(Updated from the Executive Reports prepared for the 2021 Annual Meeting of Members)
On behalf of IBBY Canada, I would like to open this report by offering solidarity with our IBBY colleagues around the world who are living and working in extremely challenging circumstances; to our colleagues in Haiti and in Afghanistan, who experienced devastating events in 2021. And to our colleagues in IBBY Ukraine. It is unimaginable what you are experiencing. Our thoughts are with you. We also send our respect to IBBY Moscow and IBBY St. Petersburg—and commend you for your messages of peace.
Please consider supporting these fundraising efforts to support Ukrainian refugee children.
It has been a privilege to be volunteering with IBBY Canada during these challenging times and to have the opportunity to collaborate with people who share a love of children’s books—and a commitment to bringing books and children together.
For IBBY Canada, 2021 was a year with many high points. I would note a few, with thanks:
To IBBY for selecting us to host the 2026 World Congress in Ottawa. We look forward to welcoming you to Ottawa—and convening conversations around the theme of Listening to Each Other’s Voices
For allowing us to sponsor International Children’s Book Day 2022.
It was, and is, an honour to share with the world the poster for International Children’s Book Day— with the theme Stories are wings that help you soar every day by celebrated author Richard Van Camp—and the stunning artwork by Julie Flett.
I hope our 2022 AMM report features glorious stories of well-attended ICBD 2022 activities—but in advance, I would like to share the joy of working with IBBY New Zealand/Storylines on the ICBD launch event
To our new twin, IBBY Dominican Republic, it has been so much fun working with you in the first year of our partnering. Thank you to Geraldine de Santis, President of IBBY Dominican Republic, for attending an IBBY Canada board meeting and making introductions—and for being the guest speaker at this year’s AMM!
And thank you to Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator in Residence Soyeon Kim for leading a workshop with young and aspiring illustrators in the Dominican Republic
To our committed group of Reading with Newcomer Children volunteers from Halifax to Vancouver Island who are so dedicated—and to our partner, COSTI. This program is a real highlight for the volunteers, the children—and the organizers. While we were not able to attend because of travel restrictions, we are grateful to USBBY for inviting us to present at their regional conference in Nashville. A fantastic video, featuring the volunteers, was created by Allison MacLachlan for the conference—and we can’t wait to share it at a virtual event in 2022
To all involved in the creation of the From Sea to Sea to Sea Educators’ Resource—and the launch event. Thank you to Linda Lou Classens and Adrienne Plumley, writer and advisor for the Educators’ Resource—and to the launch organizers Mary Beth Leatherdale, Janis Nostbakken and Trish Osuch
The launch video is posted on Bibliovideo and continues to gain traction with over 1,600 views! Please check it out, if you haven’t already.
To the awards and nominations committees for the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award, the IBBY Honour List, the Hans Christian Andersen Award and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), thank for your fine work in celebrating Canadian children’s books and their creators
Congrats to Gérard DuBois for winning the 2021 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for À qui appartiennent les nuages?, written by Mario Brassard and published by Éditions de la Pastèque—and thank you for joining us at the AMM!
Special shoutouts to the IBBY Canada nominees for being recognized for their exceptional work:
We were honoured to nominate Robert Munsch, an icon for a generation of readers in Canada and around the world, for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
Please read more about these exceptional honourees by following the links. They do inspiring work!
Also… a huge welcome to new board members—Stéphanie Boyer, Emma Hunter, Lorisia MacLeod, Cécilia Morin and Colette Poitras—all of whom started work early in preparation for a very busy 2022—and my sincere thanks to returning board members. It is a fantastic team!
I would also like to offer a special thank you to retiring board member Allison MacLachlan. Allison’s contributions to IBBY Canada have been exemplary. Her beautiful work contributed to the success of IBBY Canada over the past two years. We will miss you!
Last but not least… thank you to IBBY Canada members, donors and supporters who are helping us grow. Thank you to publishers for your ongoing commitment to IBBY.
I hope you see the benefits of your support in the programming and activities underway as we seek to fulfill IBBY Canada’s mission of creating a more inclusive and equitable world by connecting children to books that spark the imagination, challenge thinking, and promote friendship and understanding between cultures around the world.
We look forward to 2022/2023!
