What is love? Reading can help young people learn to recognize different forms of love including self-love, love between friends and family, and romantic love. Our February book list celebrates love in all its forms.
Picture Books
All We Need Is Love and a Really Soft Pillow!
Written by Henry Rockey Reynolds
Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Orchard Books/Scholastic, 2023
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
This heartfelt celebration of love follows Poppy and Little One as they discuss all the things they need in life like a really good pillow or a roof over their heads —but most important of all, love. Despite the challenges they face as a storm sweeps away their home, this duo never lose their optimism because in the end they know that all they truly need is love...and each other.
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I Love Myself
Written by Wai Mei Wong
Illustrated by Julia Vasileva
Orca Book Publishers, 2024
IL: Ages 3-5 RL Grades 1-2
In this sweet picture book we accompany a child through their day, from morning to bedtime, as their inner self—portrayed as a cuddly imaginary creature—supports them in their endeavours. Some days are harder than others, but the positive message of the text highlights how you can love yourself through big feelings, try something different, say no, and so much more.
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Kisses? Click! Click!
Written by Andrée Poulin
Illustrated by Anne-Claire Delisle
Auzou Publishing, 2024
IL: Ages 3-6 RL: Grades 1-2
A lot of kids say YUCK! when they see their parents kissing each other. Little Clara doesn’t understand why children think kissing is soooo disgusting, so she sets out on a cute and funny investigation around the world to discover that love is everywhere. With her camera at the ready, she visits all different types of animals to take their pictures and prove to her brother that kissing isn't gross!
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Roger and Matthew
Written by Michel Thériault
Illustrated by Magali Ben
Translated by Pamela Doll
Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2020
IL: Ages 9 and up RL: Grades 4-5
A celebration of love in all its shapes and sizes! Same-sex couples haven't always been accepted in society, but it is possible for love and beauty to triumph. Two boys are friends and age gracefully together as a same-sex couple.
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We Love You as Much as the Fox Loves Its Tail
Written by Masiana Kelly
Illustrated by Tamara Campeau
Inhabit Media, 2023
IL: Ages 3-5 RL: Grades 1-2
This loving bedtime poem shares all the ways in which a family will welcome their long-awaited new member. Sharing love as deep as the beluga dives and as warm as the shaggy hair of the muskox, this poem envelopes a new baby in the embrace of their new home in all its forms—the Arctic landscape and the welcoming arms of family.
For Beginning and Middle Readers
From Megabat with Love
Written by Anna Humphrey
Illustrated by Kris Easler
Tundra Books, 2024
IL: Ages 7-10 RL Grades 2-3
It's Valentine's Day, and Megabat wants to show Bird Girl that he loves her. But how? Easy! Or is it? The next laugh-out-loud book in this sweet and funny illustrated chapter book series featuring a talking bat.
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Noah Frye Gets Crushed
Written by Maggie Horne
HarperCollins Publishers, 2024
IL: Ages 8-12 RL: Grades 3-4
In this cute and queer contemporary middle-grade comedy about friendship, first crushes, and first kisses, 12-year-old Noah Frye comes up with a foolproof plan to teach herself how to have a crush on a boy to fit in better with her friends—only to discover she’s been looking in the wrong place, and her crush was right beside her all along.
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The New Girl: A Graphic Novel
Written and illustrated by Cassandra Calin
Graphix/Scholastic, 2024
IL: Ages 9-12 RL Grades 4-5
Lia and her family are waiting to board a flight across the Atlantic, leaving behind family, friends, and Romania—the only home Lia has ever known. But Lia's heartache is overshadowed by the discomfort of her first period. As if things weren't difficult enough! Now Lia is thrust into a world where everything is different: her home, her language, and even her body. With so many changes happening at once, Lia struggles with schoolwork, has trouble communicating with classmates, and has no idea how to manage her unpleasant periods. Will she ever feel like herself again?
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Thanks a Lot, Universe
Written by Chad Lucas
Amulet Books, 2022 ©2021
IL: Ages 10-14 RL: Grades 5-6
Brian has always been anxious, whether at home, or in class, or on the basketball court. His dad tries to get him to stand up for himself and his mom helps as much as she can, but after he and his brother are placed in foster care, Brian starts having panic attacks. And he doesn’t know if things will ever be “normal” again...
