Cary Fagan facts for kids

Cary Fagan (born in 1957) is a Canadian writer. He writes many kinds of books, including novels for adults, short stories, and especially books for children. His adult novel, The Student, was a finalist for two big awards: the Toronto Book Award and the Governor General's Literary Award. Another book, My Life Among the Apes, was considered for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. His novel A Bird's Eye was also a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Since 2001, Cary Fagan has written over 25 books for children!

About Cary Fagan

Cary Fagan was born in 1957 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He grew up in the suburbs of Toronto. He studied English at the University of Toronto and won several student awards. He has also lived for short times in London and New York City. Today, he lives in Toronto with his wife, Rebecca Comay. He has two daughters and two step-children. He also helps run a small publishing company called espresso.

Cary Fagan has won many awards for his writing. These include a Toronto Book Award, two Jewish Book Awards, and a Mr Christie silver medal.

Awards and Honours

Cary Fagan has won many important awards for his books. Here are some of them:

• 1994 Jewish Book Award for Fiction (for The Animals' Waltz)
• 2004 World Storytelling Award (U.S.) (for The Market Wedding)
• 2009 Quill & Quire Book of the Year (for Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas)
• 2012 IODE Jean Throop Book Award (for Mr. Zinger's Hat)
• 2013 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award (for Mr. Zinger's Hat)
• 2014 Vicki Metcalf Award for Children's Literature (for all his children's books)
• 2019 Joan Betty Stuchner--Oy Vey!--Funniest Children's Book Award (for Mort Ziff is not Dead)
• 2022 Canadian Jewish Literary Award (for Great Adventures for the Faint of Heart)
• 2023 Forward Silver Award for Humor (for The Animals)
• 2023 Vine Award For Jewish Canadian Literature (for Water, Water)

His books have also been finalists or honour books for other awards:

• 1990 Finalist, Toronto Book Awards (for City Hall and Mrs. God)
• 2000 Sydney Taylor Honor Book (U.S.) (for The Market Wedding)
• 2004 Silver Birch Award Honour Book (for The Fortress of Kaspar Snit)
• 2008 Finalist, TD Canadian Children's Literature Award (for Thing-Thing)
• 2008 Silver Birch Express Award Honour Book (for Ten Lessons for Kaspar Snit)
• 2008 Finalist, Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award (for Thing-Thing)
• 2010 Finalist, Toronto Book Awards (for Valentine's Fall)
• 2012 Longlist, Scotiabank Giller Prize (for My Life Among the Apes)
• 2013 Finalist, Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize (for "A Bird's Eye")
• 2015 Finalist, John Spray Mystery Award (for The Show to End all Shows)
• 2019 Finalist, Toronto Book Award (for The Student)
• 2019 Finalist, Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction (for The Student)
• 2019 Finalist, Governor General's Literary Award for Illustrated Children's Book (for King Mouse)

Cary Fagan's Books

Cary Fagan has written many books for different ages.

Children's Books

Here are some of the books Cary Fagan has written especially for young readers:

• Gogol's Coat (Tundra Books, 1999), illustrated by Regolo Ricci
• The Market Wedding (Tundra, 2000), illustrated by Regolo Ricci
• Daughter of the Great Zandini (Tundra, 2001), illustrated by Cybèle Young
• Beyond the Dance: A Ballerina's Life (Tundra, 2002), co-written with Chan Hon Goh
• The Fortress of Kaspar Snit (Tundra, 2004)
• Ten Old Men and a Mouse (Tundra, 2007), illustrated by Gary Clement
• My New Shirt (Tundra, 2007), illustrated by Dušan Petričić
• Directed by Kaspar Snit (Tundra, 2007)
• Mr. Karp's Last Glass (Tundra, 2007), illustrated by Selçuk Demirel
• Ten Lessons for Kaspar Snit (Tundra, 2008)
• Thing-Thing (Tundra, 2008), illustrated by Nicolas Debon
• Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas (Tundra, 2009), illustrated by Dušan Petričić
• Book of Big Brothers (Groundwood Books, 2010), illustrated by Luc Melanson
• The Big Swim (Groundwood, 2010)
• Banjo of Destiny (Groundwood, 2011), illustrated by Selçuk Demirel
• Ella May and the Wishing Stone (Tundra, 2011), illustrated by Geneviève Côté
• Mr. Zinger's Hat (Tundra, 2012), illustrated by Dušan Petričić
• The Boy in the Box (Penguin Canada, 2012)
• Danny, Who Fell in a Hole (Groundwood, 2013), illustrated by Milan Pavlovic
• Oy, Feh, So (Groundwood, 2013), illustrated by Gary Clement
• I Wish I Could Draw (Groundwood, 2014)
• Little Blue Chair (Tundra, 2017), illustrated by Madelie Kloepper
• A Cage Went in Search of a Bird (Groundwood, 2017), illustrated by Banafsheh Erfanian
• Wolfie & Fly (Tundra, 2017), illustrated by Zoe Si
• Mort Ziff is Not Dead (Penguin Canada)
• What Are You Doing, Benny? (Tundra, 2019), illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
• The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster (Tundra, 2019)
• King Mouse (Tundra, 2019), illustrated by Dena Seiferling
• Mr. Tempkin Climbs a Tree (Kar-Ben Publishing, 2019), illustrated by Carles Arbat
• Son of Happy (Groundwood, 2020), illustrated by Milan Pavlović
• Bear Wants to Sing (Tundra, 2021), illustrated by Dena Seiferling
• Water, Water (Tundra, 2022)
• Boney (Groundwood, 2022)
• Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door (Tundra, 2023)

Novels for Adults

Cary Fagan also writes novels for adult readers:

• The Animals' Waltz: A Novel (Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1994)
• Sleeping Weather (The Porcupine's Quill, 1997)
• Felix Roth (Stoddart Books, 1999)
• The Mermaid of Paris (Key Porter Books, 2003)
• Valentine's Fall (Cormorant Books, 2010)
• A Bird's Eye (House of Anansi Press, 2013)
• The Student (Freehand Books, 2019)
• The Animals (book*hug, 2022)

Other Works

He has also published collections of short stories and non-fiction books:

• History Lessons (Hounslow, 1990) - Short stories
• The Little Black Dress: tales from France (The Mercury Press, 1993) - Short stories
• The Doctor's House and other Fiction (Stoddart, 2000) - Short stories
• My Life Among the Apes (Cormorant, 2012) - Short stories
• The Old World and Other Stories (Anansi, 2017) - Short stories
• Great Adventures for the Faint of Heart (Freehand Books, 2021) - Short stories
• City Hall and Mrs. God: A Passionate Journey Through a Changing Toronto (The Mercury Press, 1990) - Non-fiction

Cary Fagan has also worked as an editor for other books:

• Streets of Attitude: Toronto stories (Toronto: Yonge & Bloor, 1990)
• A Walk by the Seine: Canadian poets on Paris (Windsor, ON: Black Moss Press, 1995)