Phoebe Gilman (1940‒2002) was born in the Bronx, New York on 4 April. She attended the New York High School of Art and Design, and then, after briefly attending Hunter College, studied at the Art Students League in New York. Soon after graduating, Gilman spent time living in both Europe and Israel before eventually moving to and settling in Canada in 1972. She soon met and married Brian Bender, with whom she had three children ‒ and two grandchildren. Gilman taught drawing and painting at the Ontario College of Art for fifteen years, and during this time began to write her children’s stories. Her first book, The Balloon Tree, took fifteen years to finally be published, but she went on after this to publish several other children’s works; she both wrote and illustrated these works herself. Her published books include: The Balloon Tree (1984), Jillian Jiggs (1985), Little Blue Ben (1986), Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs (1987), Grandma and the Pirates (1990), Once Upon a Golden Apple (1991), Jillian Jiggs to the Rescue (1993), Something from Nothing (1992), The Gypsy Princess (1995), Pirate Pearl (1998), and Jillian Jiggs and the Secret Surprise (1999). She completed her last two works, Jillian Jiggs and the Great Big Snow (2000/2002) and The Blue Hippopotamus during her illness with Leukemia, but was unable to illustrate the latter due to the illness. Gilman’s book Something from Nothing was awarded the Ruth Schwartz Award for best children’s book and the Sydney Taylor Award in 1993, and was also later made into a television special. She was also honoured with the Vicky Metcalf Award for her significant contributions to the children’s literature field in Canada. Gilman passed away from Leukemia on 29 August in Toronto, Ontario.
Sources:
Gilman, Phoebe. “About: From Phoebe.” Phoebe Gilman. Morgan Kaye, www.phoebegilman.com/#/about.
“Phoebe Gilman.” The Children’s Literature Web Guide. Kaleidoscope 6: Imagination’s Legacy, 1996, people.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/k6/gilman.html.
“Phoebe Gilman.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_Gilman.