2026 Governor General's Literary Awards: Finalists announced

Yesterday, the Canada Council for the Arts announced the finalists for the highly prestigious Governor General's Literary Awards.

The seven categories of books, both in French and English, for which awards are given are the following:

• Fiction
• Non-Fiction
• Poetry
• Young People's Literature (Text)
• Young People's Literature (Illustration)
• Drama
• Translation

Congratulations to the finalists of all the awards.

 

Here I present those finalists of works for young people.

English-language: Young People's Literature (Text)

 

Touching Grass
Written by Kristy Jackson

Illustrated by Rhael McGregor
HarperCollins Canada

The Love Song of Mr. Byrd
Written by Philippa Dowding
DCB Young Readers

The World's End (The Misewa Saga, Book 6)
Written by David A. Robertson
Tundra Books

Seabird
Written by Michelle Kadarusman
Pajama Press

The Rebel Girls of Rome
Written by Jordyn Taylor
HarperCollins Canada

English-language: Young People's Literature (Illustration)

 

Call Me Gray

Illustrated by Tallulah Fontaine

Written by Andrew Larsen and Bells Larsen

Kids Can Press 

Aggie and the Ghost

Illustrated and written by Matthew Forsythe

Simon & Schuster 

Little Moments in a Big Universe

Illustrated and written by Todd Stewart

Owlkids Books 

Billie Builds a Robocorn

Illustrated by James Braithwaite

Written by José Avelino Gilles Lourenço 

Tundra Books 

A Door Is to Open
Illustrated by Julie Morstad

Written by Kyo Maclear
Tundra Books

French-language: Young People's Literature (Text)

 

Au chevet de la lumière
Écrit par Jean-Christophe Réhel
la courte échelle  

Un roi sans couronne
Écrit par Uashteskun
Dominique et compagnie

Comment convaincre un fantôme de déménager
Écrit par Maude Ménard-Dunn

Illustré par Sophie Bédard
Éditions Québec Amérique 

Les différences invisibles
Écrit par Maude Nepveu-Villeneuve
Les Éditions Écosociété 

Un don du ciel
Écrit par Eveline Payette
Les Éditions du Boréal 

French-language: Young People's Literature (Illustration)

Fleurs de verre
Écrit et illustré par Eve Patenaude
Éditions XYZ 

La maison cachette
Illustré par Geneviève Bigué

Écrit par Erika Soucy
Éditions de la Pastèque 

À l’enVERRE
Écrit et illustré par Orbie

Éditions Les 400 coups  

Minuit sonne et farandole

Illustré par Laurence Goulet-Tremblay

Écrit par Alizée Goulet
Monsieur ED  

Nos poissons
Illustré par Mathilde Cinq-Mars
Écrit par Éric Dupont
Marchand de feuilles 

 

 

 

 

 

Winning titles will be announced on November 12, 2026.

 

2026 CCBC Book Award Winners Announced

On Monday, October 26, 2026, a gala event was held to announce the winners of this year's English-language Canadian Children's Book Awards of the Canadian Children's Book Centre. (The press release of the announcement is posted here.) From a fine list of nominees, the following winners were selected by juries of their peers from the kidCanLit world. 

Here now are the winners of the following English-language awards:

• Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000) 
• Sharon Fitzhenry Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction ($10,000)  
• Amy Mathers Teen Book Award ($5,000) 
• Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award ($5,000)
• David Booth Children’s and Youth Poetry Award ($3,500) 
• Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($3,000) 

• • • • • • •

 

Congratulations to all winners!

• • • • • • •

 

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award: WINNER 

 

 

Rock 

Written by Laurel Croz

Illustrated by Matt James
Groundwood Books

• • • • •

Sharon Fitzhenry Award for Canadian Children's Non-fiction: WINNER

 

 

The True Story of Vanilla: How Edmond Albius Made History 

 Written by Ann Richards 
Illustrated by Arden Taylor 
Orca Book Publishers

 

• • • • •

 

Amy Mathers Teen Book Award: WINNER

 

 

He’s So Possessed with Me

Written by Corey Liu 
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 

 

• • • • •

 

 

Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award: WINNER

  

 

Oasis 

Written and illustrated by Guojing 
Godwin Books

 

• • • • •

  