Board of Directors: 2022/2023
Executive Committee
Patti McIntosh, President
Marcela Mangarelli, 1st Vice-President
Josiane Polidori, 2nd Vice-President
Yvette Ghione, Treasurer
Directors
Helena Aalto, Membership Secretary
Stéphanie Boyer, Promotions Officer
Maral Maclagan, Recording Secretary
Emma Hunter, Promotions Officer
Stephanie Wells, Newsletter Editor
Meghan Howe, Liaison, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Shamaila Siddique, Liaison, CANSCAIP
Cécilia Morin, Liaison, Communication Jeunesse
Dr. Lesley Clement, Regional Councillor Ontario
Nadine Robert, Regional Councillor Quebec
Nadine King, Regional Councillor East
Colette Poitras, Co-Regional Councillor Alberta
Lorisia MacLeod, Co-Regional Councillor Alberta
Dayle Sutherland, Regional Councillor West
Trish Osuch, Website Editor
Nicholas Aumais, Director-at-Large
Biographies: Incoming Board Members
Stéphanie Boyer is a university graduate in Education and Childhood Studies who has taught in elementary schools in Quebec, Canada. She currently works as an Educational Literacy Advisor, but finds the time to make presentations at children’s literature conferences and to act as a consultant to various publishing houses and cultural organizations. Her goal is to foster children’s intelligence and sensitivity and to ignite their imagination. Always bubbling with ideas, Stéphanie loves to write stories and to share her passion for children’s literature with others. Several of her picture books will be released in the coming years. It is with great pleasure that she joins the IBBY Canada Board.
Emma Hunter is the Canadian Children Book Centre’s Marketing and Communication Coordinator. She manages the CCBC’s social media, website, newsletter, book banks, marketing initiatives and their overall digital presence. Emma majored in History at Laurentian University and received a certificate in Publishing from Ryerson University through the Chang School. Emma is also the secretary of the executive board for the Friends of the Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books. She loves literature, her cat Penny Lane, graphic novels, her multiple book clubs and exploring Toronto. Emma uses both she and they pronouns.
Lorisia MacLeod is a third-generation librarian and a proud member of the James Smith Cree nation. She is a Learning Services Librarian at the Alberta Library where she works on a variety of projects including school and public library licensing. Lorisia is a big fan of beading, 3D design and printing, and helping connect books with readers. Lorisia is a member of the From Sea to Sea to Sea: Celebrating Indigenous Picture Book Collection marketing and selection committees.
Cécilia Morin is the administrative assistant at Communication-Jeunesse, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting French-speaking children’s literature in Canada. She enjoys opening boxes full of of the latest titles from Communication-Jeunesse’s publishers. She reads a lot of picture books and youth novels. Cécilia is a member of the Promotions in French Canada committee on the IBBY Canada Board. She is also finishing her master’s degree in Literary Studies at Université du Québec à Montréal. She’s working on memory and remembrance in French Caribbean and postcolonial literatures. Cécilia lives in Montreal and loves gardening, reading and cooking.
Colette Poitras is a proud citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta, mother of two beautiful daughters, and the Manager of Indigenous Public Library Outreach for Public Library Services Branch, Government of Alberta. Colette has worked in a variety of positions within the library field over the last 20 years. She believes strongly in early literacy and the bonding between reader and listener that happens during story times. Colette is the current chair of the From Sea to Sea to Sea: Celebrating Indigenous Picture Book Collection.
President’s Report to the Members: Patti McIntosh
(Updated from the Executive Reports prepared for the 2021 Annual Meeting of Members)
On behalf of IBBY Canada, I would like to open this report by offering solidarity with our IBBY colleagues around the world who are living and working in extremely challenging circumstances; to our colleagues in Haiti and in Afghanistan, who experienced devastating events in 2021. And to our colleagues in IBBY Ukraine. It is unimaginable what you are experiencing. Our thoughts are with you. We also send our respect to IBBY Moscow and IBBY St. Petersburg—and commend you for your messages of peace.
Please consider supporting these fundraising efforts to support Ukrainian refugee children.
It has been a privilege to be volunteering with IBBY Canada during these challenging times and to have the opportunity to collaborate with people who share a love of children’s books—and a commitment to bringing books and children together.
For IBBY Canada, 2021 was a year with many high points. I would note a few, with thanks:
Congrats to Gérard DuBois for winning the 2021 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for À qui appartiennent les nuages?, written by Mario Brassard and published by Éditions de la Pastèque—and thank you for joining us at the AMM!
Special shoutouts to the IBBY Canada nominees for being recognized for their exceptional work:
We were honoured to nominate Robert Munsch, an icon for a generation of readers in Canada and around the world, for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
Please read more about these exceptional honourees by following the links. They do inspiring work!
