Bio (from Frostfire)

Elly MacKay is an acclaimed paper artist and award-winning children’s bookmaker. She is the author and illustrator of a number of picture books, including In the Clouds and Red Sky at Night, and has illustrated, among others The Enchanted Symphony by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton and I A a Meadow Mermaid and The Secret Fawn by Kallie George. Before pursuing a career in picture books, she taught in schools and was an educator in galleries. Elly lives in the winter kingdom of Owen Sound, Ontario, where she and her family often search for snow dragons in the gardens and fields nearby.

Becoming a Paper Artist:

Elly grew up in a converted church in the countryside with artist parents, Steve and Joan Irvine. Joan wrote books such as How to Make Pop-Ups which introduced Elly to the world of paper art. As a teen, Elly and her mom took a train trip to meet members of the Movable Book Society. They gave her an informal education in papercraft and introduced her to Victorian optical toys, paper theatre and tunnel books. Elly began selling her paper sculptures at a gallery in Toronto called 1st Hand following the trip. She then went to NSCAD University in Halifax and The University of Canterbury in Christchurch for printmaking and illustration. Elly worked for a few years as an educator but after the birth of her first child, was longing to create paper art. Her husband Simon built her a paper theatre for Christmas in 2009. Since then, Elly has been creating miniature worlds out of paper, photographing them and using those photos as illustrations for children’s books.



PICTURE BOOKS LISTED

  • The Island of Wild Horses, Elly MacKay, 2028, Tundra Books.

  • Fox Fairies, Elly MacKay, 2027, Tundra Books.

  • A Forest Begins Anew, Louise Aamodt, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2026, Astra Young Readers.

  • Twelve Daring Grays, A Whale Migration Adventure, Nora Nickum, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2026, Candlewick.

  • The Bunny Ballet, Nora Ericson, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2025, Abrams.

  • Frostfire, Elly MacKay, 2024, Tundra Books.

  • The Enchanted Symphony, Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2023, Abrams Kids.

  • I Am a Meadow Mermaid, Kallie George, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2023, Tundra Books.

  • Zap! Clap! Boom!, Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2023, Bloomsbury

  • Too Early, Nora Ericson, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2022, Abrams.

  • In The Clouds, Elly MacKay, 2022, Tundra Books.

  • Hidden Treasure, Elly MacKay, 2021, Running Press Kids.

  • The Secret Fawn, Kallie George, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2021, Tundra Books.

  • The Tallest Treehouse, Elly MacKay, 2019, Running Press Kids.

  • Red Sky at Night, Elly MacKay, 2018, Tundra Books.

  • Waltz of the Snowflakes, Elly MacKay, 2017, Running Press Kids.

  • Maya, Mahak Jain, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2016, Owlkids.

  • Beach Baby, Laurie Elmquist, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2016, Orca Book Publishers.

  • Butterfly Park, Elly MacKay, 2015, Running Press Kids.

  • Shadow Chasers, Elly MacKay, 2014, Running Press Kids.

  • Fall Leaves, Loretta Holland, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2014, Clarion Books.

  • The Best Gifts, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, illustrated by Elly MacKay, 2013, Fitzhenry & Whiteside.

  • If You Hold a Seed, Elly MacKay, 2013, Running Press Kids.

Interviews:

Previously featured in: Chatelaine (Ms. Chatelaine), O Magazine, Flow, Cosmo (China edition)

Select Clients:

  • Penguin Random House ~ Tundra

  • Candlewick

  • Bloomsbury

  • Abrams

  • Penguin Random House USA

  • Running Press

  • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  • Sterling Publishing

  • OwlKids Books

  • Orca

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