Kyo Maclear


Kyo Maclear is a Canadian novelist and children's author.
Maclear was born in London, England and moved to Toronto, Canada at a young age. Her father is journalist and documentary filmmaker Michael Maclear and her mother is Japanese artist and gallerist Yoko Maclear. She studied fine art and art history at the University of Toronto, completed a Master of Arts in cultural studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 1996, and obtained a doctorate in environmental humanities and education at York University in 2018.

Awards and honors

Three of Maclear's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Bloom, Operatic, and It Began with a Page ''.
Four of her books have been included on lists of the best books of the year. In 2016, Shelf Awareness included The Liszts on their list of the best picture books of the year. In 2019, Kirkus Reviews and the Chicago Public Library named It Began with a Page one of the best books of the year. Booklist included it on their 2020 "Top 10 Biographies for Youth" and "Top 10 Arts Books for Youth" lists. In 2019, Booklist included Operatic on their "Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth" and "Top 10 Arts Books for Youth" lists. In 2021, The Horn Book Magazine and Publishers Weekly named The Big Bath House one of the best picture books of the year.
Kumo the Bashful Cloud, illustrated by Nathalie Dion, won the 2023 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration.
In 2023, she was the winner of the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, a career achievement award for her body of work.
YearTitleAwardResultRef.
2018Birds Art LifeTrillium Book AwardWinner'
2008'Amazon.ca First Novel AwardFinalist
2017Birds Art LifeHilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for NonfictionShortlist
2019BloomAmelia Bloomer Book ListSelection
2019It Began With a PageBooklist Editors' Choice: Books for YouthSelection
2019OperaticCybils Award for Elementary and Middle Grade Graphic NovelFinalist
2020It Began With a PageALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
2020It Began With a PageBoston Globe–Horn Book AwardHonor
2020OperaticForest of Reading Red Maple AwardFinalist
2021It Began with a PageRise: A Feminist Book ProjectTop 10
2022ALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
2023Unearthing''Governor General's Award for English-language non-fictionWinner

Novels

  • The Letter Opener ''''
  • Stray Love ''''

    Nonfiction

  • Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation ''''
  • ''Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets''

    Children's literature

  • Spork '
  • Virginia Wolf '
  • Mr. Flux ''''
  • Julia Child
  • The Good Little Book
  • The Specific Ocean
  • The Liszts
  • The Wish Tree
  • The Fog
  • Yak and Dove
  • BLOOM: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli
  • Flo
  • Operatic
  • It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way
  • Story Boat
  • The Big Bath House
  • Hello, Rain!
  • If You Were A City
  • ''Kumo: The Bashful Cloud''