Here’s CBC Books’ selection of this year’s Canadian titles for kids and teens!
Set on the first day of school, M. S. She attends a fancy daycare whose teacher has mysteriously disappeared. His only clues to her? There is one sandwich left and “Mr. S” written on the board. The scholars of Room 2B have to wreak havoc in this comic.
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Monica Arnaldo is an illustrator and children’s e-book maker from Ontario. His other e-books include Are You a Cheeseburger and The Museum of Very Bad Smells.
In Where the Water Takes Us, Ava’s mother is pregnant with twins. When the hospital visits become more serious, Ava is sent to live with her grandparents in their cabin. When a bird dies in front of her, Ava is sure she is cursed — so she makes a deal. If she can take care of the bird’s orphaned eggs, her family will be alright. Where the Water Takes Us is a coming-of-age novel that explores feelings of anxiety, openness to change and intergenerational relationships.
Where the water takes us is for children ages 8 to 12.
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Alan Barillaro is a writer and director from Niagara Falls, Ont. He won an Academy Award for the animated short film Piper and was the supervising animator on other theatrical releases such as WALL-E, Brave and The Incredibles. Where the Water Takes Us is his first middle-grade novel.
In The Secret of the Ravens, orphan twins Elliot and Liza take part in Raven Quests — message-carrying ravens with magical tasks that award coins and riches, to change their fate. However, the quests aren’t as straightforward as they seem, and when Liza gets poisoned, Elliot must race against time to save her.
The Secret of the Crows is aimed at children aged 8 to 12.
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Joanna Cacao is a Filipino-Canadian illustrator based in Winnipeg. Her other projects include representation for The Tryout and Native Reflections. The Secret of the Crows is her first graphic novel.
Into the Bright Open is a queer youth reimagining of The Secret Garden. When Mary Lennox was orphaned at the age of 15, she was sent from her home in Toronto to the Georgian Bay desert to live with her uncle. Mary settles into her new life when one night she discovers her cousin Olive, who has been given medicine and is hiding in an attic room. Mary and Olive become instant friends and, along with a mixed-race woman named Sophie, set out to investigate and lose Olive. One day, they stumble upon a long-neglected and neglected garden.
Into the Bright Open is for ages thirteen and up.
Cherie Dimaline is a mixed-race known for her YA novel The Marrow Thieves, which was named one of the top 100 young adult novels of all time by Time magazine and was championed by Jully Black in Canada Reads 2018. Her other books come with VenCo, Red Rooms, The Girl Who Grew a Galaxy, A Sweet Habit, The Empire of Wild and Funeral Songs for Dying Girls.
Garden of Lost Socks is a story of friendship, curiosity and network magic. Akosua, an aspiring ex-chirologist and her new friend, discovers an extraordinary world hidden within her own network.
Garden of Lost Socks is for ages 4 to 7.
Esi Edugyan will publish her first picture book, Garden of Lost Socks, available now!
Esi Edugyan lives in Victoria and lives in Half-Blood Blues and Dreaming of Elsewhere. His Washington Black eBook was a finalist in Canada Reads 2022, shortlisted for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Booker Prize, and won the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize. .
Amélie Dubois grew up in Montreal and lately lives in Mauricie, Quebec. She has illustrated children’s books such as Rien du tout! by Marie-Hélène Jarry, Mingan les nuages by Marie-Andrée Arsenault and Girlfriend and Girlfriend by Kim Nunès, Marie-Chantal. Perron and Tammy Verge, French-language finalists for the 2020 Governor-General’s Literary Award. He has also illustrated for magazines and television.
After the good fortune of her award-winning novels “Half-Blood Blues” and “Washington Black,” acclaimed Esi Edugyan is back with her first children’s book, “Garden of Lost Socks. “Esi tells Tom about the story of the laundromat that cheered her up. book, what it’s like to write for young people after writing two research-rich novels, and how he reflects on his formative years compared to those of his children.
The Probability of Everything follows eleven-year-old Kemi Carter, an avid odds fanatic. When you see an asteroid flying across the sky, your perception of everything changes. The asteroid has an 84. 7% chance of colliding with Earth in 4 days. Is she the only one who feels like it’s the end of the world?
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Sarah Everett is the author of several books for young people, recently founded in Alberta. His first novel is Some Other Now.
Priya Gets First is the third eBook in the Paws graphic novel series. The series is about the puppy sitters’ club, and the third volume focuses on the holidays when their business is hit by a major typhoon and PAWS members go through roads not known as the Communist Party. Will PAWS be able to overcome those demanding situations and stay afloat?
Priya Puts First is intended for young people aged 8 to 12.
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Nathan Fairbairn is a Vancouver-based comic book author nominated for an Eisner Award. Other projects he has worked on include the characters of Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the graphic novel Lake of Fire.
These Pink Mountain Nights is a young adult novel set in Alberta that follows three teenagers (Berlin, Cameron, and Jessie) who combine while running on Pink Mountain Pizza. The imaginable sighting of Kiki, Cameron’s cousin who disappeared five months earlier, triggers a week. -Long series of occasions in his small snowy town that will turn his whole life upside down. These Pink Mountain Nights explores topics such as missing and murdered indigenous women, intellectual health, and sexuality.
