Gilles Tibo was born in 1951 in Nicolet, Quebec. He was self taught and knew he wanted to be an illustrator at an early age. He began his career in the mid 70's, by creating comic strips, and in 1975 illustrating his first children's book. It was not until he published the picture-book edition of Edgar Allen Poe's poem, Annabel Lee in 1987, that his paintings rewarded him with international praise. Tibo uses a medium called air-brush painting and adds detail later with colored pencils. The National Library in Quebec holds the original paintings for the first book in the Simon series, Simon and the Snowflakes. Tibo has won many awards, including the 1989 14th Owl Prize (Japan's International Competition for Illustrators) for Simon and the Snowflakes, the 1992 Governor General's Literary Award/Children's Literature for best illustrations in a French book for Simon et la Ville de Carton and the 1996 Governor General's Literary Award/Children's Literature for best French text for Le Secret de Madame Lumbago. He was also a Canada Council fellow. Tibo has created over 100 posters and screen prints for theatre and for different cultural events. His illustrations can also be seen on the covers of records, novels and magazines.