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A native of Toronto, Cary Fagan is an award-winning children’s author, a writer of adult novels, an editor and a contributor to a number of magazines and newspapers, including The Globe and Mail, The Montreal Gazette, and Books in Canada. His work has won the City of Toronto Book Award and the Jewish Book Committee Prize for Fiction. Cary has written several picture books, including Gogol’s Coat and The Market Wedding. Daughter of the Great Zandini, winner of a Mr. Christie Silver Medal, was Cary’s first novel for children. The Fortress of Kaspar Snit was his second. He also wrote Beyond the Dance, a biography of the National Ballet of Canada’s prima ballerina Chan Hon Goh, which was shortlisted for the Norma Fleck Award for children’s non-fiction. Cary lives in Toronto with his family.

Cary enjoys hearing from his readers. You can write to him at info@caryfagan.com. For the latest news, see news & events.

Novels

Picture Books

Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas
Coming in September 2009

He's back! The late Mordecai Richler had planned more adventures for his small hero and now, with the full support of the Richler family, award-winning author Cary Fagan carries on the tradition in a hilarious story for a whole new generation of Jacob fans.
After Jacob Two-Two's father writes a very important novel, the family makes plans to move to Canada. More ...

Thing-Thing

Thing-Thing was neither a Teddy bear nor a rabbit; not a stuffed dog or cat. It was something like each of those, and nothing at all you could name. But it had something special. It had the hope that one day it would find a child to love it and talk to it and make it tea parties and take it to bed. A child it could love back. More ...

Ten Lessons for Kaspar Snit

Until things begin to go wrong, thirteen-year-old Eleanor Blande had hoped that this would be her best year ever. First her father finds himself without work. Then Levon du Plessy-Minsk, the Creature Catcher, threatens to expose Eleanor’s secret to the world. To make matters worse, Eleanor’s mother has developed a fear of flying, and her little brother, Solly, has decided to hang up his Googoo-man superhero outfit forever. More ...

My New Shirt

Receiving the yearly birthday gift from his grandmother has become David’s living nightmare. The “surprise” she always has for him never varies. How can he stop this never-ending flow of stiff, white, scratchy shirts — “perfect gentlemen” shirts that make him squirm and pull and shift and twitch? More ...

Directed by Kaspar Snit

Fresh from their victory over the nasty Kaspar Snit, — who was last seen trying to steal the fountains of Rome in The Fortress of Kaspar Snit — the Blande family have certainly earned a rest. More ...

Ten Old Men and a Mouse

The synagogue was once a busy, bustling place, but now only ten old men come to tend it and pray each day. Then one day, a little scritch-scratch betrays the first new member in years: a tiny mouse who has taken up residence among the holy books. More ...

The Fortress of Kaspar Snit

Come along with the Blande family on this fun fantasy adventure to the Verulian Mountains. Meet eleven-year-old Eleanor, who is longing to fly; seven-year-old Solly, who dresses as a superhero known as Googoo-man; Dad, the world’s foremost expert on fountains; and Mom, who guards an ancient family secret. More ...

Gogol's Coat

In an unnamed city, in an unnamed country, sometime long ago, there lived a poor but talented young scrivener named Gogol. All day he toiled in the Office of Alphabet Copiers, Third Class, happily writing out letters from A to Z. Only the tricks played on him by his jealous co-worker, Ravinsky, marred his pleasure. More ...

Mr. Karp's Last Glass

Young Randolph has two favorite pastimes — hockey and collecting. When his family rents out part of their house, Mr. Karp takes over two rooms on the third floor, and Randolph soon learns that the new boarder is a collector too. More ...

The Market Wedding

Morris sells fish from a stall in the marketplace. Across the way, Minnie sells hats. Their eyes meet and soon they are in love. Morris wants to give his bride a beautiful home, but he is only a poor fishmonger. More ...

Daughter of the Great Zandini

Tradition is important to the Great Zandini, the great magician of Paris. His grandfather was a magician, his father was a magician, and his son will be a magician too. Unfortunately, his son Theodore does not feel the same way. More ...

Biography

Beyond the Dance
A Ballerina's Life

An elegant, expressive dancer, Chan Hon Goh is one of the ballet world’s great stars. She is a brilliant technician possessing a delicate beauty and radiant stage presence. More ...