Photo Credit: Richard Rudnicki
Website:
http://www.susantooke.com
Email:
c/o Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia
Born in the farmlands of New Jersey, Susan was interested in art from an early age. She spent her time drawing the natural world around her, playing in the woods, and helping her mother and grandmother with farm chores, feeding the chickens, milking cows and collecting the eggs. She was fascinated with animals, and had a ring-necked pheasant for a pet.
She knew from about the age of 5 that she wanted to be an artist "when she grew up", and after high school she studied art at Virginia Commonwealth University. After graduation, she taught art in Newark, New Jersey, while continuing her studies at the New School in New York City, in photography, and animation.
Susan moved to Canada in 1980. Her father's family is Canadian, so she has dual citizenship, Canadian and American. This means she gets to vote A LOT.
Susan illustrated her first book in 2000. It was A Seaside Alphabet by Donna Grassby, published by Tundra. To create the illustrations, she traveled all over the East Coast, from Boston, Massachusetts to Fogo Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, finding the right setting and models for her paintings. Icebergs, puffins, all sorts of whales, bustling cities, quiet villages and dramatic landscapes - she was in heaven.
Today, she is illustrating more than ever. Her recent books have taken her to Sable Island through the photographs of Zoe Lucas, where she illustrated Jamie Bastedo's story Free as the Wind: Saving the Horses of Sable Island. She has also toured the neighbouring province of New Brunswick, where she discovered more wonderful people and places (F is for Fiddlehead: A New Brunswick Alphabet).
Up Home, a poem by Shauntay Grant, was released in May 2008. Through Shauntay's wonderful poem about growing up in the African-Nova Scotian community of North Preston, Susan got to know a generous people and had a great time painting a portrait of a childhood in a very special place. Up Home won the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Illustration and the Best Published Book Award at the 2009 Atlantic Book Awards.
B is for Bluenose: A Nova Scotia Alphabet, which Susan both wrote and illustrated. B is for Bluenose celebrates Nova Scotia through the alphabet, and takes the reader on a tour of the province including the Carboniferous Period of the Joggins fossils, the coal mines of Cape Breton, Pier 21 and the history of immigration.
In the 2009 Atlantic Book Awards, Susan won the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Awards for Excellence in Illustration.
Susan lives in Halifax with her husband and fellow artist Richard Rudnicki. She is still creating studio paintings, and working on other projects, such as digital montages, dioramas, murals, and multi-media collaborations.
- A Seaside Alphabet. Written by Donna Grassby, published by Tundra Books, (McClelland & Stewart), Ontario. ISBN 0887765165.
- Our Choice Award 2001
- Beyond the Letters: A Retrospective of Canadian Alphabet Books The National Library of Canada. Ottawa, 2003.
- This is Our Land, Images of America and the World in Original Illustrations from Children's Books, touring exhibition of the United States and the World, Meridian International Center, Washington, D.C.
- A Fiddle for Angus. Written by Budge Wilson. Tundra Books, (McClelland & Stewart) Ontario. ISBN 0887767850
- Ann Connor Brimer Award, short list for Budge Wilson
- Atlantic Booksellers' Choice Award, short list
- The Best Children's Books of the Year, Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College in New York.
- Our Choice Award, 2001, starred selection Canadian Children's Book Centre
- CBC This Morning's Childrens Book Panel, 2001, A Fiddle for Angus, selected book.
- Full Moon Rising. Written by Joanne Taylor, published by Tundra Books, (McClelland & Stewart), Ontario. ISBN 0887765483.
- Mayor's Award for Excellence in Book Illustration, Halifax Regional Municipality
- Ann Connor Brimer Award, short list for Joanne Taylor
- Lillian Sheppard Memorial Award for excellence in Illustration in Atlantic Canada (Full Moon Rising)
- Blue Spruce Award, short list.
- Maclean's Magazine, chosen as one of 12 top Canadian picture books for 2002.
- Brave Jack and the Unicorn. Written by Janet McNaughton, published by Tundra Books, (McClelland & Stewart), Ontario. ISBN 0887766773.
- Bruneau Family Children's Literature Award, 2006, Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award
- Silver Birch Award 2005 - shortlist
- Free as the Wind. Written by Jamie Bastedo, published by Red Deer Press, (Fitzhenry & Whiteside) Alberta.
- Alberta Children's/Young Adult Book of the Year, 2008
- F is for Fiddlehead, A New Brunswick Alphabet. Written by Marilyn Lohnes, published by Sleeping Bear Press, Michigan. ISBN 1585363189.
- Canadian Children's Book Centre's 2008 list of Best Books for Kids and Teens.
- Up Home. Written by Shauntay Grant, published by Nimbus Publishing, Nova Scotia. ISBN - 10: 1551096609.
- B is for Bluenose: A Nova Scotia Alphabet. Written and illustrated by Susan Tooke, published by Sleeping Bear Press, Michigan. ISBN - 10: 1585363626.