Ezra’s always been popular. He’s friends with most of the kids on his basketball team—even Brian, who usually keeps to himself. But now, some of his friends have been acting differently, and Brian seems to be pulling away. Ezra wants to help, but he worries if he’s too nice to Brian, his friends will realize that he has a crush on him.
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The Unloveable Alina Butt
Written by Ambreen Butt-Hussain
Orca Book Publishers, 2023
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
Eleven-year-old Alina Butt has changed schools four times already since her family moved to England from Pakistan. Even after all that practice, she doesn’t seem to be getting any better at being the new kid. Mocked for her last name and her "weird" lunches, Alina has had enough! Taking a leap of faith to try and stand out for the "right" reasons, Alina auditions for the school play. Her hopes of landing the lead role in Cinderella are dashed when her new friend gets the part of Cinderella instead...and her bully is cast as Prince Charming!
Alina must rely on her stubborn will and wacky sense of humour to survive the endlessly embarrassing and ridiculous situations she finds herself in and discover her own unique way to shine!
For Teen and Young Adult Readers
Recommended Reading
Written by Paul Coccia
Zando Young Readers, 2025
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8
In this opposites-attract YA rom-com inspired by Emma, a failed romantic gesture puts a damper on a queer teen bookseller’s summer of book matching and matchmaking until a handsome lifeguard and romance skeptic waltzes into his bookstore. Sometimes you get a second chance at happily ever after when you least expect it.
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Something More
Written by Jackie Khalilieh
Tundra Books, 2023
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8
Fifteen-year-old Jessie, a quirky loner obsessed with the '90s, is diagnosed as autistic just weeks before starting high school. Determined to make a fresh start and keep her diagnosis a secret, Jessie creates a list of goals that range from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical first kiss and landing a spot in the school play. Within the halls of Holy Trinity High, she finds a world where things are no longer black and white and quickly learns that living in colour is much more fun. But Jessie gets more than she bargained for when two very different boys steal her heart, forcing her to go off-script.
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The Summer Between Us
Written by Andre Fenton
Formac Publishing, 2022
IL: Ages 13 and up RL: Grades 8-9
This coming-of-age story follows 18-year-old Adrian Carter as he graduates from high school and confronts difficult decisions about his future, all while dealing with the stress and pressure he feels to please those closest to him. As Adrian navigates the emotional highs and lows of the summer between graduation and the post-secondary future, he negotiates the difficulties of forging a path in life against others’ expectations.
Despite his wish to follow his longtime girlfriend Mel on her cross-country trip with her band, Adrian is hesitant about spending too much time in the punk’s scenes majority-white spaces. Adrian struggles with these feelings and works to find common ground with his emotionally distant father. Meanwhile he starts to understand that his own passion is grounded in a desire to support a community he’s forged on his own.
Dealing with important themes (a desire for independence, identity, first love, familial tensions) from the nuanced perspective of a biracial teen, this story tackles key contemporary social issues.
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When It All Syncs Up
Written by Maya Ameyaw
Annick Press, 2023
IL: Ages 14 and up RL: Grades 9-10
Ballet is Aisha’s life. So when she’s denied yet another lead at her elite academy because she doesn’t “look” the part, she knows something has to change–the constant discrimination is harming her mental health. Switching to her best friend Neil’s art school seems like the perfect plan at first. But she soon discovers racism and bullying are entrenched in the ballet program here, too, and there’s a new, troubling distance between her and Neil. And as past traumas surface, pressure from friends and family, a new romance, and questions about her dance career threaten to overwhelm her. There’s no choreography to follow—for high school or for healing. Aisha will have to find the strength within herself—and place her trust in others—to make her next move.
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Who We Are In Real Life
Written by Victoria Koops
Groundwood Books, 2024
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8
IRL, Darcy has just moved to the small prairie town of Unity Creek with her two moms. It feels like she left everything good behind in the city. She misses her tabletop gaming friends and her boyfriend— nd is horrified by the homophobia her family faces in their new home. Then she meets kind, quiet Art, who invites her to join his Dungeons & Dragons game.
Art is mostly happy fading into the background at school and only really coming alive during his friends’ weekly D&D game—until meeting Darcy pulls his life off-course in wonderful and alarming ways. Suddenly he has something worth fighting for. But what if that something puts him in conflict with his father, an influential and conservative figure in their town? Can Art stand up against his father’s efforts to prevent Darcy and her friends from starting a queer-straight alliance at school?
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Book list curated by Spencer Miller