New from the Canadian Children's Book Centre & Friends
April Book List: Earth Day Reads
Creator's Corner: Michael Stewart
Experts' Picks
News from the Canadian Children's Book Centre & Friends
Register for the Books to Build On: Indigenous Literatures for Learning Workshop. Through this workshop, you will be introduced to and experiment with Books to Build On, an ever-evolving database designed to make Indigenous literature and accompanying lesson plans more accessible. In the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to interact with co-leads and project members who will share the background, intention, and purpose of this database.
From there, the workshop host(s) will demonstrate how to locate various Indigenous texts and accompanying lesson plans unit plans through the user-friendly search portal. Additionally, participants will gain the opportunity to try it themselves and build connections to how it might be used in their professional or personal journey. Register now.
See the finalists! Spring is here and with it comes plenty of book award news. Shortlists for awards and prizes from across the country are being announced. Visit the industry news section of our website to keep up to date with what's happening.
CANSCAIP’s annual Writing for Children Competition is now open for submissions. Every entry receives a written evaluation from a traditionally published CANSCAIP Member volunteer reader. Four $500 cash prizes are awarded to the winning middle grade and young adult entries, and to the top two picture book entries. Visit CANSCAIP's website for the complete submission guidelines.
Their Canada-wide contest is open to authors aged 9-17. Entry is free, and prizes are generously supported by Island Savings and Orca Book Publishers.
Learn more and submit your story by April 27, 2025.
IBBY Canada is hosting the 40th IBBY World Congress, which will take place for the first time in Canada, from August 6-9, 2026 at Carleton University in Ottawa. The theme is Listening to Each Other's Voices - Pizindàdidà Ekidong - Écoutez la voix de l'autre.
You are invited to participate! Review the Call for Papers for details about speaking or hosting a workshop, session or presentation at the congress.
April Book List: Earth Day Reads
Earth Day is a chance to celebrate our beautiful home and demonstrate support for environmental protection. Our April book list features Canadian books that invite readers to explore and deepen their relationship to the natural world.
Picture Books
Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint? Celebrating the Seasons
Written by Tyna Legault Taylor
Illustrator Michelle Dao
HighWater Press, 2025
IL: Ages 5-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Joshua loves being on the land. When the weather is warm, Joshua and his dad gather mint from the shores of Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek (Lake Nipigon First Nation) in northeastern Ontario. But when will that be? It’s not when the leaves are changing colour. It’s not when the snow falls from the sky. It’s not when the flowers are budding. When is it time to gather mint from the land?
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Huxley’s Island Adventure
Written Haley Healey
Illustrated by Kimiko Fraser
Heritage House Publishing, 2025
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades: 2-3
Huxley the cat lives on a houseboat with his human companion, Robin. One day, while they are camping, Huxley gets lost. To get home, he must cross an entire island—passing by and through lakes, rivers, rainforest, subalpine and alpine regions, old-growth forest, ocean, highways, and city. Along the way, he meets strange animals and encounters plants he has never seen before. All through this long, hard trip, Huxley never gives up on getting home to Robin. But will he make it home before the winter storm season?
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If You Were Here
Written by Kathy Stinson
Illustrated by Maya McKibbin
Greystone Kids, 2025
IL: Ages 3-7 RL: Grades 1-2
In this beautiful ode to nature and mindfulness, a child sets out to explore the environment around their home, using all their senses. Yet, someone important is missing, someone the child wishes could be there on the journey.
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Sea in My Cells
Written by Laura Alary
Illustrated by Andrea Blinick
Pajama Press, 2025
IL: Ages 4-7 RL: Grades 1-2
In this ode to water, learn how the lifecycle of water works. All the water on earth is all there ever was, and all there ever will be. So, the next time you pour a glass of water, take a moment to think about all the wonderful things this life-giving resource does.
For Beginning and Middle Readers
A Bucket of Stars
Written by Suri Rosen
Scholastic Canada, 2023
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
It’s the summer of 2003 and 13-year-old amateur astronomer Noah Cooper has just moved to Queensport, a small town with a vast sky full of stars. There he meets Tara Dhillon, a lonely girl and aspiring filmmaker. When the two team up to produce an astronomy movie and enter a film contest, they discover a secret plan to turn their rural hamlet into a huge subdivision. Noah and Tara must use their unique skills to identify the culprits who plan on paving over the historic county—and try to save the infinite beauty of the stars.
