2022 Forest Kid and Teen Committees Summer Reading Lists

In early May, selected young readers who'd applied to participate on the sixth annual Forest Kid Committee (for ages 9-13) and the fourth Forest Teen Committee (for ages 14+) came together online to talk books.  From their discussions, which were interspersed with visits from award-winning Canadian authors including Angela Ahn, Basil Sylvester, Teresa Toten, Heather T. Smith and June Hur, these young people produced three extraordinary lists of recommended titles to keep everyone reading Canadian over the summer.  These are their recommendations for their peers in the Silver Birch, Red Maple and White Pine reading programs of the Forest of Reading®.

Happy summertime reading!

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Silver Birch Readers 
(Ages 8-12, Grades 3-6)

 

Beatrice and Croc Harry

Written by Lawrence Hill

HarperCollins

Ages 9-12

Children of the Fox (Thieves of Shadow, Book 1)
Written by Kevin Sands
Penguin Random House
Ages 8-12

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Crosswood (Faerie Woods, Book 1)

Written by Gabrielle Prendergast

Orca Book Publishers

Ages 9-12

 

 

 

 

 

 

Escape to Witch City 

Written by E. Latimer

Tundra Books

Ages 10+

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gryphon's Lair (A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying, Book 2)

Written by Kelley Armstrong

Puffin Canada

Ages 10-14  

Reviewed here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living with Viola 

Written and illustrated by Rosena Fung

Annick Press

Ages 9-12

 

Lone Runner 

Written by Dirk McLean

James Lorimer

Ages 10-13

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nikki Tesla and the Ferret-Proof Death Ray 

Written by Jess Keating

Illustrated by Lissy Marlin

Scholastic

Ages 8-12  

 

Oh My Gods! 

Written by Stephanie Cooke and Insha Fitzpatrick

Illustrated by Juliana Moon

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Ages 8-12 

Reviewed here

Operation Do-Over 

Written by Gordon Korman

Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins 

Ages 9-12

 

Pink, Blue and You! Questions for Kids about Gender Stereotypes

Written and illustrated by Elise Gravel

Anne Schwartz Books

Ages 4-8

Stealing Home 

Written by J Torres

Illustrated by David Namisato

Kids Can Press

Ages 9-12 

 

 

 

 

The Street Belongs to Us 

Written by Karleen Pendleton Jiménez

Illustrated by Gabriela Godoy

Arsenal Pulp Press

Ages 8-12

Sunny Days Inside and Other Stories

Written by Caroline Adderson

Groundwood Books

Ages 8-12 

Reviewed here

Valley of the Rats 

Written by Mahtab Narsimhan

DCB 

Ages 9-12

Reviewed here

 

Red Maple Readers
(Ages 12-14, Grades 7-8)

The Delusionist

Written by Don Calame

Candlewick Press 

Ages 13-16

 

Eight Days

Written by Teresa Toten

Scholastic Canada 

Ages 10-14

Reviewed here

 

Heart of Flames (Crown of Feathers #2)

Written by Nicki Pau Preto

Simon & Shuster

Ages 12-18

 

Hunting by Stars (A Marrow Thieves Novel)

Written by Cherie Dimaline

Penguin Random House Canada 

Ages 12-18

 

Iron Widow

Written by Xiran Jay Zhao

Penguin Random House Canada

Ages 14+

 

Lessons in Fusion

Written by Primrose Madayag Knazan

Great Plains Publications 

Ages 13-17

 

Mountain Runaways

Written by Pam Withers

Dundurn

Ages 12-15

 

On the Line

Written by Paul Coccia and Eric Walters

Orca Books Publishers

Ages 9-13

Reviewed here

 

The Red Palace

Written by June Hur

Feiwel & Friends 

Ages 13-18

Reviewed here

 

Rescue at Lake Wild
Written by Terry Lynn Johnson

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Ages 8-12

 

The Undercover Book List

Written by Colleen Nelson

Pajama Press 

Ages 9-12

Reviewed here

 

Zara Hossain is Here

Written by Sabina Khan

Scholastic Canada

Ages 14+

 

White Pine Readers
(Ages 14-18, Grades 9-12)

