Kaiah’s Garden

As she wakes up one dull morning, Kaiah feels as cold and grey as the day. She longs to be with her grandmother again. Kaiah’s life doesn’t feel right without her. But through Kaiah’s treasured bead box — and the beauty it holds — she is with her grandmother, in a garden that is full of colour and love.

This beautiful story from award-winning author Melanie Florence celebrates the universal love between grandmother and child. Featuring bright, breathtaking illustrations from Tsilhqot’in and Syilx artist Karlene Harvey, the book also features back matter about the Indigenous tradition of beading.

Melanie Florence is a writer of Cree and Scottish heritage and has been writing full-time since 2010. She is the author of Missing Nimâmâ, which won the 2016 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, Stolen Words, which won the 2018 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award and the bestselling Orca Soundings titles He Who Dreams and Dreaming in Color. She lives in Toronto with her family.

Karlene Harvey is Tŝilhqot’in and Syilx and currently lives on the unceded and ancestral home territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. They studied at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, earning a BFA in visual arts. When they are not making art, Karlene enjoys exploring rocky West Coast beaches with their daughter, learning their Tŝilhqot’in language, and spending time in their garden.

• First Nation Communities READ AwardLong-listed 2025