Cary was born and raised in Toronto, where he lives with his family.

Cary's work has been translated into several languages.

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

When a circus train derails in Toronto in 1925, a lion escapes and finds shelter in High Park, a four-hundred-acre park in the west end of the city. No one knows about the creature except for Sadie Menken, the feisty daughter of a pie-maker.

A long-empty birdcage takes a chance and leaves behind its attic home to find a bird to keep. Based on an aphorism by Franz Kafka.

It’s the winter of 1965. Norman Fishbein is enduring not only a cold winter but also the usual torments and annoyances from his two older brothers. When Norman wins a thousand dollars in the “Count-the-Doozy-Dots Contest” he decides what his family really needs is their first vacation that doesn't mean camping in a tent – a trip to Miami Beach.

The story of a little blue chair and its journey across the ocean and back again.

Everyone's favorite odd couple is back. This time, Fly has convinced Wolfie to join him in his one-man band. Before they know it, they're playing live onstage.

When Cary Fagan decides he will try to draw, even though he thinks he isn't very good at it, the result is a sneakily clever book that delivers plenty of excitement, silly jokes and fun — and an important message about self-confidence and perseverance. I Wish I Could Draw will inspire readers to pick up a pencil and let their imaginations do the rest!

Renata Wolfman (Wolfie) is a lone wolf. She does everything by herself — friends just get in the way. Livingston Flott (Fly) is a slightly weird and wordy boy looking for a friend. He loves to make up songs and talk and eat snacks.

Every Sunday Aunt Essy, Aunt Chanah and Uncle Sam drive up in the old Lincoln for their afternoon visit and plop themselves down in the living room. “Oy,” says Aunt Essy. “Feh,” says Aunt Chanah. “So?” says Uncle Sam. That's all they ever say, every Sunday! But one afternoon the three children in the family decide they've had enough.

Danny's parents have always been a bit flaky, but this time they have gone too far. Now his mother wants to bake cheesecakes in the mountains, and his father wants to be an opera singer. That means Danny and his older brother will spend half the year in Banff (wherever that is) and half the year in New York City. Worst of all, in preparation for the big move, his parents have given away the family dog, Thwack.

“Oy, my hat!” cried Mr. Zinger.

He reached up, but the wind had caught the hat and blown it high about the courtyard. Mr. Zinger patted his bald head.

“Young man!” he called. “Help me get my hat!”

The sequel and conclusion to The Boy in the Box.

Sullivan is still trapped with Master Melville's Medicine Show, along with Esmeralda, Clarence, and Frederick, travelling around the country. But his family has not given up hope, and Jinny and Manny are soon back on the road, picking up the trail of the mysterious caravan.

Ella May and the Wishing Stone

One day, Ella May finds a stone that has a line going all-all-all the way around it. Surely a stone this special must grant wishes, she decides. Soon she is busy making wishes and bragging about them. When her friends want to share the fun, Ella May objects.

Eleven-year-old juggling enthusiast Sullivan Mintz helps his family run the Stardust Home for Old People. His best friend, Manny, is eighty-one years old. Life turns upside down the night Sullivan glimpses a strange horse-drawn caravan outside his window and decides to follow it.

Book of Big Brothers

What is it like being the youngest of three brothers? In this wonderful story author Cary Fagan gives us a true-to-life picture of growing up in such a family — from the adventure and fun to the mischief and mishaps.

Jeremiah Birnbaum is stinking rich. He lives in a house with nine bathrooms, a games room, an exercise room, an indoor pool, a hot tub, a movie theater, a bowling alley and a tennis court. His parents, a former hotdog vendor and window cleaner who made it big in dental floss, make sure Jeremiah goes to the very best private school.

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.

The Big Swim

When Ethan arrives at summer camp for the first time, he has just three modest goals. First, to survive. Second, not to be hated. Third, not to be the worst at anything. But these goals turn out to be relatively easy to achieve. Instead, his real challenge comes in the form of a new cabin mate.

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?

Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.