Rogé, 1972- : Rogé (a.k.a. Roger Girard) was born on February 14, 1972, in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. He holds a degree in Graphic Communications from Laval University. He began his career as an artistic director with the advertising agencies Cossette and LG2. In 2000, during a three-month international cooperation trip to the Dominican Republic, Rogé painted murals in the village of Salcedo. Upon returning to Quebec, he decided to pursue a career as an illustrator.
In 2011, he moved to Havre-aux-Maisons in the Magdalen Islands with his wife, Caroline Grégoire, who wanted to run a medical practice in the countryside, and their daughter Clara. Rogé changed his colourful drawing style to explore a more nuanced palette. He created a series of books with portraits of children (Haïti mon pays [later published in English as Haiti My Country], Mingan mon village [later published in English as Mingan My Village] and Hochelaga mon quartier). He illustrated Le bruit des cailloux, a collection of poems written by his wife, Caroline Grégoire, and published by Magdalen Island publisher La Morue verte.
Rogé has published around 20 children's works that have won him numerous awards, including the prestigious Governor General of Canada Literary Award for Youth Illustration twice: in 2006 for Le gros monstre qui aimait trop lire (later published in English as Taming Horrible Harry) and in 2016 for Grand-père et la lune (later published in English as Grandfather and the Moon). He won the New York Times Award in 2014 for Haiti My Country, the translated version of Haiti mon pays, as well as the Prix des libraires in 2011 for Le roi de la patate (later published in English as The French Fry King) and again in 2013 for Mingan mon village. Both Haiti My Country and Mingan My Village are also part of the international selection of The White Ravens prepared by Munich's International Youth Library.
Rogé's illustrations have been exhibited in Canada, Italy, France and Taiwan. He now lives in Montréal with his family.
