By Colette Poitras
2026 has been an exciting year! In August, the IBBY-UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books in Indigenous and Endangered Languages was launched in Ottawa at the IBBY World Congress. Of all the countries, Canada had the highest representation of Indigenous language titles in the entire collection!
I am grateful that there are more titles which reflect Indigenous Peoples, cultures, languages and worldview in a positive way. When it comes to picture books, the illustrations are just as important as the text in conveying that. With that in mind, I had the great opportunity to speak to a few fantastic illustrators who are leading the way in making good picture books accessible to the public: Azby Whitecalf, Maya McKibbin, Kar Harvey, and Delreé Dumont.
Can you please introduce yourselves?
Azby Whitecalf: Hello, my name is Azby Whitecalf. My pronouns are they/them. I am a Plains Cree illustrator residing in Saskatchewan!
Maya McKibbon: My name is Maya McKibbon. My family is Irish, Ojibwe, with roots in White Earth Nation and Indigenous diaspora from Zacatecas in Mexico. All the pieces of these places that my family has carried forward over land and water have informed who I am. I’ve moved around a lot, so did they; because of this, I care a lot about the oceans that connect us all, familiar insects, ancestral food, queer horror movies and comics.
Kar Harvey: My name is Kar Harvey, and I'm an illustrator who has lived in Vancouver for the last 20 years. I'm Tsilhqot'in on my mom's side (I'm a registered member with Tl'etinqox) and I'm Syilx on my dad's side. I also have some European ancestry mixed in on both sides of my family. I am a creative person who loves publishing, and I am also passionate about Indigenous youth empowerment.
Delreé Dumont: My name is Delreé Dumont. I am a Cree (Nehiyaw) artist and a member of Onion Lake Cree Nation. I have been a full-time artist since 2014, although art has been part of my life for much longer than that. My work is very much connected to the land, animals, our stories and my own experiences as an Indigenous woman.
Can you tell us how you became an illustrator?
Azby: I've been an artist since I was able to pick up a pencil, and that passion grew and grew as I got older. I never thought I'd become an illustrator, mostly because I never knew it was a career choice for myself. After I finished my bachelor’s degree, I was offered my first children's book project, Buffalo Wild. I found that doing so resonated with my personal practice mandate, which is to provide accurate and positive representation of Indigenous people and youth. I quickly began to love working in the children's literacy field; I feel very connected to the youth I work with, and I find their passion and confidence very inspiring to be around.
Maya: I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. Throughout university, I did freelance illustration to have some more income. I got my first children’s book illustration offer from Annick Press during a time I was working at a video game company. I did it, and emails came after with more stories from other amazing authors. I feel very lucky that folks were drawn to my art. I juggled it for a while, simultaneously working at Spotted Fawn Productions with Amanda Strong. Now I’m just making it work with illustration and odd jobs here and there; I love it a lot.
Kar: Ever since I was a small child, I've always drawn cartoons. Later in life, I developed my illustration style using digital tools, and that was significant in terms of increasing my creative output. In my early thirties, I recognized I no longer loved graphic design or some of the other creative pursuits that consumed my time. So, I decided that I only wanted to illustrate as a creative professional.
Delreé: Becoming an illustrator wasn’t something I had planned. Orca Book Publishers in Victoria approached me and asked if I would be interested in illustrating This Land Is a Lullaby. They sent me the story, and I connected with it immediately. When I read the story, I could already see it. That was really the beginning of my journey as a children’s book illustrator.
How do you carry the responsibility of representing your culture authentically?
Azby: I carry it with pride and honour. I never got to see my culture accurately represented in mainstream media growing up. I want to show our youth that we are more than just our trauma and history, that our culture is rich and our language is beautiful and that they can aspire to do anything in the world.
Maya: A lot of communication, not just with the people I’m working with directly, but also with folks in my life who are knowledge carriers. I go with my guts a lot. If something makes me feel unsure, I’ll investigate it instead of shutting it down. Rushing things leads to hurt and misrepresentation.
Kar: In terms of children’s picture books, cultural responsibility occurs through the process of developing a creative project with the Indigenous author. When I first start a project, I am keen to know the author and the Nation they come from, the specific details of their upbringing and what their physical home environment looked like. By asking questions and asking the author to share photos and memories, I can work with them to develop illustrations that visually resonate a familiar impression of what they know. I have a deep curiosity in understanding similarities and differences between Indigenous Nations, while there is so much that brings us together, there are also differences between our cultures which is beautiful to celebrate and specify through visual details in my illustration work.
Delreé: I think about this a lot. I paint and illustrate from what I know, what I have personally experienced and what I have been taught. There is also a responsibility to the people who will see the work, especially Indigenous children. I want them to see something that feels respectful and genuine.