These Pink Mountain Nights are for ages thirteen and up.
Jen Ferguson is a children’s author, activist, and scholar of Michif/Métis heritage and Canadian settlers in Los Angeles. Ferguson holds a Ph. D. in English and creative writing. Her first novel, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, won the 2022 Literary Prize for Children’s Literature – Governor General’s Text.
Something More is a teen romance that follows 15-year-old Jessie Kassis’ freshman year of top school. Jessie is a young Palestinian-Canadian woman coming to terms with her autism diagnosis while looking to make friends and get a seat in the school play. And he gets his first kiss. When she catches the attention of two boys from Holy Trinity High School, Jessie discovers more about who she is and what she wants.
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Jackie Khalilieh is a Palestinian-Canadian recently founded near Toronto. Algo más is her first young adult novel.
The Skull is a tale taken from a classic Tyrolean tale. A brave young woman named Otilla escapes danger to get lost in a dark and terrifying forest. When a spooky space beckons, she enters. A skull lives in a space and holds a secret. Can Otilla save them both?
I Want My Hat Back Fame’s Jon Klassen Talks About The Picture Book
Jon Klassen is a Canadian writer and illustrator currently founded in Los Angeles. Klassen is one of the most sought-after illustrators in North America; his books come with the series Hat – I Want My Hat Back, This is Not My Hat and We Found a Hat and he has also collaborated with the American writer Mac Barnett on books such as Triangle, The Wolf, the Duck and the Mouse, Sam and Dave digs a hole and a circle.
In Woke Up Like This, ultra-organized Charlotte Wu is 17 years old and looking to throw the ultimate prom. While hanging decorations in the gym with her nemesis J. T. Renner, Charlotte falls off a ladder and crashes directly into Renner. The next thing Charlotte knows, she’s waking up in a strange room, she’s 30 years old, and she and Renner are engaged. Charlotte and Renner are determined to find out what happened and how to get back to their 17 years. old state. I woke up so it’s on the Canada Reads 2024 long list.
I woke up because this is for ages 14 and up.
The Canada Reads 2024 longlist is here!
Amy Lea is a new Canadian novelist and bureaucrat in Ottawa. His previous novels include Exes and O’s and Set on You. Woke Up Like This is on the long list of Canada Reads 2024.
In a culture where only women cook, expectations and gender roles are challenged in Boys Don’t Fry, when a boy named Jin helps his circle of relatives cook for the Lunar New Year party.
Boys Don’t Fry is for ages 4 to 6.
Kimberly Lee is a lawyer based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She is the editor-in-chief of makchic, an online site for parents in Malaysia. She is also the co-author of the image ebook What If?with Liyana Taff.
Charlene Chua is a Canadian illustrator born in Singapore. She has illustrated several picture books, including The Pencil by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, Shubh Diwali! by Chitra Soundar and Perfect Bao by Amy Wu and Kat Zhang. She currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario. .
In More Than Words, Nathan, a quiet boy, observes at school how other people can do it with other tactics. From peers who use sign language to peers who sing, there are many other tactics for ArrayMore than Words is a story of mutual understanding to create belonging. and friendship.
More Than Words is aimed at children aged four to eight.
Roz MacLean is a visual artist and children’s e-book illustrator founded in British Columbia. Some of her other works include Violet’s Cloudy Day and The Body Book.
The Magic Cap is an e-picture book about two brothers who decided to save their beloved hedgehog through the strength of gnomes. They venture into the forest to offer gifts to the gnomes in exchange for their magical healing properties: can they save Crispin?
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Mireille Messier is an English- and French-speaking children’s organization recently founded in Toronto. He has written more than twenty books, including The Branch and No Horses in the House!.
Charlotte Parent is a Montreal illustrator and comic book artist. He also illustrated Ovila Fontaine’s The First Christmas Tree.
Freddie the Flyer will pay tribute to the first Indigenous advertising pilot in the Arctic, named Fred Carmichael, by sharing the highlights of his 70-year career as a pilot. The story and times are organized according to the months in which they occurred, and readers will be informed of the names of the months in Gwich’in and Inuvialuktun.
Freddie the Flyer is for children ages 3 to 7.
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Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail is a Nova Scotia/Mi’kma’ki-based author. Her debut picture book was Alis the Aviator. She also wrote the nonfiction books For the Love of Flying and Polar Winds.
Fred Carmichael, the first Indigenous advertising pilot in the Arctic and is a member of the Order of Canada and the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame. He founded several airlines and is a leader and elder serving the people of the Mackenzie Delta. He currently lives in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. Freddie the Flyer is his first book.
Audrea Loreen-Wulf is an artist born in Tuktoyaktuk and most recently living in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. His paintings are an expression of his love for the North.
In the nonfiction book Nutshimit: In the Woods, Innu Melissa Mollen Dupuis takes children on a guided walk through the woods to learn more about Innu culture. Illustrator Elise Gravel brings words to life with her comic book-style illustrations.
