Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award

The Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award is an annual literary award for children's picture illustrators. ^[1] It was established in 1985 following the death of Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver, one of Canada's pre-eminent book illustrators. In her will, Cleaver left a fund of $10,000 for an award to be given annually in recognition of outstanding artistic talent in a Canadian picture book. The recipient receives a cheque for $1,000, and a certificate.

The Cleaver Award is administered by a committee of three members of the Canadian section of the International Board on Books for Young People IBBY Canada. The recipient is a Canadian illustrator of a picture book published in Canada in English or French during the previous calendar year. ^[2]

Honorees

1980s–1999

Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award winners ^{[3] [4]}

Year	Illustrator	Title	Result
1986	Ann Blades	By The Sea: An Alphabet Book	Winner
1987	Barbara Reid	Have You Seen Birds?	Winner
1988	Stéphane Poulin	Can You Catch Josephine?	Winner
1989	Eric Beddows	Night Cars	Winner
1990	Ian Wallace	The Name of the Tree	Winner
1991	Paul Morin	The Orphan Boy	Winner
1992	Ron Lightburn	Waiting for the Whales	Winner
1993	Barbara Reid	Two By Two	Winner
1994	Leo Yerxa	Last Leaf, First Snowflake To Fall	Winner
1995	Murray Kimber	Josepha: A Prairie Boy's Story	Winner
1996	Janet Wilson	Selina and The Bear Paw Quilt	Winner
1997	Harvey Chan	Ghost Train	Winner
1998	Pascal Mileli	Rainbow Bay	Winner
1999	Kady MacDonald Denton	A Child's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes	Winner

2000–present

Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award winners

Year	Illustrator	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
2000	Michèle Lemieux		Stormy Night	Winner	[3] [4]
2001	Marie-Louise Gay		Stella, Queen of the Snow	Winner	[3] [4]
2002	Janie Jaehyun Park		The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon	Winner	[3] [4]
2003	Pierre Pratt		Where's Pup?	Winner	[3] [4]
2004	Stéphane Poulin		Un chant de Noël	Winner	[3] [4]
2005	Geneviève Côté		The Lady of Shalott	Winner	[3] [4]
2006	Kady MacDonald Denton		Snow	Winner	[3] [4]
2007	Stéphane Jorisch		The Owl and the Pussycat	Winner	[3] [4]
2008	Christine Delezenne		La Clé	Winner	[3] [4]
2009	Oleg Lipchenko		Alice's Adventures in Wonderland	Winner	[3] [4]
2010	Julie Flett		Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer: L’Alfabet di Michif / Owls See Clearly at Night: A Michif Alphabet	Winner	[3] [4]
2011	Cybèle Young		A Few Blocks	Winner	[3] [4]
2012	Isabelle Arsenault		Virginia Wolf	Winner	[3] [4]
2013	Julie Morstad		How To	Winner	[3] [4]
2014	Pierre Pratt		Stop, Thief!	Winner	[3] [4]
2015	Sydney Smith		Sidewalk Flowers	Winner	[3]
2016	Isabelle Arsenault		Louis parmi les spectres	Winner	[3]
2017	Julie Kraulis	Julie Kraulis	A Pattern for Pepper	Winner	[3] [5]
	Sydney Smith	Joanne Schwartz	Town is by the Sea	Honour	[5]
	Matt James	Paul Harbridge	When the Moon Comes	Honour	[5]
	Geneviève Després	Marie-Francine Hébert	Dépareillés	Shortlist	[6]
	Gabrielle Grimard	Melanie Florence	Stolen Words	Shortlist	[6]
2018	Julie Morstad	Kyo Maclear	Bloom	Winner	[3] [7] [8]
	Eva Campbell	Shauntay Grant	Africville	Honour	[7]
	Irene Luxbacher	Irene Luxbacher	Deep Underwater	Honour	[7]
	Amanda Strong	Dallas Hunt	Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock	Finalist	[9]
	Geraldo Valério	Geraldo Valério	Blue Rider	Finalist	[9]
	Matt James	Matt James	The Funeral	Finalist	[9]
	Marie-Louise Gay	Marie-Louise Gay	Mustafa	Finalist	[9]
	Elly MacKay	Elly MacKay	Red Sky at Night	Finalist	[9]
	Marianne Ferrer	Marianne Ferrer and Valérie Picard	Toucania	Finalist	[9]
	Thao Lam	Thao Lam	Wallpaper	Finalist	[9]
2019	Rachel Wada	Heather Smith	The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden	Winner	[10]
	Dena Seiferling	Cary Fagan	King Mouse	Honour	[11]
	Sydney Smith	Sydney Smith	Small in the City	Honour	[12]
	Josée Bisaillon	Jan Coates	Dancing with Daisy	Finalist	[13]
	Gary Clement	James Gladstone	My Winter City	Finalist	[13]
	Geneviève Després	Stéphanie Deslauriers	Laurent, c’est moi!	Finalist	[13]
	Emma FitzGerald	Rita Wilson	A Pocket of Time: The Poetic Childhood of Elizabeth Bishop	Finalist	[13] [14]
	Julie Flett	Julie Flett	Birdsong	Finalist	[13]
	Julie Morstad	Kyo Maclear	It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way	Finalist	[13]
	François Thisdale	Christiane Duchesne	Bon Voyage, Mister Rodriguez	Finalist	[13]
2020	Marie-Louise Gay	Marie-Louise Gay	The Three Brothers	Winner	[3] [15]
	Thao Lam	Thao Lam	The Paper Boat	Honour	[15]
	Geraldo Valério	Geraldo Valério	At The Pond	Honour	[15]
	Marion Arbona	Marion Arbona	Window	Finalist	[16]
	Nathalie Dion	Valérie Fontaine	Le grand méchant loup dans ma maison	Finalist	[16]
	The Fan Brothers	The Fan Brothers	The Barnabus Project	Finalist	[16]
	Nahid Kazemi	Joanne Schwartz	The Old Woman	Finalist	[16]
	Marie Lafrance	Kathy Stinson	The Lady with the Books	Finalist	[16]
	Miki Sato	Deborah Kerbel	Snow Days	Finalist	[16]
	Geraldo Valério	Geraldo Valério	The Egg	Finalist	[16]
2021	Gérard DuBois	Mario Brassard	À qui appartiennent les nuages?	Winner	[3] [17]
	Dena Seiferling	Cary Fagan	Bear Wants To Sing	Finalist	[18]
	Marie Lafrance	Sara O'Leary	Gemma and the Giant Girl	Finalist	[18]
	Bill Pechet	Bill Richardson	Hare B&B	Finalist	[18]
	Julie Rocheleau	Hugo Léger	Les devoirs d’Edmond	Finalist	[18]
	Isabelle Arsenault	Isabelle Arsenault	Maya's Big Scene	Finalist	[18]
	Julie Flett	David A. Robertson	On the Trapline	Finalist	[18]
	Eve Patenaude	Simon Boulerice	Papier Bulle	Finalist	[18]
	Julie Morstad	Julie Morstad	Time is a Flower	Finalist	[18]
	Julie Flett	Julie Flett	We All Play	Finalist	[18]
2022	Dena Seiferling		Night Lunch	Winner	[3] [19] [20]
	Nathalie Dion	Kyo Maclear	Kumo: the Bashful Cloud	Honour	[19] [20]
	The Fan Brothers	The Fan Brothers	Lizzy and the Cloud	Honour	[19] [20]
2023	Todd Stewart	Jean E. Pendziwol	Skating Wild on an Inland Sea	Winner	[21]
	Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley	Brittany Luby	Mnoomin maan’gowing / The Gift of Mnoomin	Honour	[21]
	Lauren Soloy	Kathy Stinson	A Tulip in Winter: A Story About Folk Artist Maud Lewis	Honour	[21]
2024	Isabella Fassler	Dorson Plourde	Garbage Gulls	Winner	[22]
	Qin Leng	Catherine Trudeau	La Tasse de Gilles	Honour
	Lauren Soloy		Tove and the Island with No Address	Honour

