Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith is an award-winning Canadian illustrator and author. He was born in rural Nova Scotia and started drawing at an early age. Since graduating from NSCAD University, he has illustrated multiple children’s books, including Town Is by the Sea, the winner of the 2017 Kate Greenaway Medal, The White Cat and the Monk, written by Jo Ellen Bogart, and the acclaimed Footpath Flowers, which was a New York Times Children’s Book of the Year and a winner of the Governor General Award for Illustration.

He uses many different media to create his beautifully evocative, painterly illustrations. He's interested in the pace and flow of picture books, using his artwork to create space and moments to digest what is happening in the story, even when the text might be saying something else. "You can create so much with illustrations beyond just the pictures of the text."

His book, Small in the City was inspired by his experience of living in Toronto, and won the 2021 Kate Greenaway Medal. Sydney Smith was awarded the extremely prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration in 2024.