2025 Forest of Reading® nominees: Yellow Cedar, Red Maple, White Pine

 

Here is the second grouping of nominated titles from the 2025 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

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

Plumleaf Press

Reviewed here

 

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

Little by Little: You Can Change the World
Written by Sonya Ballantyne
Illustrated by Rhael McGregor and Toben Racicot

HighWater Press

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

Owls: Who Gives a Hoot?
Written by Frances Backhouse

Orca Book Publishers

Queer History A to Z: 100 Years of LGBTQ+ Activism
Written by Robin Stevenson
Illustrated by Vivian Rosas

Kids Can Press

Reviewed here

See It, Dream It, Do It: How 25 People Like You Found Their Dream Jobs
Written by Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac
Illustrated by Scot Richie

Pajama Press

Think Like A Goat: The Wildly Smart Ways Animals Communicate, Cooperate and Innovate
Written by Lisa Deresti Betik
Illustrated by Alexander Mostov

Kids Can Press

Trailblazing Life of Viola Desmond: A Civil Rights Icon
Written by Rachel Kehoe with Wanda Robson
Illustrated by Chelsea Charles

Orca Book Publishers

Welcome to AI: What is Artificial Intelligence and How Will It Change Our Lives?
Written by Matthieu Dugal
Illustrated by Owen Davey

Wide-Eyed Editions (Quarto)

 

RED MAPLE™

 

40 Days in Hicksville
Written by Christina Kilbourne

DCB

Reviewed here

Book of Screams (Book of Screams 1)
Written by Jeff Szpirglas
Illustrated by Steven P. Hughes

Orca Book Publishers

Call Me Al
Written by Wali Shah and Eric Walters

Orca Book Publishers

The Cricket War
Written by Tho Pham and Sandra McTavish

Kids Can Press

 

Escape to Ponti
Written by Brian Slattery
Illustrated by Antonio Javier Caparo
Red Deer Press

 
Hopeless in Hope
Written by Wanda John-Kehewin
HighWater Press

 

The Outsmarters
Written by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
Reviewed here

 

Tig
Written by Heather Smith
Tundra Books

Today I Am: 10 Stories of Belonging 

Edited by Jael Richardson
Scholastic Canada 

Why We Play With Fire 

Written by Giselle Vriesen
Illustrated by ShinYeon Moon
100 Block Futures

 

 

 

 

 

WHITE PINE™

Gorgeous Gruesome Faces

Written by Linda Cheng
MacMillan Press 

 

Little Moons 

Written by Jen Storm
Illustrated by Ryan Howe, Nickolej Villiger, and Alice RL
HighWater Press
Reviewed here

Lockjaw

Written by Matteo Cerilli
Tundra Books

Pillow Talk
Written by Stephanie Cooke
Illustrated by Mel Valentine Vargas
HarperCollins

The Space Between Here and Now 

Written by Sarah Suk
HarperCollins
Reviewed here

Sweetness in the Skin
Written by Ishi Robinson
HarperCollins

Takedown
Written by Ali Bryan
DCB

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

Who We Are in Real Life
Written by Victoria Koops
Groundwood Books

Zombie Apocalypse Running Club 

Written by Carrie Mac
Crown 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

2025 Forest of Reading® nominees: Blue Spruce, Silver Birch Express, Silver Birch

 

Here is the first grouping of 2025 nominees from the nine Forest of Reading® awards of the Ontario Library Association:

• Blue Spruce: picture books for JK to Grade 2
  
• Silver Birch Express: fiction and non-fiction for Grades 3 and 4
  
• Silver Birch Fiction: fiction for Grades 3 to 6
  

BLUE SPRUCE™

 

 

Asha and the Toymaker

Written and illustrated by Sakshi Mangal

Kids Can Press

 

The Blue Bowl
Written and illustrated by Flo Leung

Owlkids Books 

Harold the Iceberg Melts Down
Written by Lisa Wyzlic
Illustrated by Rebecca Syracuse

RAI Feiwel and Friends

If You See a Bluebird
Written by Bahram Rahman
Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

Pajama Press

Reviewed here

The Little Regent
Written by Yewande Daniel-Ayoade
Illustrated by Ken Daley

Owlkids Books

The Lost Stick
Written and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

PRHC Viking Books

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

Annick Press 

More Than Words: So Many Ways to Say What We Mean
Written and illustrated by Roz MacLean

RAI Henry Holt & Company

Still My Tessa
Written by Sylv Chang
Illustrated by Mathias Ball

Scholastic Canada

Reviewed here

When the Stars Came Home
Written by Brittany Luby
Illustrated by Natasha Donovan

Manda, Little Brown & Company

SILVER BIRCH EXPRESS

Always Beginning: The Big Bang, the Universe, and You
Written by Candace Savage
Illustrated by Rachel Wada