References

1. "Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award – IBBY Canada". Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
2. "Library and Archives Canada Awards page". Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
3. "Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award". IBBY Canada . Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
4. "Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award Archives". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
5. Hunter, Emma (2018-04-10). "Julie Kraulis wins Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
6. Howe, Meghan (2018-03-05). "Shortlist announced for 2017 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
7. Hunter, Emma (2019-02-21). "Julie Morstad wins 2018 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for Bloom". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
8. van Koeverden, Jane (2019-02-22). "Vancouver illustrator Julie Morstad wins Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for Bloom". CBC Books . Archived from the original on 2019-02-25. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
9. Hunter, Emma (2019-01-31). "Finalists announced for 2018 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
10. "Rachel Wada wins 2020 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden". IBBY Canada. Archived from the original on 2020-09-28. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
11. Hunter, Emma (2020-03-07). "Rachel Wada wins 2020 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
12. Porter, Ryan (2020-03-09). "Illustrator Rachel Wada wins Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Picture Book Award". Quill and Quire . Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
13. Howe, Meghan (2020-01-31). "Finalists announced for 2020 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
14. ""A Pocket of Time" is a finalist of IBBY Canada's Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award". Nimbus Publishing and Vagrant Press. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
15. Hunter, Emma (2021-03-08). "Marie-Louise Gay wins 2020 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for The Three Brothers". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
16. Hunter, Emma (2021-02-05). "Announcing the 2020 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award Finalists". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
17. Deogun, Inderjit (2022-03-28). "Gérard DuBois wins 2021 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award". Quill and Quire . Archived from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
18. Hunter, Emma (2022-03-08). "Announcing the 2021 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award Finalists". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
19. Howe, Meghan (2023-04-03). "Dena Seiferling wins 2022 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for Night Lunch". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Retrieved 2023-05-25.
20. Deogun, Inderjit (2023-04-03). "Dena Seiferling wins 2022 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award". Quill and Quire . Archived from the original on 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
21. Deogun, Inderjit (2024-06-06). "Todd Stewart wins 2023 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award". Quill & Quire. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
22. "Isabella Fassler wins 2024 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for Garbage Gulls – IBBY Canada". IBBY Canada. Retrieved 2025-07-14.