Marie-Louise Gay

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.

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

 * Stella, Star of the Sea (1999)
 * Stella, Queen of the Snow (2001)
 * Stella, Fairy of the Forest (2002)
 * Stella, Princess of the Sky (2004)
 * When Stella Was Very, Very, Small (2009)
 * Read Me A Story, Stella (2013)

Sam series
Sam is Stella's younger brother
 * Good Morning, Sam (2003)
 * Good Night, Sam (2003)
 * What Are You Doing, Sam? (2006)

Travels with My Family series
The Travels with My Family series was co-written with David Homel.
 * Travels With My Family (Groundwood, 2006)
 * On the Road Again! (Groundwood, 2008)
 * Summer in the City (Groundwood, 2012)
 * The Traveling Circus (Groundwood, 2015)
 * Travels in Cuba (Groundwood, 2021)

Standalone books authored

 * Lizzy's Lion (1984)
 * The Garden: Little Big Books (1985)
 * Moonbeam On A Cat's Ear (1986)
 * Rainy Day Magic (1987)
 * Angel and the Polar Bear (1988)
 * Fat Charlie's Circus (1989)
 * Willy Nilly (1990)
 * Mademoiselle Moon (1992)
 * Rabbit Blue (1993)
 * Midnight Mimi (1994)
 * Qui a peur de Loulou? (Who's afraid of Loulou?) (Montreal: VLB Editeur, 1994), 111pp, "Theatre for children"
 * The Three Little Pigs (Canadian Fairy Tales Series) (1994)
 * Rumplestiltskin (1997)
 * Sur Mon Ile (1999)
 * Caramba (2006)
 * Roslyn Rutabaga and the Biggest Hole on Earth! (2010)
 * Caramba and Henry (2011)
 * Any Questions (2014)
 * Short Stories for Little Monsters (2017)
 * The Three Brothers (2020)

Books illustrated only

 * The Last Piece (1993)
 * When Vegetables Go Bad! (1993)
 * The Fabulous Song (1996)
 * Dreams Are More Real Than Bathtubs (1999)
 * Yuck, a Love Story (2000)
 * Didi and Daddy on the Promenade (2001)
 * Houndsley and Catina (2006)
 * Maddie series; Sophie series (1993–2003)