Jo Ellen Bogart was born in Houston, Texas, and received degrees in elementary education and psychology from the University of Texas in Austin. Her best-selling children's books have been nominated for and won many different awards, including the Ruth Schwartz Award, the Mr. Christie's Book Award, the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award. Her picture book Gifts was selected for the TD Grade One Book Giveaway program, as well as the IBBY Honor List. She lives in Guelph, Ontario.

Sydney Smith was born in rural Nova Scotia, and has been drawing since an early age. Since graduating from NSCAD University, he has illustrated multiple children's books, including the wordless picture book Sidewalk Flowers, and he has received awards for his illustrations, including the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration. He now lives in Toronto and works in a shared studio space in Chinatown and goes to the library or the Art Gallery of Ontario on his breaks.

"A stunningly illustrated meditative ode to the simple joys of human-animal companionship and the pursuit of knowledge." -- School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

"... a sophisticated and subtle story about the pursuit of joy--one that will easily resonate with readers young and old." -- Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

"If ever there was a book that could calm a child and draw her into meditative contemplation (perhaps right before bed?), The White Cat and the Monk is it." -- Quill & Quire, STARRED REVIEW

"...lyrical yet easily understood...Contentment and joy are reflected in text and image" -- Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW

"The watercolor-and-ink artwork has both heft and humor, especially in the joyful depictions of the manuscripts...Readers who consider the story's underlying messages about necessities, companionship, and fulfillment will come away enriched." -- Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

"If you want to treat yourself to a superb picture book, treat yourself to this one." -- Julie Danielson, Kirkus Review

"Truly a wonderful book, THE WHITE CAT AND THE MONK expresses the richness of the relationship between the two characters." -- CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"The adaptation . . . is as unostentatious as the watercolor-and-ink illustrations, which meld a medieval spirit with a modern sense of cartooning, a juxtaposition that is fresh and seems entirely right." -- Horn Book

"The text's subtle moral is timeless but also sings with elegiac timeliness -- what a wonderful counterpoint to modern life's hamster wheel of achievement and approval, this idea that there is poetry in every pursuit executed with purposefulness and savored with uncompetitive joy." -- Maria Popova, The New York Times

"Smith . . . imbues the text with contemporary visual language through his singular, elegantly minimalist graphic novel aesthetic." -- Brain Pickings

"This is a great book for any group of readers . . . a great book to introduce to kids who may not think they like poetry." -- The Children's Writer's Guild

"Author Jo Ellen Bogart has provided an unembellished, thoughtful text that pays tribute to the value of perseverance and dedication for one's vocation, be it humble or exalted." -- Canadian Children's Book News

"The stylized artwork captures the timeless beauty of the poem in this simple yet meaningful picturebook, highly recommended." -- Midwest Book Review

Publisher: Groundwood Books

Pub date: 2016-03-01

Length: 36 pages