•Born: February 10, 1955 in Toronto, Ontario
•Currently lives in Port Perry Ontario with her husband, Robert Courtice, their son, and cat
•Studied Illustration at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario
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BackgroundBrenda started her illustration career as a
freelancer in educational publishing She signed her first contract with Kids Can
Press in 1983 for a story called Christopher and the Dream Dragon written by Allen Morgan
In 1985 Brenda was offered to illustrate Franklin in the Dark, written by Paulette Bourgeois. The book received rave reviews and a series of Franklin books about the popular character was developed
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Franklin SeriesBrenda has illustrated more than 30 Franklin
titles and numerous activity books for the series.
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In 1997 the first animated episode of Franklin was televised on Nickelodeon. The series was modeled after
the popular character created by Brenda Clark and Paulette Bourgeois.
Brenda also helped to launch a series of Franklin spin-off books based on the Nickelodeon series.
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Awards1989 IODE Book Award Toronto Chapter for
Little Fingerling2000 Children’s Choices, International
Reading Association for Franklin’s Class Trip 2002 International Reading Association
Young Adult Choices, shortlist for Franklin & Harriet
2003 International Reading Association Young Adult Choices, shortlist for Franklin Says I Love You
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Technique and StyleBrenda uses transparent and opaque watercolors
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Franklin in the Dark
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ReferencesCanadian Children Book Centre. (1999).
Storymakers illustrating children’s books: 72 artists and illustrators talk about their work. Ontario: Pembroke Publishers Limited.
Kids Can Press. Brenda Clark, illustrotor.
Retrieved from http://www.kidscanpress.com/US/CreatorDetails.aspx?cid=34 on February 24 2010.
White L. (2002) Dream job: Brenda Clark bringing
books to life. Toronto Sun. Toronto: Sun Media.Libr 271 Katherine Fraley
