Annie Groovie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Annie Groovie
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Annie Groovie in 2023 at the Salon du livre de l'Outaouais
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| Born | April 11, 1970 Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada |
| Occupation | writer, illustrator, cartoonist |
| Genre | children's literature, comics |
Annie Groovie is the pen name for Annie Trudelle. She was born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, on April 11, 1970. Annie Groovie is a writer and artist from Quebec who creates books and comics for kids. She is famous for her series about a young character named Léon, who is a cyclops (a mythical creature with one eye).
Contents
About Annie Groovie
Early Life and Education
When Annie Groovie was three years old, her family moved to Sainte-Foy. This town was a suburb of Quebec City back then.
Annie loved art and learning. She studied Plastic Arts and Graphic Communications at Université Laval. After finishing her studies, she worked as a designer for a company in Montreal. She has lived in Montreal since 1994.
Travels and Circus Work
Annie Groovie is very active and enjoys gymnastics. She also loves circus performances! In 1997, she was chosen by the World Circus. She spent three months in Chile teaching circus skills to kids living on the streets. She went on a similar trip to Africa in 2000.
Her travels took her to many countries around the world. These included France, Switzerland, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Cuba, Senegal, and the United States.
Creating Léon the Cyclops
In 2003, Annie Groovie created her most famous character, Léon. Léon is a male cyclops with a messy haircut. Soon, she started writing a series of books about Léon and his friends. His girlfriend is Lola, and he has a cat named Le Chat.
These books are a mix of comic books and children's stories. They tell about Léon's adventures. They also include jokes, riddles, games, and funny fake advertisements. In 2006, Annie decided to focus only on Léon. She left her job in advertising to write full-time.
Léon on TV and in Newspapers
In the fall of 2007, Léon became even more popular. Radio-Canada and CBC Television started showing short cartoons about Léon. These sixty-second videos usually aired between other kids' shows.
A weekly Léon comic strip also appeared in Le Petit Journal. This was a special children's section in Le Journal de Montréal newspaper. The comic strip was published every Saturday until July 2013.
Global Reach and Awards
Léon's books have been translated into many languages. You can find them in Arabic, Korean, Italian, Spanish, and Chinese.
Annie Groovie has won the Hackmatack Awards four times. This award is given to favorite Canadian children's books. Kids in Atlantic Canada vote for their top picks. She was also a special guest at the 2010 Salon international du livre de Québec (an international book fair) in Quebec City.
Starting Her Own Publishing Company
In 2014, Annie Groovie's publisher, La courte échelle, had financial problems. They had to close down. Annie worked hard to get the rights to her Léon books back. On January 31, 2015, she announced exciting news! She would publish her Léon books herself under her own company, Groovie éditions. Another series of her books, Missions à réaliser, moved to a different publisher called Éditions les Malins.
