Lauded Montreal illustrator Isabelle Arsenault is the winner of the 2016 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for Louis parmi les spectres, written by Fanny Britt (Éditions de la Pastèque). Founded in 1985 and administered by IBBY Canada, the Cleaver recognizes outstanding illustration in Canadian picture books, and comes with a $1,000 cash prize.

The honour marks the second Cleaver win for Arsenault – also a three-time winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for illustration – who won in 2012 for Virginia Wolf (text by Kyo Maclear).

In addition to Arsenault’s top prize, illustrating duo Terry and Eric Fan were honoured for The Darkest Dark (Tundra Books), written by astronaut Chris Hadfield and Kate Fillion; as was Matt James for his illustration of Jael Richardson’s The Stone Thrower (Groundwood Books).