Greystone Books

 

Birds on the Brain
Written by Uma Krishnaswami
Illustrated by Julianna Swaney

Groundwood Books 

Dragon on the Loose
Written by Marty Chan
Illustrated by Grace Chen

Orca Book Publishers

Ghost Girl
Written by Brooke Carter
Illustrated by Alyssa Waterbury

Orca Book Publishers

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

Union Square Kids

Odd Couples: A Guide to Unlikely Animal Pairs
Written by Maria Birmingham
Illustrated by Raz Latif

Owlkids Books

Operation Cupcake: How Simple Machines Work
Written and illustrated by Bambi Edlund

Kids Can Press

Salma Joins the Team (Salma, Book 3)
Written by Danny Ramadan
Illustrated by Anna Bron

Annick Press

Sarah Ponakey, Storycatcher and Âhâsiw’s Forest Powwow
Written by Sita MacMillan
Illustrated by Azby Whitecalf

Annick Press

Whales and Us: Our Shared Journey
Written by India Desjardins
Illustrated by Nathalie Dion

Translated by David Warriner

Orca Book Publishers

SILVER BIRCH FICTION

Asking for a Friend
Written by Ronnie Riley

Scholastic Canada

 

Bertie Stewart is Perfectly Imperfect
Written by Melanie Mosher

Nimbus Publishing 

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

First Second

Reviewed here

Game Face
Written by Shari Green

Groundwood Books

Gamerville
Written and illustrated by Johnnie Christmas

HarperAlley

Iggy Included
Written by Deborah Kerbel

Scholastic Canada

The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage
Written by David A. Robertson

HighWater Press

The Legendary Mo Seto
Written by A.Y. Chan

Aladdin

Mortified
Written by Kristy Jackson
Illustrated by Rhael McGregor

HarperCollins

Scarewaves
Written and illustrated by Trevor Henderson

Scholastic Canada 

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Nominees for the other programs can be linked from below:

Yellow Cedar

Red Maple

White Pine

Le prix Peuplier

Le prix Mézèle

Le prix Tamarac

 

2025 Forest of Reading®: Nominated titles announced

 

On Tuesday, the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading announced the 2025 nominated titles for its book award programs for school-aged readers. For months, teachers and librarians on selection committees have been reading submitted books by Canadian creators to compile these exceptional lists from which young readers will choose winners next spring.  

The lists of all nominated books are available on the OLA website here and schools, parents, everyone can register to be part of the program. (The program even extends beyond Ontario and Canada's borders.) Young readers from JK through high school have the opportunity to read and vote on their favourite books in these nine different categories:

• Blue Spruce: JK-Grade 2, picture books
• Silver Birch Express: Grades 3-4, fiction and non-fiction
• Silver Birch Fiction: Grades 3-6, fiction
• Yellow Cedar: Grades 4-8, non-fiction
• Red Maple: Grades 7-8, fiction
• White Pine: Grades 9-12, fiction
• Le prix Peuplier: French-language picture books, less text, simpler subject matters, perfect for read-alouds
• Le prix Mélèze: shorter French-language chapter books with maximum 100 pages or more mature picture books, larger text with pictures, simpler vocabulary and verb tenses
• Le prix Tamarac: French-language chapter books from 100 to 250 pages, smaller text with little or no illustrations, more complicated verb tenses and vocabulary

Because there are ninety nominated titles, I will break up the posts listing them in three groupings, all which can be accessed from this page. 

Do check out how to register for this fabulous reading program. All young readers are welcome. Just select the right program for your young readers.  

 

Congratulations to all nominees

and

Happy reading to Forest of Reading participants!

🌲🌳🌲🌳🌲🌳🌲

Blue Spruce Award™
(JK-Grade 2, English-language picture books)
Current nominees posted here

Silver Birch Express Award^®
(Grades 3-4, English-language fiction and non-fiction)
Current nominees posted here

Silver Birch Fiction Award^®
(Grades 3-6, English-language fiction)
Current nominees posted here

Yellow Cedar Award
(Grades 4-8, English-language non-fiction)
Current nominees posted here
   

Red Maple Award™
(Grades 7-8, English-language fiction)
Current nominees posted here

White Pine Award™
(Grades 9-12, English-language fiction)
Current nominees posted here

Le prix Peuplier
(French-language picture books, less text, simpler subject matters, perfect for read alouds)
Current nominees posted here
   

Le prix Mélèze
(shorter French-language chapter books maximum 100 pages or more mature picture books, larger text with pictures,  simpler vocabulary and verb tenses)
Current nominees posted here
 

Le prix Tamarac
(French-language chapter books from 100 to 250 pages, smaller text with little or no illustrations, more complicated verb tenses and vocabulary)
Current nominees posted here

 

 

 

 

 

Let the Forest begin!