Also… a huge welcome to new board members—Stéphanie Boyer, Emma Hunter, Lorisia MacLeod, Cécilia Morin and Colette Poitras—all of whom started work early in preparation for a very busy 2022—and my sincere thanks to returning board members. It is a fantastic team!
I would also like to offer a special thank you to retiring board member Allison MacLachlan. Allison’s contributions to IBBY Canada have been exemplary. Her beautiful work contributed to the success of IBBY Canada over the past two years. We will miss you!
Last but not least… thank you to IBBY Canada members, donors and supporters who are helping us grow. Thank you to publishers for your ongoing commitment to IBBY.
I hope you see the benefits of your support in the programming and activities underway as we seek to fulfill IBBY Canada’s mission of creating a more inclusive and equitable world by connecting children to books that spark the imagination, challenge thinking, and promote friendship and understanding between cultures around the world.
We look forward to 2022/2023!
Board of Directors: 2022/2023
Executive Committee
Patti McIntosh, President
Marcela Mangarelli, 1st Vice-President
Josiane Polidori, 2nd Vice-President
Yvette Ghione, Treasurer
Directors
Helena Aalto, Membership Secretary
Stéphanie Boyer, Promotions Officer
Maral Maclagan, Recording Secretary
Emma Hunter, Promotions Officer
Stephanie Wells, Newsletter Editor
Meghan Howe, Liaison, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Shamaila Siddique, Liaison, CANSCAIP
Cécilia Morin, Liaison, Communication Jeunesse
Dr. Lesley Clement, Regional Councillor Ontario
Nadine Robert, Regional Councillor Quebec
Nadine King, Regional Councillor East
Colette Poitras, Co-Regional Councillor Alberta
Lorisia MacLeod, Co-Regional Councillor Alberta
Dayle Sutherland, Regional Councillor West
Trish Osuch, Website Editor
Nicholas Aumais, Director-at-Large
Biographies: Incoming Board Members
Stéphanie Boyer is a university graduate in Education and Childhood Studies who has taught in elementary schools in Quebec, Canada. She currently works as an Educational Literacy Advisor, but finds the time to make presentations at children’s literature conferences and to act as a consultant to various publishing houses and cultural organizations. Her goal is to foster children’s intelligence and sensitivity and to ignite their imagination. Always bubbling with ideas, Stéphanie loves to write stories and to share her passion for children’s literature with others. Several of her picture books will be released in the coming years. It is with great pleasure that she joins the IBBY Canada Board.
Emma Hunter is the Canadian Children Book Centre’s Marketing and Communication Coordinator. She manages the CCBC’s social media, website, newsletter, book banks, marketing initiatives and their overall digital presence. Emma majored in History at Laurentian University and received a certificate in Publishing from Ryerson University through the Chang School. Emma is also the secretary of the executive board for the Friends of the Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books. She loves literature, her cat Penny Lane, graphic novels, her multiple book clubs and exploring Toronto. Emma uses both she and they pronouns.
Lorisia MacLeod is a third-generation librarian and a proud member of the James Smith Cree nation. She is a Learning Services Librarian at the Alberta Library where she works on a variety of projects including school and public library licensing. Lorisia is a big fan of beading, 3D design and printing, and helping connect books with readers. Lorisia is a member of the From Sea to Sea to Sea: Celebrating Indigenous Picture Book Collection marketing and selection committees.
Cécilia Morin is the administrative assistant at Communication-Jeunesse, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting French-speaking children’s literature in Canada. She enjoys opening boxes full of of the latest titles from Communication-Jeunesse’s publishers. She reads a lot of picture books and youth novels. Cécilia is a member of the Promotions in French Canada committee on the IBBY Canada Board. She is also finishing her master’s degree in Literary Studies at Université du Québec à Montréal. She’s working on memory and remembrance in French Caribbean and postcolonial literatures. Cécilia lives in Montreal and loves gardening, reading and cooking.
Colette Poitras is a proud citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta, mother of two beautiful daughters, and the Manager of Indigenous Public Library Outreach for Public Library Services Branch, Government of Alberta. Colette has worked in a variety of positions within the library field over the last 20 years. She believes strongly in early literacy and the bonding between reader and listener that happens during story times. Colette is the current chair of the From Sea to Sea to Sea: Celebrating Indigenous Picture Book Collection.
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