 

 

David Booth Children’s and Youth Poetry Award: WINNER

 

 

Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams 

Written by Shari Green 
Andrews McMeel Publishing  
  

 

• • • • • 

 

 

Geoffrey Bilson Award for 

Historical Fiction for Young People: WINNER

 

 

I Won't Feel This Way Forever

Written by Kim Spencer 
Orca Book Publishers  

 

 📚📚📚

 

 

2026 Lane Anderson Award: Shortlists announced

The Lane Anderson Award, an award created and funded by the Fitzhenry Family Foundation, just announced the shortlists in its two categories, Young Reader and Adult Reader. These awards honour the very best in science writing in Canada today. Each of the winners will be awarded $10,000 at a ceremony to be held in Toronto in January, 2027.

Young reader shortlist:

The Buzz on Wild Bees: The Little-Known Pollinators that Keep Our Planet Humming
Written by Kira Vermond 

Illustrated by June Steube 

Owlkids Books

The Gland Factory: A Tour of Your Body’s Goops, Juices, and Hormones
Written by Rachel Poliquin

Illustrated by Clayton Hanmer 

Greystone Kids

The Story and Science of Hope
Written by Andrea Curtis

Illustrated by Ana Suárez 

Groundwood Books

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• • • • • • • 

 

(While we don't promote adult books on CanLit for LittleCanadians, I thought you might be interested to see the Adult shortlist. Here it is:

The Lobster Trap: The Global Fight for a Seafood on the Brink
Written by Greg Mercer 

Penguin Random House Canada / McClelland & Stewart

Meltdown: The Making and Breaking of a Field Scientist
Written by Sarah Boon 

University of Alberta Press

The Mind Mappers: Friendship, Betrayal and the Obsessive Quest to Chart the Brain
Written by Eric Andrew-Gee 

Penguin Random House Canada

 

 

 

 

 

• • • • • • •  

 

 

For more information about the Fitzhenry Family Foundation and the Lane Anderson Award, please visit their website at www.laneandersonaward.ca.

 

2026 Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picture Book of the Year Award: Winner announced

 

 

On September 14, 2026, the Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable announced the winner of its Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picture Book of the Year Award from a fabulous shortlist of picture books.

 

Congratulations to this year's winner:

 

Little Shoes 

 

Written by David A. Robertson

Illustrated by Maya McKibbin

Tundra Books
978-1-77488-172-9
48 pp.
Ages 3–7

2025 

 

Reviewed here 

 

 

2026 CCBC Book Awards: Finalists announced

On Tuesday, August 15, 2026, the Canadian Children's Book Centre announced the finalists for its 2026 English-language book awards. (See their website for an announcement of finalists.) These awards celebrate picture books, historical fiction, YA, poetry, and more. Over the years, the awards have changed, some discontinued and some transitioned (e.g., the long-awarded Norma Fleck award for Canadian children's non-fiction is now sponsored to honour Sharon Fitzhenry). Still, this year's six awards are a sampling of the extraordinary books for young people created by Canadian authors and illustrators. They are a great resource for exceptional reads from 2025 to 2026.

 

This year, the children's book awards include the following: 

• Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000) 
• Sharon Fitzhenry Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction ($10,000)  
• Amy Mathers Teen Book Award ($5,000) 
• Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award ($5,000)
• David Booth Children’s and Youth Poetry Award ($3,500) 
• Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($3,000) 

• • • • • • •

 

Here are the short lists for each award category, as announced by the Canadian Children's Book Centre:

 

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award

Supported by A. Charles Baillie

This award honours excellence in illustrated English picture books for children ages 3-8 and written and illustrated by Canadians.

Everybelly
Written and illustrated by Thao Lam 

Groundwood Books  

Reviewed here 

Ins and Outs 
Imagined by Elizabeth Withey 
Illustrated by Salini Perera 

Orca Book Publishers

Reviewed here 

My Friend May 

Written and illustrated by Julie Flett 
Greystone Kids

 

The One About the Blackbird 

Written by Melanie Florence

Illustrated by Matt James 
Tundra Books

Reviewed here 

Rock 
Written by Laurel Croza 
Illustrated by Matt James 
Groundwood Books

Reviewed here 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharon Fitzhenry Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

Supported by the Fitzhenry Family Foundation 

This award honours excellence in Canadian children’s non-fiction books for Grades 4-12 (ages 8-18).  