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Birds on the Brain
Written by Uma Krishnaswami
Illustrated by Julianna Swaney
Groundwood Books, 2024
IL: 8-12 RL: Grades 3-4
Reeni is wild about birds! So when she and her best friend, Yasmin, have to pick a survey topic for a school project, asking their neighbours what they know about birds is an obvious choice. They are shocked to learn that no one—not one single person!—has heard about Bird Count India and the major event it is about to launch all over the country. Thousands of birdwatchers will be out counting birds as part of a global movement. Global means world, and isn’t this city part of the world? How come people don’t seem to care about the threats to city birds? And why is the mayor intentionally thwarting their city’s bird count event?
***
Cave-In
Written by Pam Withers
Yellow Dog, 2024
IL: Ages 10-15 RL: Grades 5-6
Hudson Greer and his caving partner, Jett, are determined to become teen legends who discover a long-sought passageway that connects two giant cave systems in their little mountain town. But they're haunted by the history of a giant sinkhole that opened up and swallowed the town's fully-packed church, steeple and all. Can his caving instincts and science knowledge predict or prevent the next disaster? Are the shoddy logging practices of the town's main employer tempting fate? And who's on whose side when business and political shenanigans mix with evaded environmental codes?
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We The Sea Turtles: A Collection of Island Stories
Written by Michelle Kadarusman
Pajama Press, 2023
IL: Ages 9-14 RL: Grades 4-5
On islands around the world—from Manhattan to Phillip Island, Australia, to Komodo Island and beyond—eight children face life-changing moments: escaping a flood; embracing their identity; discovering that the adults in their lives can ease the burden of their eco-anxiety. And although each child couldn’t be more different, one thing connects them all: a turtle swam into each of their lives at a critical moment, and left them changed.
For Teen Readers
Badass(ish)
Written by Jaymie Heilman
Ronsdale Press, 2023
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8
Reeling from an online Hatestorm after she blamed Alberta's oil industry for a devastating forest fire, Davis wades back into climate activism to impress her two new friends and win back her ex-boyfriend. The novel is told from the points of view of the three main characters: Davis' parents work for the oil company she is fighting against; Renzi knows what it's like when climate change strikes back when her grandparents' home in Puerto Rico is destroyed by hurricanes; and Jae hasn't found the right moment to share the truth about her growing feelings for another girl.
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My Green Style
Written by Lea Beddia
Lorimer, 2025
IL: Ages 14 and up RL: Grades 9-10
Montreal teen Pearl is passionate and dedicated both about fashion and the environment. She decides to make a point at her school’s fashion event by up-cycling donated, used clothes in exciting styles. But not everyone, not even some of her friends, is on board with ditching fast fashion for thrift-store creativity. While Pearl wants to showcase up-cycled and secondhand clothing, her best friend is drawn to the appeal of fast fashion. As they navigate these contrasting ideals, a strong desire to raise awareness about the fashion industry's environmental impact sparks a call to activism.
Balancing the excitement of activism with its challenges, the teens realize that change is harder than it seems. But the friends come together to embark on a journey that celebrates the potential of sustainable fashion.
***
Soul Machine
Written and illustrated by Jordana Globerman
Annick Press, 2025
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8
Chloe and her older sister make souls by hand in an empty old house in the countryside. When their supply of breth—the raw material needed to make souls—runs dry, the evil MCorp tries to force them to franchise and make synthetic souls instead. Chloe sets out to the big city in hopes of finding a new source. And maybe a way to modernize their business that Lacey is so determined to keep in the past.
