Hilary Leung

Readings

I'll read The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear and play some interactive games from the book. The games include rock stacking, raspberry picking and rabbit collecting - then followed by a Ninja Cowboy Bear tournament.

Book Sales:

Hilary can bring copies of his books to the readings for students to purchase and have autographed, if requested.

Biography

Hilary Leung was born in Hamilton, Ontario where he grew up throwing things, climbing stuff and drawing cartoons. Only one of these activities kept him out of trouble. In grade five, he wrote and illustrated his first picture book, "Rover’s Adventure". It was epic, but remains unpublished.

In September 1994, Hilary enrolled into Sheridan College’s Illustration program and spent three years re-learning how to draw. After graduating, he continued at Sheridan and completed a post-graduate program in New Media Design.

In December 2003, Hilary created an ultimate frisbee tournament for three birthday friends. He assigned each birthday person as a captain of a team and doodled a ninja, a cowboy and a bear for their birthday cards. The tournament was a success and Ninja Cowboy Bear has grown into a popular annual event in Toronto.

In January 2008, Hilary and his good friend David Bruins decided to work on a fun project together. Together they created the book, The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear. It took nine months to write, illustrate and self-publish 2000 copies. After quickly breaking sales of 1000 copies, David and Hilary were approached by Kids Can Press about licensing their book. Currently they are developing an animated Ninja Cowboy Bear television series.

Hilary plans to follow his dream of illustrating children’s books and drawing for a living. He currently lives and works as a freelance graphic artist in Toronto.