Gander: The Town That Welcomed the World

Written by Nikki Bergstresser 

Illustrated by Reilly Fitzgerald 

Plumleaf Press 

978-1-997872047

36 pp.

Ages 9–9

Releases June 30, 2026 

 

Explaining to children the terrorism of 9/11 is a big ask. But by focusing on the kindness of a community instead of wicked intentions, the message is one of positivity and not hatred. Gander did welcome the world and Gander: The Town That Welcomed the World tells that story. 

From Gander: The Town That Welcomed the World, written by Nikki Bergstresser, illustrated by Reilly Fitzgerald

What Nikki Bergstresser does is take the story of those stranded in Gander on September 11, 2001 down to the level of the people. Readers won't read about the events that prompted these extraordinary landings but rather see what they see and what they feel, only getting a vague picture of something big happening elsewhere.

The skies grew silent. Air travel around the world
came to a sudden stop. (pg. 5)

Who did know about what was happening were those in Gander who, seeing the news, jumped into action. They gathered supplies like bedding and towels, and toys for the children, and brought the passengers, who'd waited on their planes for upwards of 24 hours, to churches, schools, community halls, and home. They fed them, helped them make phone calls, comforted them, and showed them the heart of Gander.

From Gander: The Town That Welcomed the World, written by Nikki Bergstresser, illustrated by Reilly Fitzgerald

Though those who found safety in Gander are not named—more than 6,000 people on 38 planes arrived—there is one little girl with long dark braids who is often seen: listless on a plane, resting on a cot, or exploring the land and waters of Gander with her hosts. Nikki Bergstresser and Reilly Fitzgerald help personalize these experiences without making anyone a main character. After all, it's Gander that's the star.

From Gander: The Town That Welcomed the World, written by Nikki Bergstresser, illustrated by Reilly Fitzgerald

When Gander's guests finally get to continue their journeys six days after the first plane landed there, there's a rainbow casting the glow of good will. 

 

Many young children, particularly in Canada, may not be aware of the events of 9/11. Unless they were directly impacted by a relative who was there or by perhaps a parent who was pilot or a resident of Gander, most adults will not discuss the events of the day with them. But there is a way to speak to them about it with sensitivity, and Nikki Bergstresser's Gander: The Town That Welcomed the World would be a tasteful and enlightening way to do so. BC's Nikki Bergstresser packs a lot of depth in her words, conveying easily the exceptionality of this day with the natural response of these Ganderites and Newfoundlanders in general. Her words take us through those days by balancing the fears and confusion with action and kindness.  

From Gander: The Town That Welcomed the World, written by Nikki Bergstresser, illustrated by Reilly Fitzgerald

Reilly Fitzgerald's artwork relies on the authentic, much like the response of the community of Gander. Reminiscent of the artwork of Ted Harrison, Newfoundland's Reilly Fitzgerald uses acrylics to create bold illustrations, with elements heavily outlined in white or black. The impact is extraordinary in its confidence. He gives us scenes of people arriving, confused and frightened, and of people joyous in their heartwarming drive to help. And he gives us a Newfoundland that is expansive and welcoming.

 

Nikki Bergstresser and Reilly Fitzgerald have brought young readers a non-musical and more colourful version of "Come From Away." The complexity of emotions, from fear and confusion to compassion and determination, are all there, and tell the story of Gander stepping up to help those waylaid by the events of September 11. Whether used as a jumping off point for teaching a historical event or for character education, Gander: The Town That Welcomed the World will be a notable story for its retelling of a remarkable act of humanity.

Still Alive (Kidnapped From Ukraine, Book 3)

Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Scholastic Press

978-1-5461-0457-5

320 pp.

Ages 8–12

April 2026 

 

 

While the war on Ukraine by Russia continues to this day, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is ready to resolve the story of twins Dariia and Rada Popkova. The story that began with Dariia's perspective on the attack and invasion of Ukraine in Under Attack (2025) after the girls' separation, and that led to Rada's story in Standoff (2025) comes full circle with a story that brings families together. They are still alive and fighting for themselves, each other, and their country.

