2027 Forest of Reading® nominees: Yellow Cedar, Red Maple, White Pine

Here is the second grouping of nominated titles from the 2027 Forest of Reading® book awards of the Ontario Library Association:

• Yellow Cedar: non-fiction for Grades 4 to 8
  
• Red Maple: fiction for Grades 7 and 8
  
• White Pine: fiction for Grades 9 to 12
  

  

YELLOW CEDAR

Bat Planet: The Mysterious Life of the Creatures of the Night
Written by Neil Griffin

Orca Book Publishers

Built Like a Bug: How Insects Inspire Everyday Inventions
Written by Anjali Joshi
Illustrated by Kathleen Ng

Annick Press

Reviewed here 

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 Cedar Mother (Mothers of Xsan, Book 8)
Written by Brett D. Huson (Hetxw’ms Gyetxw)
Illustrated by Natasha Donovan

HighWater Press

Reviewed here

Cracking the Code: The Human Quest to Uncover Secrets
Written by Rachel Kehoe
Illustrated by Meegan Lim

Orca Book Publishers

The Dream of an Education: How Phymean Noun Built a School

Written by Susan Hughes
Illustrated by Tida Kheav

Orca Book Publishers

Left-Handed: Getting a Grip on Handedness
Written by Maria Birmingham
Illustrated by Catherine Chan

Owlkids Books

Reviewed here

Soccerology: Unbelievable Facts and Stories About the Beautiful Game
Written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester

Annick Press

Reviewed here

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

Kids Can Press

Reviewed here

What Is A Sculpture?
Written by Diane Borsato
Illustrated by Laura Carlin

Tundra Books

 

RED MAPLE™

 

Absolutely No Body Parts
Written by Valerie Sherrard

DCB Young Readers

Among Ghosts
Written by Rachel Hartman
Penguin Teen Canada

 

The Book of Jupiter

Written by Robin Stevenson

Kids Can Press

 

Go

Written by Deborah Ellis

Groundwood Books

Reviewed here

The Inbetweens 
Written and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks

First Second Books

Lydia Cooper Is a Lie
Written by Meaghan McIsaac

Aladdin Books

 

Sam

Written by Eric Walters

DCB Young Readers

Reviewed here

Skygull Calamity 

Written by Bronwyn Fairchild

Annick Press 

 

Something's Up with Arlo 

Written by Matteo L. Cerilli

HarperCollins 

 

The Vanished Ones

Written by Chad Lucas

Amulet Books 

  

WHITE PINE™

Best of All Worlds
Written by Kenneth Oppel
Penguin Teen Canada

The Free Verse Society
Written by Delali Adjoa
Peachtree Teen

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

Our Little Secret
Written by Edward Kay and Mikhael Klassen-Kay
DCB Young Readers

Ramin Abbas Has MAJOR Questions
Written by Ahmad Saber
Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

The Rebel Girls of Rome
Written by Jordyn Taylor
HarperCollins

Small Ceremonies
Written by Kyle Edwards
McClelland & Stewart

This Place Kills Me
Written by Mariko Tamaki
Illustrated by Nicole Goux
Abrams

Thornbird
Written by E. Kennedy
Delacorte Press

The Vacation Shift
Written by Lily Chu
Quill Tree Books
 

 

 

 

 

 

•••••••••••••••••••

Nominees for the other programs can be linked to from below:

 

Blue Spruce

Silver Birch Express

Silver Birch Fiction

Le prix Peuplier

Le prix Mézèle

Le prix Tamarac

This Is a Library Book: Check Out the Places and People Sharing Knowledge and Building Communities

Written by Joyce Grant

Illustrated by Chanelle Nibbelink

Kids Can Press 

978-1-5253-1156-7

48 pp.

Ages 8–12

October 6, 2026 

 

Libraries do more than just lend books. They lend ideas. They share knowledge. They provide a safe space. They reflect the people in the community. They help us understand ourselves better. They preserve history and address social problems. (pg. 7)

 

Want to know about libraries? This Is a Library Book is a book about libraries, and, whether you borrow it from your local school or public library, or if you purchase it, it has everything you need to know about this institution. 

Illustration by Chanelle Nibbelink from This Is a Library Book, written by Joyce Grant

Joyce Grant talks about what libraries are, what services they provide, how they have evolved over time, what they might look like in the future, and more. She makes note of extraordinary libraries around the world, like ones that were secret or hidden, those that defied bans, those that are mobile, and those without buildings or books. If it's a library of any sort, from the first libraries ever established or one whose books will only be revealed in 2114, then Joyce Grant has it covered in This Is a Library Book.

Illustration by Chanelle Nibbelink from This Is a Library Book, written by Joyce Grant

The scope of Joyce Grant's story of libraries is extraordinary. She gives us the history of libraries and the promise, service and opportunity they provide. She asks questions of readers about their own experiences with books and libraries, and even provides an informative flip-a-coin and move game called, "The 'Where Can I Get a Book?' Game." Learning about libraries is as entertaining and enlightening as visiting one.

Illustration by Chanelle Nibbelink from This Is a Library Book, written by Joyce Grant

Canadian-American illustrator Chanelle Nibbelink provides the bold colours and quirky shapes to animate This Is a Library Book. Because of her digital art, Chanelle Nibbelink makes libraries look like places of activity and people and more. Her people are diverse, her concepts are sophisticated—like the unchaining of locked books—and her art lets us see more of libraries than usually known.

Illustration by Chanelle Nibbelink from This Is a Library Book, written by Joyce Grant

Most readers know the value of libraries. But, as Joyce Grant and Chanelle Nibbelink show us, libraries are more than just books. They are communities that share ideas and resources, provide services and commodities, including books, and offer a safe space. This Is a Library Book will help others understand the importance of libraries and hopefully help these institutions to endure and evolve as hallmarks of great communities.