 

Game Changers: Stories of Hijabi Athletes From Around the World 
Written by Charlene Smith 
Illustrated by Natalya Tariq 
Orca Book Publishers 

 

Never Silent: A Hiroshima Survivor's Story 
Written by Setsuko Thurlow and Kathy Lowinger 

Illustrated by Michelle Theodore 
Annick Press

Reviewed here 

 

Ours to Tell: Reclaiming Indigenous Stories
Written by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger
Annick Press

The Sustainable School: A Journey Through Time and Energy 
Written by Erica Fyvie 

Illustrated by Scot Ritchie 
Kids Can Press

Reviewed here 

 

The True Story of Vanilla: How Edmond Albius Made History (Orca Biography)
Written by Ann Richards 
Illustrated by Arden Taylor 
Orca Book Publishers

 

 

 

 

 

Amy Mathers Teen Book Award

Supported by Canadian Children's Book Centre

This award honours excellence in fiction written in English for teens or young adults (ages 13-18) by a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada. 

Among Ghosts 
Written by Rachel Hartman 
Penguin Teen Canada

A Drop in the Ocean  

Written by Léa Taranto 
Arsenal Pulp Press 

The Fragments that Remain 
Written by Mackenzie Angeconeb 
DCB Young Readers 

 

He’s So Possessed with Me
Written by Corey Liu 
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 

Songs for Ghosts 
Written by Clara Kumagai 

Penguin Teen Canada 

Reviewed here

 

You Started It
Written by Jackie Khalilieh (Markham, ON)

Tundra Books

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award

Supported by Alice Chase 

This award is given annually to a Canadian children’s title written for an elementary school-aged audience in Grades 4–6 (Ages 9–12) exemplifying Richard’s guiding principles of compassion, kindness, humanity, environmentalism, inclusivity, and connection to the land.

Akemi's Song 
Written by Joanne Kwok 
Illustrated by Yiting Hui 
Plumleaf Press

 

Fantastic Lou: Little Comics from Real Life 
Written and illustrated by Qin Leng 
Tundra Books

 

kisēwātisi / Be Kind 
Written by Elizabeth Merasty 
Illustrated by Brie Phillips 
Woodland Cree translation by Edie Venne 
Your Nickel's Worth Publishing

 

Little Moments in a Big Universe 
Written and illustrated by Todd Stewart 
Owlkids Books

 

Oasis 
Written and illustrated by Guojing 
Godwin Books

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Booth Children's and Youth Poetry Award

Supported by Shelley Stagg Peterson

Honouring the late David Booth, former Professor Emeritus at OISE, this award recognizes excellence in Canadian youth poetry.

The Lightning Circle 
Written by Vikki VanSickle 
Illustrated by Laura K. Watson 

Tundra Books

 

Lights at Night 
Written by Tasha Hilderman 
Illustrated by Maggie Zeng 
Tundra Books  

 

A Pond, a Poet, and Three Pests 
Written by Caroline Adderson 
Illustrated by Lauren Tamaki 
Groundwood Books

Reviewed here 

 

Reasons to Look at the Night Sky 
Written by Danielle Daniel 
Tundra Books 

 

Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams 
Written by Shari Green 
Andrews McMeel Publishing  

 

This Is a Tiny Fragile Snake
Written by Nicholas Ruddock 
Illustrated by Ashley Barron 
Groundwood Books  

Reviewed here 

 

 

  

 

 

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People 

Supported by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund

This is given annually to reward excellence in the writing of an outstanding work of historical fiction for young readers by a Canadian author.

I Won't Feel This Way Forever
Written by Kim Spencer 
Orca Book Publishers 

Joe and the Wreck of the Tribune
Written by Jacqueline Halsey 
Nimbus Publishing 

Saving Wolfgang 
Written by Gregor Craigie 
Orca Book Publishers 

Seabird
Written by Michelle Kadarusman 
Pajama Press 

A Storm Unleashed 
Written by Carol Matas 
Scholastic Canada 

 📚📚📚

The winners of these awards will be announced on October 26, 2026 at a ticketed event in Toronto.