 

Still Alive begins in November of 2022 with Rada and her mom living in a ski village in the Carpathian Mountains. Mom works as a manicurist at the Hotel Karpaty, and they are preparing to move into their prefab home in a new refugee area in nearby Prytulok. They receive unexpected messages from Dariia, who has been "adopted" by a Russian family in a Moscow suburb, with details about her "new" name and birthday, as well as those of other Ukrainian children who had been kidnapped to Russia. So begins their fight to get Dariia and the other children back to Ukraine.

 

With the help of Save Ukraine, a Ukrainian charitable organization whose initiatives includes rescue and reunification of children taken from Ukraine, Mom and Rada and their new family of friends get to work trying to find families of others so that they might rescue as many as possible. But it's an arduous task as all must be done legally, finding legal guardians, obtaining powers of attorney, and more.

 

The second part of the story comes after Dariia is rescued and comes to live with Mom and Rada. She may be back with much of her own family—the whereabouts of her soldier father are still unknown—but she must navigate a new reality. She and Rada may be twins but they have always been different. With the traumas that they have endured, it's not just being together like it had been. Here's healing that has to happen but still with the mission to help their country. In fact, they do even more. They find a way to...

...take a shattered world and make it into something beautiful. (pg. 273) 

A series titled Kidnapped From Ukraine does not intimate a story of joy.  Of course, a story based in the ongoing war on Ukraine could be nothing less than horrific. While Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is an author who tells real stories, she is also one who handles them with sensitivity, aware that there is a way to tell an impactful story and still offer reassurance. With Still Alive, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch remind us that this war is not over, and that people are still suffering. Rada's question about the senselessness of this war—"How much hate does it take to kill your neighbour with missiles aimed at churches, children, hospitals?" (pg. 43)—resonates throughout the book as Ukrainians consider atrocities, new or repeated. Their reactions are as diverse as their experiences but their resolve to do what they can—build drones, sew camouflage nets, feed abandoned animals—to save Ukraine is unmistakable. 

 

The Kidnapped From Ukraine trilogy may be disheartening in the nature of its story, but Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch heartens it by comforting young readers with a narrative of families, made and found, and hope for a new future.

 

Under Attack (2025)

Standoff (2025)

Still Alive (2026)

Stella and Sam ABC

Written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Groundwood Books

978-1-77946-067-7

34 pp.

Ages 0–3

May 2026 

 

This is not just another alphabet book. It's Stella and Sam, Marie-Louise Gay's wonderful siblings from countless books including Read Me a Story, Stella (2013), Stella, Princess of the Sky (2004), and Good Night Sam (2003). Together they share, explore, learn, and bond. Now they're helping others learn the alphabet through their relationship and joyous romps through play.

From Stella and Sam ABC, written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

From apple picking to 

moon-watching to 

exploring the jungle, 

every day is a new adventure 

for Stella and Sam. 

Do you want to join them? Let's turn 

the page!

With that first page, Marie-Louise Gay invites us to watch the two children as they play through the seasons. In winter, there's angel-making, ice-skating, and night-time dreaming ... with owls hooting. In the summer, there's fishing and vegetable gardening. And there's always fun in the house like hiding and seeking, reading, rolling and somersaulting, as well as yawning together (Sam and Fred the dog) before falling asleep. These children do so much that I suspect Marie-Louise Gay could write multiple alphabet books for Stella and Sam.

From Stella and Sam ABC, written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Whether together or off on their own, everything they do gives us new letters to learn, new words to identify, and new qualities to fall in love with. Stella and Sam are filled with joy, whether it's watching the moon, bathing with rubber duckies, or slurping some tasty treat. There are nouns and verbs, sounds and more. Marie-Louise Gay shows us that these kids are into everything, both remarkable and ordinary.

From Stella and Sam ABC, written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Young children will definitely learn the alphabet as they read along with Stella and Sam ABC, but they'll also be learning to read. The words are simple and will be meaningful to children. Stella and Sam's activities and actions will all be familiar, and easily replicated which will strengthen young children's learning. And because Marie-Louise Gay always gives us more to love in her art, like hiding rabbits, a stray sock, or a hitchhiking snail, children will be pointing and finding and laughing as they learn.

