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Annotated Award-Winning Titles

		Governor General's Literary Award – Children's Literature 2005 For best illustrations Le cœur de monsieur Gauguin Marie-Danielle Croteau Illustrations: Isabelle Arsenault Montréal: Les 400 coups, 2004. 21 p. (Au pays des grands) ISBN 2895401837 Ages 4 to 8
Le cœur de monsieur Gauguin Source

While on a crossing with the family, the father of young Paul Gauguin dies of a heart attack. When the ship docks, Paul meets an old artist who introduces him to painting. Having great sensitivity and a fertile imagination, Paul is able to depict his vision of life through the magic of painting. This inner gift allows him to make the memory of his father live on.

Marie-Danielle Croteau bases her story on a number of biographical details about Gauguin and uses her imagination to write about this period from the childhood perspective of the great painter. The fitting images provided by young illustrator Isabelle Arsenault are noteworthy for their visual references and excellent composition. Her mixed technique, her fine drawing, and her selection of colours are ideally suited to the sensitivity of the characters.

–IB