***
Survival of the Goodest
Written and illustrated by Marianne Boucher
Emanata, 2024
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8
Sable has spent her whole life in a tight-knit community on a remote island. With support from her parents, she's trained for years to take up her position as the next Kerpathic, a messenger who travels through the dangerous forest to share news, medicine, and culture. When her father, the current Kerpathic, has an accident, Sable must step into her pre-destined role. As her first mission goes awry, she wonders if she's ready for this important but dangerous work. Until a young naturalist arrives on the island and sets off to capture a mysterious animal that's never been seen on the mainland. Sable realizes that she can use her skills as a Kerpathic to defend the island's animals and their way of life. But she quickly learns that she can't do it alone.
For Non-Fiction Readers
The Bee Mother
(Mothers of Xsan)
Written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)
Illustrated by Natasha Donovan
HighWater Press, 2024
IL: Ages 9-12 Grades: 4-5
Learn about the life cycles of different kinds of bees in this enlightening picture book. As flowers and trees begin to bud and bloom, Nox Ap, the bee mother, emerges from her winter sleep. To the Gitxsan, she is nature’s gardener. Without her hard work as a pollinator, we could not enjoy the fruits of strawberries and huckleberries. Follow her life from the first thaw of spring to the end of autumn.
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The Noisy Puddle: A Vernal Pool Through the Seasons
Written by Linda Booth Sweeney
Illustrated by Miki Sato
Owlkids Books, 2024
IL: Ages 4-9 RL: Grades 2-3
In this vibrant and poetic informational picture book, two curious siblings observe the hidden world of a vernal pool: a special kind of puddle habitat that pops up in the spring, dries up by summer, reappears in the fall, and freezes over in the winter—only to come back again in the spring.
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West Coast Wild Rainforest
(West Coast Wild)
Written by Deborah Hodge
Illustrated by Karen Reczuch
Groundwood Books, 2024
IL: Ages 7-10 RL: Grades 2-3
Towering over the sea, along the magnificent Pacific west coast, is an ancient and beautiful rainforest with a unique ecosystem that is linked in many ways. In this fourth book in the West Coast Wild series, you will find trees as tall as twenty-storey buildings, tiny seedlings sprouting on nursery logs and brightly coloured salmon spawning in streams. The salmon, as a keystone species, connect the ocean to the forest and provide a rich source of food for the bears, wolves, eagles and other creatures that live in this pristine wilderness. The remains of the fish add vital nutrients to the forest, feeding the lush green plants and trees. In turn, the thick vegetation shades the streams and protects the baby salmon that hatch and swim to the sea.
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Whales and Us: Our Shared Story
Written by India Desjardins
Illustrated by Nathalie Dion
Translated by David Warriner
Orca Book Publishers, 2024
IL: Ages 8-10 RL: Grades 3-4
There are many stories and legends about whales. Humans have long been fascinated by these majestic creatures. Maybe it’s their immense size or their mysterious songs. But how many of the stories are true? What do we really know about whales? And are we a threat to these creatures that captivate us?
Creator's Corner: Michael Stewart
Michael Stewart is the multi award-winning author whose books include illustrated chapter books and graphic novels, as well as young adult (Heart Sister) and middle-grade (Seeking Draven) novels. He is releasing two books in fall 2025—Turn to Burn, a young adult urban fantasy with Renaissance Press, and Eat, an adult memoir in verse with Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
We caught up with Michael to ask him about the joy of writing for children and tackling difficult topics through poetry.
On your website, you share “I write what I seek to understand. About people and relationships. About life. Inevitably these stories are best written for children.” Can you tell us more about what draws you to writing for children?
Children are the most demanding, most imaginative, the most craving and appreciative of story. And they are filled with questions, often the ones we adults dare not ask ourselves anymore: How can I be a good person? What does that even mean? Can’t I be just a little bit wild? What happens when I... What if I...? What’s it like to live in a... to be a… if I could…?
Children’s stories are often stories about how to live and there are so many wonderful potential answers to explore. Writing enables me to keep asking these questions and discover new avenues. I have four daughters and I see in them the importance of children’s literature every day. Reading is an empathy machine, and they’ve learned far more about how to make their way in the world through books than they have from my parenting.
I don’t know about you, but when I settle down to read a great book, I still feel like it’s a treat—as though I’m getting away with something. There are few things I value so much. If we can write fantastic stories for children, we can help foster this joy of reading for life.
