A playful perspective on a toddler ties to the five senses suggested by the text. The puzzle toy, with the red star cutout and the yellow star shape, is based on one Ms. Reid's daughters played with as young children. Her husband, Ian Crysler, is a professional photographer and photographs all her works for reproduction in her books.

Ms. Reid's first book, now a classic, was The New Baby Calf by Edith Newlin Chase. That book was shortlisted for the Canada Council Prize for Illustration. More than twenty books later, her other awards include the UNICEF Ezra Jack Keats Award, the Amelia Francis Howard Gibbon Medal, The Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, and the Mr. Christie's Book Award. She wrote and illustrated The Party which won the Governor General's Award for Illustration.

"As a child, my favorite things were animals, the outdoors, reading and drawing. After winning a creative writing contest in grade six, I decided to become a writer when I grew up. When I was about eight, my grandfather gave me a fairly advanced drawing kit. He told me it was because I was an artist. I had never thought of myself that way. His confidence gave me confidence. But by the end of high school it was clear that although I enjoyed writing, I liked reading a lot more, and drawing best of all. I decided to attend art college. It was for a class assignment that I first experimented with plasticine to make a dimensional picture. The project was a surprise success -- everybody laughed!"

Find out more about Barbara Reid