2025 Willow Award winners announced

Established in 2001, the Willow Awards, also known as the Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Awards (SYRCA), encourage reading of Canadian books for young people. Readers can participate in the reading programs through their schools and public libraries, selecting their favourite from one of the following categories: Shining Willow, Diamond Willow, and Snow Willow. 
 

Last year, the nominees for these three awards were announced. This spring, young readers selected their favourites. Two days ago the winners were announced. 

 

Congratulations to the 2025 winners of he Shining Willow, Diamond Willow and Snow Willow awards.

 

 

 

The Shining Willow Award winner is selected from those books written for the youngest readers, those in Kindergarten to Grade 3.

Do Hippos Brush Their Teeth?: How Animals Care for Their Bodies

Written by Etta Kaner

Illustrated by Jenna Piechota

Owlkids Books

32 pp.

Ages 4–8

2024

 

 

The Diamond Willow Award winner is selected from those books written for readers of Grades 4 to 6.

Plague Thieves

Written by Caroline Fernandez
DCB Young Readers
208 pp.
Ages 9–12 

2024

 

The Snow Willow Award winner is selected from those books written for readers in Grades 7 to 9.

 Simon Sort of Says

Written by Erin Bow

Disney-Hyperion
305 pp.
Ages 8–12

2023 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to all!

Soccerology: Unbelievable Facts and Stories About the Beautiful Game

Written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester

Annick Press

978-1-8402-066-2

92 pp.

Ages 9–12 

April 2026 

 

With FIFA World Cup 2026 coming soon to cities across North America, excitement will be growing. For those who are just catching World Cup fever and for those who have always loved the game, Kevin Sylvester presents a lively and informative look at soccer, long known as the beautiful game.

From Soccerology: Unbelievable Facts and Stories About the Beautiful Game, written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester

Super sports fan Kevin Sylvester takes young readers through everything about soccer, including why North Americans call it that. There's a lot about the history of the game, including variants that led to its current version and a timeline of where it was played, the rules that it used, associations established around the world, including women playing the sport, or not, throughout time, and trailblazers in the sport.

From Soccerology: Unbelievable Facts and Stories About the Beautiful Game, written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester

Next Kevin Sylvester gives us a primer about how the game is played, from the ball to the pitch (soccer field), and shoes (cleats) and protective wear. There are also discussions about how the game is played, including spin techniques, heading, cheating, and rule enforcement. Most fascinating are the sections in which Kevin Sylvester shares anecdotes about the game: the spectacles, good and bad; the victories and, sadly, tragedies too; the traditions; and becoming inclusive and being adapted to be even more so. There is so much to learn, and Kevin Sylvester always shares his knowledge with enthusiasm and lively illustrations. 

 

Young readers will already know that Kevin Sylvester can write anything: picture books, non-fiction, middle grade novels, speculative fiction, humour, and more. (He's even written a mockumentary for adults.) It's all captivating. But what makes the difference are the illustrations. The artwork in Soccerology is a mix of pen and ink with digital media to give colour and movement to the text. With every illustration, Kevin Sylvester takes us to the pitch, to a crowded stadium, or to different places and times. 

From Soccerology: Unbelievable Facts and Stories About the Beautiful Game, written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester

Even after sharing that in-depth look at soccer, Kevin Sylvester gives young readers more from which to learn, including stats and an extensive list of references and sources for further reading. Soccerology may be comprehensive, but for the soccer fan, beginner or pro, it's a book that opens up more possibilities for learning. The beautiful game is even more beautiful with understanding about its history and complexities, and there's no better way to kickoff this year's World Cup excitement than by sharing Soccerology with young fans. 

Still Friends

Written by Troy Wilson

Illustrated by Mike Deas

Orca Book Publishers 

978-1-4598-4257-1

32 pp.

Ages 3–5

May 2026 

 

When a dog makes a new friend in the park, he can't help but compare her to his old friend. But is that really fair? After all, maybe his new friend has different stuff to offer.

From Still Friends, written by Troy Wilson, illustrated by Mike Deas

When we first meet this adorable beagle, he's with a wonderfully quirky woman with a red ball cap who plays with him, speaks to him, walks him on a long retractable leash, and gives him treats and lots of scratches. But his new friend is a little different. She sits stoically on a bench-like plinth, never speaking and never moving. Just "stone-cold silence."

From Still Friends, written by Troy Wilson, illustrated by Mike Deas

He's a little put off by her silent treatment and soon realizes that she offers a different kind of friendship, to him and a group of pigeons. She offers shelter and support. She never scolds or frowns at him. She definitely doesn't dress him up in silly costumes. And she always listen.

From Still Friends, written by Troy Wilson, illustrated by Mike Deas

This little beagle learns soon enough that none of them is perfect, including himself, and each offers something that makes them a dependable friend to have.