 

It's so lovely to visit with Stella and Sam again. Even though Marie-Louise Gay has continued to give young readers fabulous picture books (e.g., Short Stories for Little Monsters, 2017); The Three Brothers, 2020; and I'm Not Sydney!, 2022) even early chapter books, I've missed Stella and Sam (and Fred too). They are sweet and true. They are delightful to watch in their relationship and in their play. They are different and yet similar in their dispositions—their parents or guardians must be extraordinary—and I want more of Stella and Sam. Please. After all, there is still so much of their world to explore—exploring is the x word, as you were probably wondering—and to see through their eyes and their hearts.

Looking at the Sky: How Dr. Janusz Korczak Fought for Children's Rights

Written by Amanda West Lewis

Illustrated by Abigail Rajunov

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-1024-9

80 pp.

Ages 8–12

June 2026 

 

From Looking at the Sky: How Dr. Janucz Korczak Fought for Children's Rights, written by Amanda West Lewis, illustrated by Abigail Rajunov

In the early 1920s, Izaak Dembinski is living with his Mama, and sisters Chana, Zofia and Sara in Warsaw, Poland. Izaak's father was a soldier who'd died before Izaak was born. The family's life is one of austerity but there are moments of togetherness that brings respite from everything. But when Mama dies from tuberculosis, seven-year-old Izaak goes to Dom Sierot (which means Home for Orphans), while his sisters go to work at a laundry and a store. 

From Looking at the Sky: How Dr. Janucz Korczak Fought for Children's Rights, written by Amanda West Lewis, illustrated by Abigail Rajunov

Unlike the orphanages of many fictionalized stories, Dom Sierot gives Izaak opportunities. Under the directorship of Dr. Korczak, Izaak is able to receive health care, schooling, time for play, and safety. He gets food with meat which he hadn't had for ages and he is allotted a bed and a small dresser. He learns the value of doing chores and about justice at the weekly children's court. Compared to his sisters, whom Izaak gets to visit on weekends, and who work so hard for so little, Izaak is experiencing a childhood of stability, of care, and of learning.

 

When he is released from Dom Sierot at age fourteen and is anxious about what he will do next, Dr. Korczak advises him that... 

We can give you only one thing: hope. Hope of a better life, a life of truth and justice. (pg. 47)

Regardless of how difficult their lives have been, Izaak's sisters have saved carefully so that he might travel to Canada to stay with their mother's sister and to continue his schooling and get a good job. With the life lessons he has learned from Pan Doctor and matron Pani Stefa, Izaak has learned how to work hard and how to deal with people, and succeed. But when Hitler invades Poland in 1939, Izaak finds it near impossible to keep connected them and his sisters.

From Looking at the Sky: How Dr. Janucz Korczak Fought for Children's Rights, written by Amanda West Lewis, illustrated by Abigail Rajunov

Looking at the Sky is based on the remembrances of a former Dom Sierot child whom Amanda West Lewis befriended. While Izaak and the other children in the story are fictional, their experiences would have been very real. And Dr. Janusz Korczak, a man who founded several orphanages in Warsaw, one Catholic and one Jewish, published stories for children, had a national radio program, and gave hope to many through his good  work, was quite authentic. Looking at the Sky tells his story through that of a child who might have been at Dom Sierot and who may have been blessed with the caring and life lessons extended to him there. By telling Dr. Korczak's story from the perspective of one who benefited from his kindness and compassion, Amanda West Lewis makes Looking at the Sky less of a biography and more of a tribute to an extraordinary man.

From Looking at the Sky: How Dr. Janucz Korczak Fought for Children's Rights, written by Amanda West Lewis, illustrated by Abigail Rajunov

Abigail Rajunov is an American illustrator who embeds the mood of Izaak and Dr. Korczak's story through her use of colour and line. Her palette is very limited and subdued. It is primarily sepia tones for a hard but routine life. Blacks and greys are reserved for the worst of situations—like travel to Treblinka—while bits of blue bring the infrequent joys of cheerful skies, new clothes, or a fresh bed. Abigail Rajunov makes us feel Izaak's story, not just show us it.

 

Perhaps Looking at the Sky gives us but a glimpse into the remarkable legacy of Dr. Korczak—his reputation as a pediatrician, author, educator, and children's rights advocate could fill books—but it is a personal and tender look at how the man influenced and inspired others with his warmheartedness and his insight. And, with Amanda West Lewis's appended note and bibliography, young readers can look beyond to learn more about this great man.

2025 Willow Awards: 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.