Dayal Kaur Khalsa knew that she was dying with cancer when her highly successful second book, Tales of a Gambling Grandma, was published in 1986. In the three years that were remaining to her, she worked with a single-minded, whole-hearted passion for the picture-book art which had become so meaningful to her. Her legacy is nine wonderfully nostalgic picture books based mainly on her own childhood experiences. The paintings always came first for Khalsa; the words after. She painted with assurance and humour, revelling in the small details, bright colours and strong shapes which provided visual definition to her memories. Putting words on paper was not so easy but she always enjoyed her "re-writes". Born in the United States, Dayal Kaur Khalsa spent the last 20 years of her life in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, and, as a gift to her adopted country, she bequeathed the original paintings, illustrations, drawings, research notes, manuscripts, and all material related to the publication of her children's books to the National Library of Canada.

In the summer of 1999, the National Library prepared a tribute to children's author-illustrator Dayal Kaur Khalsa. The exhibition, based on the National Library of Canada's collection of the author's literary documents, offered an opportunity to study her work method and to view original illustrations contained in her books. This virtual exhibition that we offer you now is a replica of what the National Library presented.

For more information on the Khalsa fonds, please contact the Canadian Children's Literature Service at the National Library of Canada, at the following address: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/childrenliterature/index-e.html

On July 20, 1999, during an extraordinary presentation of SAVOIR FAIRE, children's bookseller Barbara Yoffee (Maryland, U.S.A.) presented us with the fruits of a decade of research on Khalsa. The text and illustrations of her presentation, called "Dayal Kaur Khalsa: A Childhood Remembered, A Childhood Transposed", were added to the virtual exhibition.