Troy Wilson, author of Liam Takes a Stand (2017), Little Red Reading Hood and the Misread Wolf (2019) and Goldibooks and the Wee Bear (2021), has written a picture book that is both subtle and candid. It reminds me of the old saying by Joseph Parry (and later adapted into a Girl Guide song) to "Make new friends, but keep the old; Those are silver, these are gold." This beagle has a person who is with him all the time, doing the fun stuff and the discipline stuff too. They are the friend and parent, companion and teacher. But for the beagle to expect his new friend, a stone statue of a girl or young woman seated with her hands in her lap, to be the same is just an innocent confusion of what makes a friend. With observation and insight, the beagle realizes that his still friend could still be his friend regardless of how different she is from his old friend. (Hope you're picking up on the puns and word play in Still Friends.) 

From Still Friends, written by Troy Wilson, illustrated by Mike Deas

Even though Troy Wilson likes to play with words, adding some humour to a story about accepting friends as they are, Still Friends asks readers to reflect on their own friendships, just as this beagle has. Because he has done so, through observation and with insight, his life is richer for his awareness. That same lightness and delicacy with a shade of circumspection comes through in Mike Deas's artwork which was created with pastel and pencil crayons with ink outlines. As in his many books in the Scholastic Canada Biography series (written by Elizabeth MacLeod), the early reader Two Tales of Twenty-Six: Liam and the Letters, Walter and the World (written by Stephanie Simpson McLellan, 2024), and his own Sueño Bay Adventures with Nancy Deas), Mike Deas gives us texture and life, even in a story that has to balance brightness with gravitas. He is an illustrator whose style can give us the playfulness but with a sheen of weight in the messaging. It's that same juxtaposition of the beagle's two friends that shows up in Mike Deas's art and complements Troy Wilson's story so well.

 

Next time your child or a student is struggling with friends and wondering if they can be friends with others, give Still Friends a read. It will help them understand that there are many friends out there and by appreciating our differences, including our own imperfections, it will help us establish rock-solid relationships, not just win popularity contests.

2026 Forest Teen Committee Summer Reading List

 

Recently, the Forest of Reading announced their summer reading lists for Silver Birch readers in Grades 3–6, (ages 8–12), and one for Red Maple readers in Grades 7 and 8 (ages 12–14). Now there's a summer reading list for teens ages 14–18 (Grades 9–12) who would be in the White Pine program of the Forest of Reading.

 

This list which came together after a teen committee met to discuss recently published books by Canadian creators is a fabulous list of titles teens might consider reading this summer. 

 

Congratulations to the young people who worked so diligently to champion Canadian books for their peers and to prepare such stellar lists. 

 

Here are their selections for 2026:

  

White Pine

(Ages 14–18, Grades 9–12)

 

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter 

Written by Heather Fawcett 

Del Rey

368 pp.

Ages 18+

2026 

 

Bad in The Blood 

Written by Matteo L. Cerilli

Tundra Books

392 pp.

Ages 14–17

2025 

 

The Beauty of Us 

Written by Farzana Doctor 

ECW Press

304 pp.

Ages 15–18 

2024 

 

Behind Five Willows 

Written by June Hur 

Feiwel & Friends

336 pp.

Ages 13–18

2026 

 

A Deadly Inheritance 

Written by Kelley Armstrong 

Tundra Books

424 pp.
Ages 14+

2026  

 

Here for a Good Time 

Written by Kim Spencer 

Swift Water Books

256 pp.

Ages 14+

2026 

 

Like a Bird 

Written by Becky Citra 

Second Story Press

250 pp.

Age 12–18

2025 

 

The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue 

Written by Zoulfa Katouh

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

368 pp.

Ages 12+

2026 

 

Other Worlds: Stories 

Written by André Alexis 

McClelland & Stewart

288 pp.

Ages 17+

2025 

 

Red Flags and Butterflies 

Written by Sheryl Azzam 

DCB Young Readers

258 pp.

Ages 12–17

2025 

 

Small Ceremonies 

Written by Kyle Edwards

McClelland & Stewart

368 pp.

Ages 18+

2025 

 

This Place Kills Me 

Written by Mariko Tamaki 

Illustrated by Nicole Goux 

Harry N. Abrams

272 pp.

Ages 14–18

2025

 

A Treachery of Swans 

Written by A. B. Poranek 

Margaret K. McElderry Books

368 pp.

Ages 14+ 

2025 

 

What Wakes the Bells 

Written by Elle Tesch

Feiwel & Friends 

331 pp.

Ages 13–18

2025 

 

 

 

 

The downloadable list and poster are available at the Forest of Reading website here:

• Teen summer reading list

• Teen summer reading list poster

2026 Forest of Reading Kid Committees Summer Reading Lists

Every spring since 2017, young peoples have applied to participate on the Forest of Reading's Kid Committees to select books to recommend to their peers to read over the summer.  These lists of recently published books by Canadian creators cover a variety of genres and reading levels and introduce young readers to fabulous books.

