Qin Leng is a designer and illustrator who is perhaps best known for illustrating children’s books. Leng was born in Shanghai, China, moved to France and then to Montreal, Quebec before relocating to her present home in Toronto. With the publication in French and English translation of Je Suis Petite / I Am Small, Leng joins the likes of Ruth Ohi and Debbie Ohi who are now writing and illustrating their own work, in addition to illustrating the works of other writers. Leng graduated from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and has received many awards for her animated short films and artwork.
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
I Am Small
Translation of Je Suis Petite.
Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2018.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
Mimi is so little, “I might as well be called Mini,” she says. Everyone is taller than her, even the family dog! She can barely reach the bottom of the blackboard at school and isn’t tall enough to see all the pretty cakes in the display case at the bakery. Though her friends try to tell her there are lots of advantages to being her size — like fitting into the best hiding places and easily scooting to the front of the cafeteria line — to Mimi, being small is the worst. But then one day, she hears that there’s a surprise waiting for her at home. A very little surprise. And Mimi is about to discover a little something about being little.
Awards and Honours
2019 IODE Jean Throop Book Award (Finalist)