2025 Forest of Reading® winners announced

Over the past week, the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading®, a readers' choice book award program, announced the winners at its annual Festival of Trees at Harbourfront in Toronto and virtually.

Here are this year's winners and honour books for each reading program, as voted by young readers from JK to Grade 12.

 

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Winner

The Lost Stick
Written and illustrated by Anoosha Syed
PRHC Viking Books

Honour Books:

Harold the Iceberg Melts Down
Written by Lisa Wyzlic
Illustrated by Rebecca Syracuse
RAI Feiwel and Friends

 

Mandeep's Cloudy Days
Written by Kuljinder Kaur Brar
Illustrated by Samrath Kaur
Annick Press

 

Winner

Lost and Found: Based on a True Story
Written and illustrated by Mei Yu

Union Square Kids

Honour Books:

Ghost Girl

Written by Brooke Carter
Illustrated by Alyssa Waterbury
Orca Book Publishers

Dragon on the Loose
Written by Marty Chan
Illustrated by Grace Chen
Orca Book Publishers

Winner

 

The Legendary Mo Seto
Written by A.Y. Chan
Aladdin

 

Honour Books:

Eerie Tales from the School of Screams
Written and illustrated by Graham Annable
First Second

Iggy Included
Written by Deborah Kerbel
Scholastic Canada

Winner 

Four Terrifying Tales 

 (Haunted Canada: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1)
Written by Joel A. Sutherland
Illustrated by Hannah Barrett, David Bishop, Matt Salisbury, and Jenn Woodall
Scholastic Canada

Honour Books:

The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockey
Written by George Chiang and Chad Soon
Illustrated by Amy Qi
Orca Book Publishers

The Halifax Explosion: 6 December 1917, at 9:05 in the Morning
Written and illustrated by Afua Cooper
Plumleaf Press

 

Winner

40 Days in Hicksville
Written by Christina Kilbourne
DCB

Honour Books:

The Cricket War
Written by Tho Pham and Sandra McTavish
Kids Can Press

Tig
Written by Heather Smith
Tundra Books

Winner

The Space Between Here and Now
Written by Sarah Suk
Quill Tree Books (HarperCollins)

Honour Books:

Where the Dark Stands Still
Written by A. B. Poranek
Margaret K. McElderry Books

 

Sweetness in the Skin
Written by Ishi Robinson
HarperCollins

Winner/Lauréat

Hugo
Écrit et illustré par Catherine Braun-Grenier
Fonfon

 

 

 

Honour Books/Livres distingués:

Si j’avais su
Écrit et illustré par Geneviève Després
Les 400 coups

Dernière heure: La déconfiture du lièvre
Écrit par Robert Soulières
Illustré par Sans Cravate
Fonfon

Winner/Lauréat

Le cumulus machinus
Écrit par Ugo Monticone
Ilustré par Orbie
La courte echelle 

 

Honour Books/Livres distingués: 

Ntangu
Écrit par Malika Tirolien
Illustré par Kiara Thompson
Fonfon

Blanche comme un drap
Écrit par Chloé Varin
Illustré par Rémi Allen
Fonfon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner/Lauréat

L’homme aux araignées
Écrit par Jocelyn Boisvert
La courte échelle

Honour Books/Livres distingués:

Le manoir Hillcrest
Écrit par Sandra Dussault
Illustré par Martin Côté
La courte echelle

Lili Jade 01: Pro des animaux
Écrit par Audrée Archambault
Illustré par Simone Duchesne
Éditions de la Bagnole
 

 

Congratulations to everyone!

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