The Medicine Way / māskīkīy miskanaw (Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak, Book 3)

Written by William Dumas

Illustrated by Rhian Brynjolson

HighWater Press

978-1-77492-174-6

60 pp.

Ages 9–12

September 2026 

 

It's the season of tākwākin, when many birds are flying south, and Ācapi Okimaw and his family are travelling with his brother's family to the heartland to learn from the teachers who live there. There they would  connect with a medicine women and a midwife, they would hunt and fish, and they would learn new stories and songs from their relatives.

Illustration by Rhian Brynjolson from The Medicine Way, written by William Dumas

Ācapi Okimaw has three children, Pīsim, Amō, and Mwakwa, all of whom look forward to the guidance they will receive. This is Mwakwa's story, and he wants to learn what his gifts are. As the community hunts, fishes, and harvests, Mwakwa has new opportunities to learn. He meets a singer, sees his cousin Mikisiw celebrate his First-Take ceremony after hunting, and listens to a stargazer speak of the stars and how they guide. Ultimately, Mwakwa decides to apprentice to the stargazer, and will remain behind to learn from Opimotiho about how their stories and language are linked to the stars.

Illustration by Rhian Brynjolson from The Medicine Way, written by William Dumas

William Dumas's story of The Medicine Way speaks to how everything is medicine. There is medicine food, and medicine tea, medicine talk, and even dogs as medicine people. 

With our words, we give each other medicine. (pg. 13) 

Even as he speaks to medicine being in every facet of life, from a puppy to the stars, in the songs and in the need to follow the sacred laws, Rocky Cree Knowledge Keeper and storyteller William Dumas explains and describes so much of the community's practices. From clothing to dwellings, fishing and hunting tools, medicinal teas, and going to the spirit world, William Dumas gives us a sense of how the Cree are connected to each other, to the natural world, and beyond. Cree vocabulary is highlighted throughout, and a comprehensive "Cree Glossary" is included, adding to the richness of the text and the connection with the people through their language and cultural practices.  

Illustration by Rhian Brynjolson from The Medicine Way, written by William Dumas

The Medicine Way suggests a focus on medicine but when everything is the medicine way, the book becomes a sweeping examination of people and culture. Rhian Brynjolson, who also lives in Manitoba, focuses her art on the people and how they live. Her illustrations are a blend of media, including digital, and emphasizes through shape and colour the organic nature of the interactions, of the significance of the natural world in how the Cree live with purpose and with respect. There is a reverence to William Dumas's words, supported by an extensive list of story contributors, and in Rhian Brynjolson's art that add dignity and gratitude for this culture's essence.

The Medicine Way, and all the books in the Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak series, including its companion book The Gift of the Little People (2022), would be a useful teaching tool. But don't stick it on a shelf to gather dust as a reference book. It is too comprehensive to be ignored. Instead, read it as the story it is, and delve into the teachings and the learning that is presented by recognizing it as medicine in its own way.

 

 

• • • • • • •

 

Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak series and companion book 

Book 1: Pīsim Finds Her Miskanaw (2020)

Book 2: Amō’s Sapotawan (2022)

Book 3: The Medicine Way (2026)

Companion Story: The Gift of the Little People (2022)

 

All the Water on Earth (CitizenKid)

Written by Rochelle Strauss

Illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight

Kids Can Press

978-1-525310881 

40 pp.

Ages 5–8

June 2026

 

Kids Can Press's CitizenKid series has brought world issues to the attention of young readers for over twenty years. The series is all about making children global citizens who are aware of how children live in other countries, of environmental issues, and of their own roles in making the world a better place. Because of scarcity, pollution, and waste, water is an important global issue, and All the Water on Earth focuses on its importance to life and in our lives.

Illustration by Madelyn Goodnight in All the Water on Earth, written by Rochelle Strauss

Using a picture book format, Rochelle Strauss tells the story of water: where it is, what it does and how it's used, why we need it, how it connects us, and what we can do to ensure that there is enough clean water for all. Her text is comprehensive and yet uncomplicated. Instead of loading her book with facts and maps, infographics and tables, Rochelle Strauss makes it into a story. It's the story of water: past, present and future.

Illustration by Madelyn Goodnight in All the Water on Earth, written by Rochelle Strauss

I love this format for bringing information through storytelling. Rochelle Strauss is an accomplished writer of non-fiction for the CitizenKid series (e.g., Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth, 2004; One Well: The Story of Water on Earth, 2007; The Global Ocean, 2022) and can tell a story in a multitude of ways. This picture book format is perfect for younger readers and will be a great introduction to water. (Additional references, including discussion questions, will help teachers direct science lessons on the topic.)

From All the Water on Earth, written by Rochelle Strauss, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight

Because All the Water on Earth is told as a picture book, the illustrations are key. Oklahoma's Madelyn Goodnight, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, created the artwork with graphite, coloured pencils, watercolour paper, and digital painting software. She gives an innocence to the scenes of children playing by the water, in puddles, and on the ice. She also takes us to a well in Kenya, to farmlands and gardens, and to cities where water is used in industry, energy production, and more. The naturalness of her illustrations matches water's commonplace essence while still demonstrating the complexity of its nature.

Introduce young children to water in all its greatness with All the Water on Earth. They will learn and become aware of water's many capacities and forms, beyond what may come out of a tap or a water bottle. Perhaps with a new appreciation for water and our connections to it, young readers will become truer citizens concerning all the water on Earth.