2021 Forest of Reading® Winners and Honour Books announced

 

It's the second year into the pandemic and again things at the Forest of Reading have had to be a little different. But kids have still been reading books nominated for the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading's readers' choice award programs and voting on their favourites. Again, rather than announcing the awards at the annual Festival of Trees, an enthusiastic but crowded event at Toronto's Harbourfront or at satellite celebrations around the province, this year's award ceremonies were held online, hosted by CBC Books on Curio.ca, an educational streaming platform (normally subscription based). Fortunately, these ceremonies, hosted by comic Ali Hassan, were posted for all to see. Judging by the faces of the authors and illustrators and young readers who spoke, the event was a resounding success, as always.

Here are this year's winners for each reading program. The ceremonies for all books were held on May 18, 19 and 20, and the screenshots of attending authors and illustrators were taken from these presentations. The presentations can be viewed at https://curio.ca/en/collection/forest-of-reading-2021-2822/ for the English-language awards and at https://curio.ca/fr/collection/la-foret-de-la-lecture-2021-2823/ for the French-language awards.

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Winner

Bad Dog
Written and illustrated by Mike Boldt
Doubleday Books for Young Readers

Honour Books:

Boxitects

Written and illustrated by Kim Smith
HarperCollins

Fast Friends
Written by Heather O'Connor
Illustrated by Claudia Dávila
Scholastic Canada

Winner

Peter & Ernesto: Sloths in the Night
Written and illustrated by Graham Annable

First Second

Honour Books:

Planet Hockey: First Star of the Game
Written by J. Torres

Illustrated by Tim Levins

Scholastic Canada

 

Terry Fox and Me
Written by Mary Beth Leatherdale

Illustrated by Milan Pavlović

Tundra

Winner

The Jigsaw Puzzle King
Written by Gina McMurchy-Barber
Dundurn

Honour Books:

Ember and the Ice Dragons
Written by Heather Fawcett
Published by HarperCollins

Music for Tigers
Written by Michelle Kadarusman

Pajama Press

Winner

Trending: How and Why Stuff Gets Popular

Written by Kira Vermond

Illustrated by Clayton Hanmer

Owlkids Books

Honour Books:

The Boreal Forest
Written by L. E. Carmichael
Illustrated by Josée Bisaillon
Kids Can Press

Science Comics: Crows, Genius Birds
Written and Illustrated by Kyla Vanderklugt

First Second

Winner

Bloom

Written by Kenneth Oppel

HarperCollins Canada

Honour Books:

 

Broken Strings

Written by Eric Walters and Kathy Kacer

Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers

 

Sara and the Search for Normal
Written by Wesley King
Paula Wiseman Books

Winner

Hunted By the Sky

Written by Tanaz Bhathena

Penguin Random House Canada

Honour Books:

Charming as a Verb
Written by Ben Philippe
HarperCollins

 

Like a Love Story
Written by Abdi Nazemian
HarperCollins

Winner/Lauréat

Pas moi
Écrit et Illustré par Elise Gravel
Éditions Scholastic 

Honour Books/Livres distingués:

Madame Grisemine et le petit chenapan
Écrit par Marie-Francine Hébert
Illustré par Mathieu Lampron
Éditions de la Bagnole 

Mon chien-banane
Écrit par Roxane Brouillard
Illustré par Giulia Sagramola
Éditions les 400 coups

Winner/Lauréat

Sergent Billy : La vraie histoire du chevreau devenu soldat
Écrit par Mireille Messier

Illustré par Kass Reich
Éditions de l’Isatis

Honour Books/Livres distingués:

La Case 144
Écrit par Nadine Poirier

Illustré par Geneviève Després

Éditions D’eux

Juré, craché! 03 : Nés pour la gloire
Écrit par Carine Paquin
Illustré par Jean Morin
Éditions Petit Homme

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner/Lauréat

Lac Adélard
Écrit par François Blais
Illustré par Iris
La courte échelle

Honour Books/Livres distingués:

Enterrer la lune
Écrit par Andrée Poulin
Illustré par Sonali Zohra
La courte échelle

@Raphaël_Cascadeur: Les productions 100 dangers
Écrit et illustré par Éric Péladeau
Éditions Z’ailées 
 

The announcement of all winners is available at the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading® website.

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Congratulations to everyone!

The Dog's Gardener

 

Written by Patricia Storms

Illustrated by Nathalie Dion

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-256-3

36 pp.

Ages 4-7

April 2021

Depending on where you are located in Canada, Patricia Storms's story of The Dog's Gardener may already be in full swing or just starting, or perhaps a few weeks away if there are still occasional frosts. But, as the gardening season slowly ramps up, you know there are dogs like Dutch who are ready for the outdoors.

 

From The Dog's Gardener by Patricia Storms, illus. by Nathalie Dion

Told from a dog's perspective, The Dog's Gardener recounts a day of togetherness. From the early morning when Dutch hears her footsteps but waits for her to wake him up, pretending "to be asleep, just so I can hear her gentle voice."  And...

Then I wait for those beautiful words.

"Okay, Dutch. Let's go outside."

With that, the two companions make their way outdoors to an expansive garden of trees, flowers, and vegetables.

From The Dog's Gardener by Patricia Storms, illus. by Nathalie Dion

He knows her routines, from her heading to the dark and dusty shed that frightens him, to her midday rest at the great stump. And he has his own routines, waiting outside as she gets her tools from the little house, to rolling in the grass and napping at her feet when she rests, and anticipating the delight that comes with the turning on of the water hose.

From The Dog's Gardener by Patricia Storms, illus. by Nathalie Dion

Their day of gardening is a lesson in mindfulness, focusing on the task at hand, whether it be digging, watering, rolling or resting. And it's about being together with someone who is different and appreciates the same things but differently.

The Dog's Gardener is a lazy, summertime read of such depth of feeling between a dog and a human that the outdoors almost feels like another character in their story. Patricia Storms, whose picture books include Moon Wishes and Never Let You Go, conveys that contentment of task and company, together but separate, each pursuing outdoor joy, ending her story, as the pair head inside at the end of the day, with a single significant word: together.

Nathalie Dion, whose illustrations graced both The Big Bad Wolf in My House and I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree, does well in creating artwork for stories with emotional connections between characters, even if those characters are non-human. Because the relationship in The Dog's Gardener is one of serenity and affection, Nathalie Dion's illustrations, which are created with hand-painted gouache textures combined with painting using a digital pastel brush, are reflective of its uplifting nature. The colours are warm and bright, the activity of dog and human are distinct and harmonious, and the story moves gently from morning to end of day.

For dog-lovers and gardeners, The Dog's Gardener is a complete package of fellowship and appreciation for the now, of undertakings and of company, of surroundings and of inclinations. For those who are neither, The Dog's Gardener is what we should be: mindful of what we're doing and with whom and appreciating every positive moment.