The Canadian Children’s Book Centre is proud to have been selected as a Scholastic Reading Champion, for achievements in helping Canadian children improve their lives through reading.

Scholastic Canada established the Scholastic Reading Champions program in commemoration of their 60th anniversary. Over the course of 2017, they celebrated 60 Canadians who help children discover the pleasure and power of reading. A Reading Champion could be any individual, school, teacher, librarian, non-profit, charity or literacy organization who actively promotes the gift of reading and helps children discover the power of reading. Nominations were made by the public, and each month in 2017, five Reading Champions were selected based on these nominations.

The CCBC was nominated for the month of December by Jo-Anne Naslund, Education Librarian at the University of British Columbia. Her nomination letter said: “The CCBC programs help put books into the hands of children, promote a love of reading across Canada and communicate the important benefits of literacy. The executive director, Charlotte Teeple and the dedicated staff of the Centre, Shannon Howe Barnes, Meghan Howe, Karen Ingham, Camilia Kahrizi and Michael Wile work tirelessly to deliver these programs. CCBC is definitely a Reading Champion.” The letter can be read in full at www.scholastic.ca/readingchampions.

As a Reading Champion, the CCBC receives a certificate of recognition and Scholastic Canada will make a book donation, up to a retail value of $1,000, to an organization chosen by the CCBC. For this honour, the CCBC has selected Club Amick, which brings reading materials to First Nation children in remote Ontario communities, to promote literacy and foster a love of reading. “On behalf of Club Amick I wish to extend a great big Chi Meegwetch, or thank you, to the CCBC for the generous donation. By helping to get books into Indigenous communities the CCBC continues to demonstrate its commitment to reconciliation,” says Nancy Cooper, First Nations Consultant at the Southern Ontario Library Service. Read about Club Amick’s mission at www.clubamick.ca.

More information about the Scholastic Reading Champions program can be found at www.scholastic.ca/readingchampions.

For more information, please contact:

Camilia Kahrizi
Marketing and Website Coordinator
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Tel: 416.975.0010 ext. 221
camilia@bookcentre.ca