Expert booksellers and librarians share their top picks for young readers. Check out what our experts are reading this September!
One Can
written by Lana Button and Eric Walters
illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant
Groundwood Books, 2025
IL: Ages 3-6 RL: Grades 1-2
There are few books for children that authentically present the realities of growing up with food insecurity. With honesty and hope, this notable picture book collaboration between award-winning authors Lana Button and Eric Walters addresses this timely topic. After bringing their favourite food to a non-perishable food drive at school, a child is surprised to later find the exact same can of Zoodelicious among groceries their mother unpacks, leading them to wonder, “Mom, are we the people in need?” One good turn begets another, and the child generously finds a way, close at hand, to pay kindness forward.
The spare, fine lines in Isabelle Malenfant’s digital illustrations capture small, affecting details, from the almost-bare kitchen cupboard to the child’s happy crayon drawings decorating the walls.
Told with grace, One Can is a moving story about giving and receiving.
Recommended by Linda Ludke, Collections Management Librarian, London Public Library
***
The History of Everything
Written and illustrated by Victoria Evans
HarperAlley, 2025
IL: Ages 13 and up RL: Grades 8-9
IL: Ages 13 and up RL: Grades 8-9
When Agnes's mother announces that they will be moving at the end of the summer, both Agnes and her best friend Daisy are devastated. The two have been inseparable, the only two goth girls in their school, and neither one can imagine life without the other. Agnes is furious with her mother. Then she and Daisy come up with a plan—a bucket list of things to accomplish in their last months together. But when Daisy falls for Noah things begin to go awry. Agnes feels increasingly hurt and left out as Daisy seems to be continuously putting Noah first.
In her first book, Victoria Evans has created an exquisitely-illustrated graphic novel that tackles typical trials of teen life with sensitivity. She explores the challenges of friendship, navigating a first crush/boyfriend and a fraught mother-daughter relationship with keen insight. Tender and sweet, this book's greatest strength is the magnificent artwork. A darker, more subdued palette with splashes of red and purple and thick, loose outlines perfectly evoke the book's somewhat nostalgic vibe and capture the full range of emotions.
Recommended by Lisa Doucet, Manager, Woozles Children's Bookstore
In her first book, Victoria Evans has created an exquisitely-illustrated graphic novel that tackles typical trials of teen life with sensitivity. She explores the challenges of friendship, navigating a first crush/boyfriend and a fraught mother-daughter relationship with keen insight. Tender and sweet, this book's greatest strength is the magnificent artwork. A darker, more subdued palette with splashes of red and purple and thick, loose outlines perfectly evoke the book's somewhat nostalgic vibe and capture the full range of emotions.
Recommended by Lisa Doucet, Manager, Woozles Children's Bookstore