Ginette Anfousse
Biography
Prizes
Bibliography
Biography
Ginette Anfousse was born in Montreal in May 1944. She went to the Montreal School of Fine Arts. But she really loved movement as well as drawing, so she also studied ballet for several years. She wanted to share the pleasure she got from dancing with others, so she taught dance to children. She also drew backgrounds for Radio-Québec television programs.
Later, Ginette had a daughter, Marisol. Watching her daughter made her want to draw characters. Then the words came and the stories took shape. The adventures of Jojo and Pichou were born! When the artist finally decided to show her sketches to a publisher, he wanted to publish them right away. Unlike many other authors, Ginette Anfousse did not have to go to many different publishers before her manuscript was accepted. Her first picture books were published in 1976 and they were very successful.
Ginette Anfousse created thirteen stories about the characters Jojo and Pichou. Marisol was her inspiration. After that, she started to just write rather than draw. In the series "First Novels", she published stories about a character named Arthur. Then she created another heroine, Rosalie, who gave her the idea for several novels. Her daughter, Marisol, still plays a large part in this new series, but now she plays a different kind of role. She illustrates her mother's texts. Mother and daughter get along very well. You could say that Ginette and Marisol are kindred spirits! There's a good reason why they have chosen to do the same work. Their whole life is the story of books!
Ginette Anfousse writes all her books in French first. Then her publisher looks after getting them translated into English and other languages. You may have read some of the Jojo and Pichou books like Hide-and-Seek, My Friend Pichou or Chicken Pox. Did you know they really started out as La Cachette, Mon ami Pichou and La Varicelle?
Prizes
During her career (which is far from over!) Ginette Anfousse has been rewarded for her work many times. In 1978, she won the Canada Council Children's Literature Prize for writing and illustration in French. She won this prize for her books La Chicane (French version of The Fight) and La Varicelle (Chicken Pox). That same year, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) put her on their Honour List for La Chicane (The Fight). In 1987, she received two prizes: the Fleury-Mesplet prize (given to the best young people's author in Quebec for the ten previous years) and the Québec/Wallonie-Bruxelles prize. In 1989, Ginette Anfousse won the Mr. Christie's Book Award for her novel Rosalie s'en va-t-en guerre (Rosalie's Battles). She was also awarded the Prize for Excellence from the Association des consommateurs du Quebec (Quebec Consumers' Association) in 1988 and in 1991 for two other novels in the Rosalie series. Ginette Anfousse has given many lectures on her work and has held workshops about her books. Right now, she is concentrating mostly on her writing.
To help her work better, Ginette Anfousse has left the city. She prefers the peace and quiet of the forest and the natural wilderness. It is her way of keeping her ideas flowing. Somewhere in her head there is always a new project for a book!
Bibliography
Ginette Anfousse's texts and illustrations
Mon ami Pichou. Montreal: Le Tamanoir (now La courte échelle), 1976. Chosen as one of the best Quebec books of the year, this book was presented at the Book Fair in Nice, France, in 1979. Published in English as My Friend Pichou.
La Cachette. Montreal: Le Tamanoir (now La courte échelle), 1976. Published in English as Hide-and-Seek.
La Varicelle. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1978. Published in English as Chicken Pox.
La Chicane. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1978. Published in English as The Fight.
L'Hiver ou Le Bonhomme Sept-Heures. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1980. Published in English as Winter, or, The Seven-O'Clock-Bogey-Man.
Le Savon. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1980. Published in English as Soap.
La Fête. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1983. Published in English as The Party.
L'École. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1983. Published in English as School.
Sophie et Pierrot. Game book, 1983.
Je boude. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1986. Published in English as I'm Sulking.
La Petite Sœur. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1986. Published in English as A Baby Sister.
La Tour de Cap-Chat. Quebec: Ovale, 1987.
La Mitaine perdue. Quebec: Ovale, 1987.
Dans un château. Quebec: Ovale, 1987.
Du gâteau, j'en veux!. Quebec: Ovale, 1987.
Devine?. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1990.
La Grande Aventure. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1990.
Le Père Noël. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1993.
Title in a collection
La Vache et autres animaux. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1982.
Texts
Le Père d'Arthur. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1989. Published in English (as Arthur's Dad), Chinese and Spanish.
Les Barricades d'Arthur. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1992. Published in English as Arthur Throws a Tantrum.
Le Chien d'Arthur. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1993. Published in English as Arthur's Problem Puppy.
Un loup pour Rose, Fabien I. Montreal: Éditions Leméac, 1982.
Une nuit au pays des malices, Fabien II. Montreal: Éditions Leméac, 1982.
Un terrible secret. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1991.
Texts by Ginette Anfousse, illustrations by Marisol Sarrazin
Les Catastrophes de Rosalie. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1987. Published in German, English (as Rosalie's Catastrophes), Chinese, Spanish and Italian.
Le Héros de Rosalie. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1988. Published in German, Chinese and Italian.
Rosalie s'en va-t-en guerre. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1989. Published in German, English (as Rosalie's Battles), Chinese and Spanish.
Les Vacances de Rosalie. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1990. Published in Spanish and Greek.
Le Grand Rêve de Rosalie. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1992. Published in English (as Rosalie's Big Dream) and Spanish.
Rosalie à la belle étoile. Montreal: La courte échelle, 1998.
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