How would you best explain your illustration style?
Azby: I'm really inspired by mid-century modern illustration. I love cartoons! My style is a combination of these things that inspire me. Simplistically, I am a cartoonist!
Maya: Often times, editors will ask me to “make it more cute and less creepy” so maybe my art stands in the place of “sharp and scary”? It’s hard to see your own art as a whole. As a teenager I was majorly influenced by Jamie Hewlett, anime like Wolf’s Rain and Death Note and comics like Calvin and Hobbs AND Captain Underpants! So maybe it’s safe to say I have a big comics influence with a lot of silly. Most of what I do is digital. I love digital work and think it has a lot of flow, life and also shareability!
Kar: I often double check with publisher’s that the author is okay with my style being cartoonish. I am not obsessed with realism. I wish to consider how I can illustrate the world from a different perspective filled with bright colours that might challenge what a person thinks is “correct.” I really do love colour theory and figuring out how to build a vibrant palette for each story that I work on. Depicting Indigenous joy is also a common theme within my work.
Delreé: My style is probably best described as contemporary pointillism with a mix of surrealism and realism. I create images using many small dots of acrylic paint. The dots remind me of traditional beadwork. I love colour, but I also love creating movement and feeling. When you stand back from one of my paintings, all those individual dots begin to work together and become something larger. Nature is also very important in my work. Animals, trees, water, the sky and the land aren’t simply backgrounds to me. They are part of the story.
What does it mean to you to be able to contribute to these important stories?
Azby: It means the world to me! I'm extremely honoured when authors or knowledge keepers ask me to help bring their story to life. It also means so much when I'm able to participate in retaining and sharing our cultural stories.
Maya: I’m SOOOOO honoured I am invited to illustrate people’s intimate often familial stories. The stories reach out beyond the pages; the most fulfilling part of this job is getting to see the books in people’s hands and how they receive them. I’ve watched adults shed tears after reading Kathy Stinson’s If You Were Here. I’ve been given amazing opportunities to teach kids in libraries and classrooms because of the stories I’ve been invited into.
Kar: It is always an honour to be invited as an Indigenous artist to depict Indigenous stories. I recognize when I am contacted for a project opportunity, it’s because people have found my work and believed my illustration style holds a synergy to the story being told. That point of connection or recognition is deeply important to me because often Indigenous stories are inherently personal and the weaving that occurs between a written language and a visual language is so integral in terms of seeing oneself within the landscape of Indigenous children’s literature.
Delreé: It means a great deal to me. For many years, Indigenous people didn’t have control over how our stories or our images were presented. Other people often told those stories for us. But that has changed over the years. Being able to contribute as a Cree artist means I can bring something of myself, my family, my culture and my relationship with the land into the story. With This Land Is a Lullaby, I wanted children to feel the warmth and gentleness of the land. I wanted the illustrations to feel like you could almost hear the sounds, feel the evening air and sense that connection between the child, family, animals and the land surrounding them. There is something very special about knowing a child might open that book and recognize something of their own home, family or culture in those pages.
Do you have any advice to kids who are interested in illustration/artwork?
Azby: My best advice would be to draw every day and draw whatever makes you happy, and not to be embarrassed about what you are passionate about. The more you mess up or make something that looks "bad," the more you learn!
Maya: Keep a sketchbook, keep drawing things you like, things that you find fun, try new things! Don’t feel bad if something you create isn’t perfect. No time is wasted when you’re learning, and you’ll ALWAYS be learning if you do it right!
Kar: Draw all the time. Draw on anything you can find. Also, there may come a day when a voice enters your head to tell you that your drawings are not good enough. It is your courageous duty to tell that voice it is wrong. Because to draw and to be creative is to dream, and how incredibly wonderful is that?
Delreé: Draw. Paint. Make things. And don’t worry so much about whether you’re doing it “right.” Play with your imagination! When I was young, I didn’t know that one day I would become a full-time artist, own an art gallery or illustrate children’s books. Those opportunities came because I kept creating and persevering. I would also tell kids not to compare their artwork to somebody else’s. Your way of seeing the world is yours. Your art doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Most importantly, enjoy creating.
Thanks so much to you all for sharing your journey to becoming illustrators, your creativity, insights and advice with us! Hiy-hiy maarsii! Kinanaskomitin (I am grateful to you).
Colette Poitras is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta, holds a Master's degree in Library and Information Science and is the Indigenous Public Library Services Advisor for the Government of Alberta.
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Disclaimer
Interview responses reflect the views of the interview subjects. Opinions and views expressed by interview subjects are their own and are published as part of the CCBC’s coverage of Canadian children’s books and creators. Please see our Editorial Policy for further details.