Carey Sookocheff is IBBY Canada's 2023 Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator in Residence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: IBBY Canada is delighted to announce that Carey Sookocheff is the illustrator for the 2023 Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator in Residence program. The program offers a published Canadian children’s book illustrator a month-long residency in a public library. The 2023 residency is hosted by Toronto Public Library at its North York Central Library for the month of October.

During her residency, Carey Sookocheff will offer hands-on art activities for school classes at the library or online, online workshops for adults on topics related to working as an illustrator, online presentations to students in high schools and colleges, and online portfolio reviews with artists and art students. 

Carey Sookocheff grew up on the Canadian prairies with a librarian mother and a father who was an avid storyteller, and she has always loved to read, draw and create stories. A graduate of the Illustration Department at the Ontario College of Art and Design, Carey has worked as an illustrator for over twenty years. In her early career, she created editorial illustrations for clients like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Today, Carey creates picture books, and also teaches in the Bachelor of Illustration program at Sheridan College. Carey lives in Toronto with her family and their dog Rosie.

Carey’s books have been published by Groundwood Books, Kids Can Press, Owlkids Books and Tundra Books in Canada, and by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers in the US. Her titles include the Buddy and Earl series written by Maureen Fergus, and What Happens Next written by Susan Hughes. Titles that Carey both wrote and illustrated include Solutions for Cold Feet and Other Little Problems and The Remembering Stone.

The Illustrator in Residence Program honours the life of Joanne Fitzgerald (1956–2011), whose books include Plain Noodles, Emily’s House, and Doctor Kiss Says Yes (winner of the Governor General’s Award). The program is a joint project of IBBY Canada, Toronto Public Library, the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, and the Young family. The illustrators are Martha Newbigging (2013), Patricia Storms (2014), John Martz (2015), Dianna Bonder (2016), Ashley Barron (2017), Nahid Kazemi (2018), Diego Herrera/Yayo (2019), Soyeon Kim (2021), Sandra Dumais (2022), Carey Sookocheff (2023).

Toronto Public Library (TPL) is the world's busiest urban public library system, with more than 46 million annual visits to its branches and online. TPL empowers Torontonians to thrive in the digital age and knowledge economy through easy access to technology, lifelong learning, and diverse cultural and leisure experiences, where, when and how customers need. To learn more, visit tpl.ca, email Answerline at answerline@tpl.ca or follow TPL on X (Twitter), Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to email updates.

IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People, was founded in 1953 and represents an international network of people committed to bringing books and children together. IBBY Canada, one of over 80 IBBY national sections worldwide, is a volunteer organization promoting quality English, French and Indigenous Canadian children's literature nationally and internationally. To become a member of IBBY Canada, please join us here.