Your latest book, Seeking Draven, is a verse novel about mending a broken family. Why did you decide to tell this story using poetry and verse?
This is a book about a family in crisis, but it is also about our relationship with technology. Verse has the ability to mimic the flow of content on our phones and the internet. Many of the verses are threaded like you might thread posts on social media. So part of the reason I chose verse was due to form and structure.
I also wanted the book to be highly accessible. It may seem counterintuitive, but verse is easy to read. The stories tend to be shorter, it’s full of white space, and has many opportunities for a reader to put it down and pick it back up. This is an advantage for less experienced readers, while still being compelling for advanced readers.
For me, writing in verse was a real challenge. I’d never written in verse and found the writing of it utterly different from that of a prose novel, like constructing a jigsaw puzzle out of emotional beats.
Seeking Draven addresses the challenging topics of compulsive behaviour. What do you hope young readers take away from this story?
Seeking Draven was carefully written to allow readers and teachers entry points to discuss issues children face online whether that be FOMO (fear of missing out), bullying, consent, conditioning, misinformation, etc. Without providing answers in the text, I hope these discussions can continue and deepen student understanding of where they fit and who they wish to be both online and offline. In the case of compulsions, it becomes the key turning point when Teagan draws the parallel between her ‘checking’ behaviours created by the impact of her social media use, and her brother’s challenges. This allows them to develop strategies to protect themselves and cope as a family.
But the discussion about online risk needs to be balanced. Children cannot develop resilience and aptitude without taking measured risks. Technology is here to stay and a powerful force in the world and the life of any child. My goal is to foster resilient use through knowledge and empowerment.
Teachers, don’t miss out on the teacher resource at seekingdraven.com !
You’ll be touring for the upcoming Canadian Children’s Book Week and talking with students about writing and digital literacy. What are you looking forward to most about touring for Book Week?
Like many great stories, we’ve come full circle in this interview: the answer is in the beginning! I’m looking forward to meeting students! Children are the most demanding, imaginative... They have such inquisitive minds and great questions. Depending on the presentation, I’ll be talking about storytelling, about poetry, about emotion, and about how to pitch a story and how the ability to do so connects to so many life skills. I always return from workshops and presentations energized to write and full of hope for the world. It’s a real gift to have the opportunity.
Michael Stewart will be touring as part of Canadian Children's Book Week 2025. Keep up to date with his latest projects by following @mfstewart on Instagram.
Experts' Picks
Every month expert booksellers and librarians share their top picks for young readers. Check out what our experts are reading in April.
Tove and the Island with No Address
Written and illustrated by Lauren Soloy
Tundra Books, 2024
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Seven-year-old Tove spends her summers on a remote island with her family. With the wide, wild world of nature on her doorstep and an inquisitive, imaginative nature of her own, she’s never at a loss for things to do. Rising early in the morning when “the stars were beginning to yawn, but the sun was still asleep,” the little girl pulls on her red boots and visits a grotto where a stubby, furry creature lives with his five teeny, impish daughters. After a whirlwind adventure in a blustery storm, Tove heads back to the cozy warmth and welcome of home: “What a fortifying thing to see light beaming from the windows and cheerful smoke coming from the chimney!”
Inspired by the art and childhood of Moomin author Tove Jansson, Lauren Soloy’s stunning homage, with its luxurious storytelling and fantastical illustrations, is pure magic.
Recommended by Linda Ludke, Collections Management Librarian, London Public Library
The Forest King's Daughter
(Thirstwood, Book 1)
Written by Elly Blake
Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2025
IL: Ages 14 and up RL: Grades 9-10
A young Dracu boy gives his friend a ring as a token of his friendship never imagining the terrible and far-reaching consequences this would have. This ring bestows tremendous power upon Cassia and leads to war between the Dracu and Cassia's people. Many years later, Cassia struggles to harness the ring's magic and prove herself to her father. Zeru wants to recover the ring and redeem himself for his terrible mistake. When Zeru kidnaps Cassia, the two are reluctantly reunited as they end up on a quest in which both protagonists learn more about themselves and their world than they ever could have imagined.
Recommended by Lisa Doucet, Manager, Woozles Children's Bookstore