Aetherbound

Written by E. K. Johnston

Penguin Random House

Ages 14-17

 

Blood Donor

Written by Karen Bass

Orca Book Publishers

Ages 12-17

A Dark and Hollow Star

Written by Ashley Shuttleworth

Simon & Schuster

Ages 14-18

Hana Khan Carries On

Written by Uzma Jalaluddin 

HarperCollins Canada

Ages 15+

 

 

 

Hunting by Stars (A Marrow Thieves Novel)

Written by Cherie Dimaline

Penguin Random House Canada 

Ages 12-18

 

If I Tell You the Truth

Written by Jasmin Kaur

HarperCollins 

Ages 14-17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iron Widow

Written by Xiran Jay Zhao

Penguin Random House Canada

Ages 14+

 

The Junction

Written by Norm Konyu 

Penguin Random House

Ages 15+

 

The Last Time I Saw Her

Written by Alexandra Harrington

Nimbus Publishing

Ages 12-16

 

The Project

Written by Courtney Summers

Wednesday Books

Ages 12+

Reviewed here

 

The Red Palace

Written by June Hur

Feiwel & Friends 

Ages 13-18

Reviewed here

 

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad

Written by Natasha Deen

Running Press Kids 

Ages 13+

 

The Upside of Falling

Written by Alex Light

HarperCollins Canada

Ages 14-17

 

The Wild Ones

Written by Nafiza Azad

Simon & Schuster

Ages 14+

 

Wrong Side of the Court 

Written by N. H. Khan

Penguin Random House Canada

Ages 12-17

 

 

 

The book lists are posted on the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading website:

• For Silver Birch readers: https://forestofreading.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/01-Kid-Committee-List-Silver-Birch-2022-FINAL.pdf
• For Red Maple readers: https://forestofreading.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/02-Kid-Committee-List-Red-Maple-2022-FINAL.pdf
• For White Pine readers: https://forestofreading.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/03-Teen-Committee-List-2022-FINAL.pdf

And there are lovely posters too (Forest Kid Committee: https://forestofreading.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/01-Kid-Committee-Poster-2022-FINAL.pdf; Teen Committee: https://forestofreading.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/03-Teen-Committee-Poster-2022-FINAL.pdf) to help keep everyone reading Canadian this summer.

My Book of Butterflies: Guest review

The following review was written by 

teacher-librarian Elizabeth Cook.

 

Written and illustrated by Geraldo Valério

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-335-5

48 pp.

Ages 3-6

2021

I was instantly drawn to My Book of Butterflies when I saw its cover. The bright yellow and oversized butterfly wing will capture the attention of everyone when they see My Book of Butterflies by Geraldo Valério. The lively cover made me feel like this was going to be such a happy book that I couldn’t wait to open the cover to discover what the book was all about. The inside cover is equally spectacular with drawings of all of the caterpillars of the book and the back cover has all of them drawn in their chrysalis stages too. I explored these images for a surprisingly long time as I was drawn in by their illustrations and their names (Itys Leafwing and Common Jezebel are my personal favourites).

From My Book of Butterflies by Geraldo Valério

The book begins with Geraldo Valério recounting his childhood experiences watching the caterpillars and butterflies in his home in Brazil. His fascination with these beautiful creatures never ceased and he wanted to share the beauty of the butterflies with all of his readers. The book depicts, with detailed drawings, the metamorphosis from egg to butterfly and the parts of the butterfly, as well including a map of the world where butterflies can be found and a glossary to help inform the reader.  To help organize the various butterflies depicted, Geraldo Valério uses different coloured backgrounds to identify the part of the world where the butterflies can be found. It is a bright and fun way to engage readers with the book.

From My Book of Butterflies by Geraldo Valério

The pages which focus on each butterfly are gorgeous. Simply stunning. The double-spreads are filled with oversized artwork of the butterflies with impressive details demonstrating the delicacy of the wings. Each page turn had me gasping at how pretty each butterfly was. Surrounding the enormous butterfly is a highly modern and almost geometric representation of what the environment looks like for that particular butterfly (I was very fond of the geometric tall grasses and yellow flowers of the Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing in Papua New Guinea). 

