Elizabeth Cleaver

Many of her illustrations appeared in mythological stories by the Indigenous peoples. Outside of literature, she was a puppet designer for the Centaur Theatre and taught shadow puppetry in Baker Lake, Northwest Territories by 1972. Two of her books, The Wind Has Wings: Poems from Canada and The Loon's Necklace were recognized with the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award during the 1970s by the Canadian Library Association. She was given their 1974 Book of the Year for Children Award for The Miraculous Hind. Cleaver received a 1980 Canada Council Children's Literature Prize for her illustrations in Petrouchka. Her overall illustrations were nominated for a 1972 Hans Christian Andersen Award. The Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award is named in her honour.

• Name — Elizabeth Cleaver • Birth Name — Elizabeth Ann Mrazik • Born — 19 November 1939 • Birthplace — Montreal, Quebec, Canada • Died — 27 July 1985 • Place of death — Montreal, Quebec, Canada • Occupation — Illustrator, writer • Genre — Children's literature

Mrazik was born on 19 November 1939 in Montreal. Her childhood was spent there and Sárospatak, Hungary. She attended Sir George Williams University for her post-secondary education. Mrazik then went to "the School of Art and Design of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and l'École des Beaux Arts, Montreal." In the late 1970s, she went to Concordia University for a Masters of Fine Arts. Her studies was completed in 1980.

By the late 1960s, Cleaver was "working at a Toronto advertising agency." She became an children's book illustrator in 1968 with The Wind Has Wings. Cleaver changed her focus to arts and literature leading up to the early 1970s. By 1972, she was a puppet designer for the Centaur Theatre before teaching shadow puppetry in Baker Lake, Northwest Territories. Cleaver was an illustrator for twelve children's books and one adult book. These included five of her own works and four by William Toye. She created The Enchanted Caribou before her death in 1985. It was posthumously released that year.

As Elizabeth Mrazik, she started a marriage in 1965. Her death from cancer occurred on 27 July 1985 in Montreal.