 

This year, the committees met in early May to discuss and champion books that they thought their peers might enjoy reading. The Forest Kid Committees have come up with two fabulous lists, one for Silver Birch readers in Grades 3–6, (ages 8–12), and one for Red Maple readers in Grades 7 and 8 (ages 12–14). They have included graphic novels and historical fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. There are more challenging reads and hi-lo readers for grabbing young readers attention. There's something for everyone.

 

Congratulations to the young people who worked so diligently to champion Canadian books for their peers and to prepare such stellar lists. Well done, young readers!

 

Here are their selections for 2026:

 

 

SILVER BIRCH

(Ages 8–12, Grades 3–6) 

Amir and the Jinn Princess

Written by M. T. Khan

Jimmy Patterson Books

Ages 8–12

304 pp.

2024 

 

Bark Twice for Murder

Written by John Lekich

Orca Book Publishers

Ages 9–12

120 pp.

2025

Best Friend, Worst Bully

Written and illustrated by Mei Yu

Union Square Kids

Ages 7–10

144 pp.

2026

Briarwood

Written by Natalie Hyde

DCB Young Readers

Ages 9–12

246 pp.

2026 

Built Like a Bug: How Insects Inspire Everyday Inventions

Written by Anjali Joshi

Illustrated by Kathleen Ng 

Annick Press

Ages 9–12

128 pp.

2026

The Ghosts of Bitterfly Bay 

Written by Mary Averling

G. P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Ages 8–12

224 pp.

2025 

 

I Won't Feel This Way Forever

Written by Kim Spencer

Orca Book Publishers

Ages 9–12

192 pp.

2025

 

Izzy Wong's Nose for News

Written by Marty Chan

Orca Book Publishers

Ages 9–12

208 pp.

2024 

Kaboom!: Blast Off (Book 1)

Written by Jay Odjick

Illustrated by KC Oster 

Scholastic Canada

Ages 8–12

142 pp.

2026 

 

Kindred Dragons

Written and illustrated by Sarah Mensinga

Harry N. Abrams

Ages 10–13

208 pp.

2025

Planting Sunshine

Written by Andrée Poulin

Illustrated by Enzo 

Groundwood Books

Ages 9–12

116 pp.

2026

 

Snoop

Written by Gordon Korman

Scholastic Press

Ages 9–12

208 pp.

2025

Touching Grass 

Written by Kristy Jackson

Illustrated by Rhael McGregor 

HarperCollins

Ages 8–12

336 pp.

2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

RED MAPLE 

(Ages 12–14, Grades 7–8) 

 

Best of All Worlds    

Written by Kenneth Oppel

Penguin Teen Canada

Ages 12+

256 pp.

2025 

The Curse of Heartwood Academy    

Written by Marty Chan

Orca Book Publishers 

Ages 12+

126 pp.

2026

Digger: Dig or Die!    

Written by Deborah Cholette

Illustrated by Davide Ochu

One Elm Book 

Ages 9–12

240 pp.

2025

The Experiment (The Factory, Book 2)    

Written by Catherine Egan

Scholastic 

Ages 9–12

320 pp.

2025

Fierce Voice    

Written by Susan Currie

Common Deer Press 

Ages 12–18

280 pp.

2025

Hypergifted (Ungifted, Book 3)    

Written by Gordon Korman

Scholastic Canada

Ages 9–12

264 pp.

2026

Julia and Romano    

Written by Eric Walters

DCB Young Readers 

Ages 13+

304 pp.

2026

Last Year with Maddy     

Written by Anna Rosner

Yellow Dog 

Ages 9–12

156 pp.

2026

Rhapsody Smith, Ice Angel    

Written by Lorna Schultz Nicholson

Yellow Dog 

Ages 8–12

210 pp.

2025

Seabird    

Written by Michelle Kadarusman

Pajama Press 

Ages 8–12

224 pp.

2025 

The Shape of Lost Things    

Written by Sarah Everett

HarperCollins 

Ages 8–12

272 pp.

2024 

Something's Up with Arlo    

Written by Matteo L. Cerilli

HarperCollins 

Ages 8–12

304 pp.

2025 

 

The Water You're Swimming In    

Written by Rachel Schwartz Fagan

Orca Book Publishers 

Ages 9–12

192 pp.

2026

 

The World's End (The Misewa Saga, Book 6)    

Written by David A. Robertson 

Tundra Books 

Ages 10+

280 pp.

2025 

 

 

  

 

The downloadable lists and poster are available at the Forest of Reading website:

 

• Silver Birch list

• Red Maple list 

• Silver Birch and Red Maple poster