From My Book of Butterflies by Geraldo Valério

While the artwork of the book is clearly the star, the information on each page is also fun to read. Each butterfly is identified by its Latin name and there is a short paragraph with important facts. Most paragraphs focus on one unique fact about the butterfly and would be a great starting point for further research. I enjoyed learning how the European Peacock butterfly hibernates over winter and can hiss to scare away predators such as small rodents.

As a teacher-librarian, I can already tell that this book will be hard to keep on my shelves. However, the students will have to try to be quick to check out this book, as I know a lot of teachers will want to use this book for their science curriculum, particularly the Grade 2 Growth and Changes in Animals unit in Ontario.  Moreover, I know that the art teachers will be checking out the book for students to create some beautiful masterpieces using the illustrations in My Book of Butterflies for inspiration. I will definitely need to get more than one copy for my library...and perhaps one for my home collection!

~Elizabeth Cook is a teacher-librarian in the Halton District School Board. She is an avid reader and fan of Canadian literature. 

2022 Forest of Reading® Winners and Honour Books announced

 

It's the third 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 on Mary 17, 18 and 19, hosted by CBC Books. 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 17, 18 and 19, and the screenshots of attending authors and illustrators were taken from these presentations. The presentations can be viewed from https://forestofreading.com/festival/.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

Winner

Harley the Hero
Written and illustrated by Peggy Collins
Pajama Press

Reviewed here

Honour Books:

The Sorry Life of Timothy Shmoe

Written by Stephanie Simpson McLellan

Illustrated by Zoe Si

Owlkids Books

Reviewed here

 

No More Plastic
Written and illustrated by Alma Fullerton
Pajama Press

Winner

Mellybean and the Giant Monster
Written and illustrated by Mike White

Razorbill

Honour Books:

 

Raymond the Buffalo
Written by Lou Beauchesne 

Illustrated by Kate Chappell
Translated by Susan Ouriou and Christelle Morelli

Orca Book Publishers

 

 

Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business
Written by Bree Galbraith 

Illustrated by Morgan Goble

Kids Can Press

Winner

Deadman's Castle
Written by Iain Lawrence
Margaret Ferguson Books

Honour Books:

 

Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster
Written by Rachelle Delaney
Puffin Canada

The Language of Ghosts
Written by Heather Fawcett

HarperCollins

Winner

Wild Outside: Around the World with Survivorman 

Written by Les Stroud
Illustrated by Andrew P. Barr
Annick Press

Honour Books:

111 Trees: How One Village Celebrates the Birth of Every Girl
Written by Rina Singh
Illustrated by Marianne Ferrer
Kids Can Press

Reviewed here

In the Dark: The Science of What Happens at Night 

Written by Lisa Deresti Betik
Illustrated by Josh Holinaty
Kids Can Press

Winner

The King of Jam Sandwiches

Written by Eric Walters

Orca Book Publishers 

Reviewed here

Honour Books:

 

Linked
Written by Gordon Korman

Scholastic Canada

 

 

Tremendous Things
Written by Susin Nielsen

Penguin Teen

Winner

What Unbreakable Looks Like

Written by Kate McLaughlin

Wednesday Books

Honour Books:

 

Don’t Breathe a Word

Written by Jordyn Taylor

Harper Teen

 

 

The Montague Twins: The Witch’s Hand

Written by Nathan Page

Illustrated by Drew Shannon

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Winner/Lauréat

Albertine Petit-Brindamour déteste les choux de Bruxelles
Écrit par Anne Renaud
Illustré par Élodie Duhameau
La courte échelle

Honour Books/Livres distingués:

La morve au nez
Écrit et illustré par Orbie
Les 400 coups

Victor et Lino
Écrit et illustré par Caroline Merola
La courte échelle

Winner/Lauréat

Honey et Ketchup
Écrit par Jonathan Bécotte
Illustré par Sabrina Gendron
Éditions Québec Amérique

Honour Books/Livres distingués:

Dounia
Écrit et illustré par Marya Zarif
Bayard Canada
 

Tombés dans...la gomme!
Écrit par Julie Rivard
Illustré par Rémy Simard
Druide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner/Lauréat

Cabane Sinistre
Écrit par Karine Lambert
Héritage jeunesse

Honour Books/Livres distingués:

 

Am Stram Gram
Écrit et illustré par Sophie Labelle
Éditions Hurtubise

La bête à pile
Écrit par Pierrette Dubé
Illustré par Vigg
La courte échelle
 

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

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

Congratulations to everyone!

