Kyo Maclear
Isabelle Arsenault is a very talented Quebec illustrator who has won an impressive number of awards and has achieved international recognition. She has illustrated Migrant by Maxine Trottier, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and a finalist for the Governor General’s Award; Virginia Wolf by Kyo Maclear, winner of the Governor General’s Award; Le coeur de monsieur Gauguin by Marie-Danielle Croteau, winner of the Governor General’s Award; and My Letter to the World and Other Poems by Emily Dickinson, a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. She has also illustrated Once Upon a Northern Night by Jean Pendziwol and Jane, the Fox and Me by Fanny Britt, forthcoming from Groundwood. Isabelle has won the Grand Prix for illustration (Magazines du Québec) for six years running. She lives with her family in Montreal.






He’s thinking of our life before,
when all four of us lived here,
and he built chairs smelling
of wood and varnish,
and my mom made shortbread cookies
smelling of butter and
peace of mind.
He’s thinking back to Truffle’s squeals
when he was a baby, his first
words:
Feeeel-good.
He’s thinking back to our camping trips,
our guessing games in the car,
our snowball fights.
He’s thinking of my mom’s smile
back when she still smiled.
I know because I am, too.
* * *
That’s her, Billie.
She’s a spectacled siren, a rainstorm,
a chocolate fountain, a silent queen.
Billie doesn’t say much.…
But when she does speak, the world ignites
and explodes in clusters of honey and fire.

He’s thinking of our life before,
when all four of us lived here,
and he built chairs smelling
of wood and varnish,
and my mom made shortbread cookies
smelling of butter and
peace of mind.
He’s thinking back to Truffle’s squeals
when he was a baby, his first
words:
Feeeel-good.
He’s thinking back to our camping trips,
our guessing games in the car,
our snowball fights.
He’s thinking of my mom’s smile
back when she still smiled.
I know because I am, too.
* * *
That’s her, Billie.
She’s a spectacled siren, a rainstorm,
a chocolate fountain, a silent queen.
Billie doesn’t say much.…
But when she does speak, the world ignites
and explodes in clusters of honey and fire.












