrated by Chris Turnham) If You Were A City (Chronicle Books, 2022. Illustrated by Francesca Sanna) Kumo: The Bashful Cloud (Tundra Book, 2022. Illustrated by Nathalie Dion)
References
External links Official website: Adult books Official website: Children's books