Give Me a Snickle!

Written by Alisha Sevigny

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-2870-4

20 pp.

Ages 0-4

April 2022

 

What's a snickle? It's a snuggle and a tickle at the same time. And I bet a lot of caregivers, whether parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents or others, have given many a snickle when it comes to babies and toddlers. With the joy of family and togetherness, Alisha Sevigny lets us share a snickle and a few other endearing touches with the children in this new board book for our very youngest.

From Give Me a Snickle! by Alisha Sevigny

There's a snickle and a tuggle, a higgle and a sniggle, and Alisha Sevigny has given these shared moments new terms. I think she's invented a whole series of new concepts that will have the Canadian Oxford Dictionary looking at inclusion.

From Give Me a Snickle! by Alisha Sevigny

By including everyone in these heartwarming actions, Give Me a Snickle! demonstrates that all young children deserve to be loved and cherished and that those who love them are as diverse as they are. It may not be a long book, though it's perfect for a concept board book, but Give Me a Snickle! shares plentiful affection and gives many an "Aww" moment to cherish. (And, I suspect, many a child will be asking for a snickle or a higgle for years to come.)

From Give Me a Snickle! by Alisha Sevigny

The Weird Sisters: A Note, a Goat, and a Casserole

Written by Mark David Smith

Illustrated by Kari Rust

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-456-6

72 pp.

Ages 7-10

April 2022 

Once upon a time there were three weird sisters: Hildegurp, the round one; Yuckmina, the bony one; and Glubbifer, the one whose knuckles dragged along the ground. Along with their cat Graymalkin, they moved into an old house in the town of Covenly and lived above their pet emporium business.

One day, a young girl, Jessica Nibley, seeks their help to locate her missing baby goat. After all, they knew about animals. But, along with that mystery is a mysterious note found on their doorstep; a neighbour named Cosmo Keene who doesn't like troublemakers and is sure the Weird Sisters are those; and a missing casserole dish of Jessica's teacher Chelsea Oh.

The Weird Sisters may be unusual in their appearance but their behaviour is a little unusual too. What they can pull out of their hats–like a flying broom or the Eye which will point them in the direction of answers–will astound but sadly they reveal to Jessica that they are trying to learn to not be bad witches. 

Will the Weird Sisters solve a mystery or two or will they become the mystery, at least to their neighbours in Covernly?

 

Early readers or early middle grade novels are very challenging to write well. Authors must  be cognizant of giving young children a great plot in a limited word count without the benefit of illustrations that carry the story and Mark David Smith has done this very well in The Weird Sisters: A Note, a Goat, and a Casserole. (Readers will love Kari Rust's black-and-white illustrations that lighten the text and add another element of fun but the art does not tell the story as would happen in picture books.)  How does Mark David Smith do this? Let's start with the plot. It's simple, with the characters seeking to answer three simple questions: Who wrote the note?; Where is the goat?; and What happened to the casserole? Then he's created characters who are quirky and memorable. Beyond the titular Weird Sisters, each one-of-a-kind, there's the poncho-wearing Jessica with her pet goat, the black licorice-loving, justice-driven Cosmo Keene, and the myopic Chelsea Oh. There's also Officer Golsa Nazeri and realtor Rupert Flinch. But for this reader, it's the word play that brought me the most joy. Kids know how confusing homophones can be but in a story in which misinterpretations arise because of those homophones or dual-meaning words, like kid for child and baby goat, and pen for writing and a farm enclosure, it's just entertaining. 

 

Looks like there's more Weird Sisters to come as The Weird Sisters: A Note, a Goat, and a Casserole is just the first book in the new series for young readers. The next mystery has Jessica helping the newly formed Three Sisters Pet Emporium + Detective Agency to solve another town crime so I anticipate more merriment and another well-received tale (or is that tail?) for younger middle grade readers.