• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 6
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Thomas would do anything to make his mother come back.

On his fifth birthday, Thomas’s mother left, and he hasn’t seen her since. The last thing he remembers is her making a delicious dish of poutine for his birthday. Into the concoction of French fries, gravy and melted cheese curds, she stuck five green candles for him to blow out.

On the day of this twelfth birthday, Thomas comes up with the idea of setting a Guinness world record for the biggest poutine in the world. Maybe then, his mother will come back and his emotionally distant father will pay attention to him.

As he puts together all the pieces of his “Phenomenal Poutine Project,” Thomas not only learns why his mother disappeared, but he also comes to realize that Elie, the one person whose help he rejected, turns out to be his most devoted friend.

Funny and heartbreaking at the same time, The Biggest Poutine in the World, was the winner of the French language 2014 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award.

Si pudiera, Andrée Poulin se la pasaría leyendo todo el día. Su amor por la lectura es lo que la llevó a escribir. Después de trabajar como periodista durante muchos años, trabajó en el desarrollo internacional. Ella ha escrito más de treinta libros para niños de todas las edades. Muchos han ganado premios, especialmente el TD Children’s Literature Award (Premio de Literatura Infantil TD, en francés) para La plus grosse poutine du monde, ahora traducido al inglés y publicado por Annick Press como The Biggest Poutine in the World (2016). Sus cuentos tratan sobre la amistad, la empatía, la tolerancia, la pobreza y la solidaridad.

Andrée cree que los libros pueden cambiar el mundo. Al hacer que los escenarios de sus cuentos sean en Canadá, África y Asia, lleva a sus lectores a vivir aventuras que les permiten descubrir otras culturas, como lo hace en Pablo encuentra un tesoro. 

A Andrée le encanta compartir su pasión por la lectura y su placer por escribir con niños. Ella escribe un blog, revisa libros para la Campaña Nacional de Lectura y ofrece talleres para jóvenes en escuelas y bibliotecas. 

Andrée nació y se crió en Orléans, Ontario. Ella ahora vive en Gatineau, Quebec. 

If she could, Andrée Poulin would read from morning to night. Her love of reading is what brought her to writing. After working as a journalist for many years, she worked in international development. She has written over thirty books for children of all ages. Many have won awards, most notably the TD Children’s Literature Award (French language) for La plus grosse poutine du monde, now translated into English and published by Annick Press as The Biggest Poutine in the World (2016). Her stories deal with friendship, empathy, tolerance, poverty, and solidarity. 

Andrée believes that books can change the world. By setting her stories in Canada, Africa, and Asia, she takes her readers on adventures in discovering other cultures, as she does in Pablo Finds a Treasure (2016, available in Spanish in Fall 2018). Her latest book with Annick Press is That’s Not Hockey! (Fall 2018), a picture book based on the life of the inventor of the goalie mask, Jacques Plante. 

Andrée loves to share her passion for reading and her pleasure for writing with children. She writes a blog, reviews books for the National Reading Campaign, and gives workshops for youth in schools and libraries. 

Andrée was born and raised in Orléans, Ontario. She now lives in Gatineau, Quebec.

Andrée Poulin's profile page