Nutshimit: In the Woods is for ages 6 to 8.
Melissa Mollen Dupuis is a writer, producer, radio host and member of the Innu network of Ekuanitshit on the north shore of Quebec. Dupuis is a co-founder of the Quebec branch of the Idle No More movement. She lives in Granby, Quebec. . Nutshimit: In the Woods is her first children’s book.
Élise Gravel is a Quebecois illustrator who has written and illustrated more than 50 children’s books. His books include The Bat, The Worst Book Ever, The Mushroom Fan Club, I Want a Monster!and What is a refugee? Gravel won the 2022 Vicky Metcalf Prize for Children’s Literature for her lifetime achievement. He lives in Montreal.
How to be Found is a YA novel about best friends Michie and Trissa, who were raised by their single mothers in the same duplex. At 16 years old, the friends suddenly find themselves with different interests — Trissa loves going to the hottest nightclub in town, while Michie would prefer to stay in reading her favourite book. When Trissa goes missing one night everyone writes her off, but Michie refuses to give up on her friend. Her search for Trissa takes her to dangerous places, all the while a serial killer is targeting girls in their city.
How to be Found is for ages 12 and up.
Emily Pohl-Weary is a professor of art writing at the University of British Columbia. Her previous books include the young adult novels Not Your Ordinary Wolf Girl and Strange Times at Western High and the poetry book Ghost Sick. Pohl-Weary is originally from Toronto and now lives in Vancouver.
If You See a Bluebird is a story about a young former refugee named Ali, who misses his homeland, Afghanistan. With the support of his Nana, he realizes that home is not a place, but it’s where you are with the love of your family.
If You See a Bluebird is for ages 5 to 8.
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Bahram Rahman is a Kabul-born Ontario writer and activist who grew up in the civil war and Taliban regime. Rahman came to Canada as a refugee in 2012. Su first picture book, The Library Bus, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. Award and finalist for the 2022 Blue Spruce Award.
Gabrielle Grimard is an author and illustrator from Quebec. She wrote and illustrated the picture books Lila and the Crow and Nutcracker Night and illustrated the books Stolen Words by Melanie Florence and A Long Way Home by Jean Little.
Salma was introduced in a picture book about a young Syrian refugee’s life in Canada in Salma the Syrian Chef. Now as an early chapter book, Salma Makes a Home follows Salma and her family as she builds a new home for them in Vancouver. As her dad joins them and she begins to make new friends, Salma reflects on her Syrian identity and sense of belonging.
Salma Makes a Home is for children ages 6 to 9.
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Danny Ramadan is a Syrian-Canadian author, activist and public speaker based in Vancouver. His first book was The Clothesline Swing, which was longlisted for Canada Reads in 2018.
Anna Bron is an animator and illustrator in Vancouver. She illustrated Salma, the Syrian Chief and the novel Harvey and the Extraordinary.
Julie’s favourite fruit are mangoes but she can never seem to pick a sweet one from the tree in her yard. In Julie and the Mango Tree, Julie pleads with her mango tree on a summer afternoon in this vibrantly illustrated picture book.
Julie and the Mango Tree is aimed at children aged 3 to 6.
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Sadé Smith is a Jamaican-Canadian children’s author. Her previous book, Granny’s Kitchen, was nominated for the 2023 Blue Spruce Award.
Sayada Ramdial is an illustrator from Trinidad and Tobago who recently settled in the United States.
Inspired by indigenous legends, The Song That Called Them Home is a fantastical adventure on a summer day with two brothers and their Moshom (grandfather) visiting the land. As Lauren, her younger brother James and their Moshom canoe on the lake, the waves begin to hit and James is captured by the Memekwesewawak creatures. Lauren is determined to track him down and bring him back.
The song that called them home is aimed at four- to eight-year-olds.
David A. Robertson is a child and member of the Norwegian House Cree Nation. His previous picture books On the Trapline and When We Were Alone won the Governor General’s Literary Award. Lately he lives in Winnipeg.
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Maya McKibbin is an Ojibwe, Yoem, and Irish two-spirit illustrator, filmmaker, and writer. She was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award for illustrating the photo book Swift Fox All Along by Rebecca Thomas.
In I Am Big, a young black hockey player discovers the joy of his skill and confidence in the applause of his family, coach, and teammates.
Soy Grande is for children ages 6-8.
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Itah Sadu is a Toronto-based children’s author. She is the co-owner of Toronto bookstore A Different Booklist, which specializes in African and Caribbean Canadian literature.
Marley Berot is a Toronto-based illustrator whose work includes covers for Neuron, graphic design work for the Toronto International Film Festival, book design and illustration.
The novel YA Delicious Monsters is set in Toronto and reaches a woman named Daisy who can see ghosts. When her mother inherits an isolated mansion in Northern Ontario, Daisy discovers supernatural secrets that would possibly be out of her control. A decade later, a teenage woman named Brittney finds herself embroiled in a mystery about what happened to Daisy years earlier.
Delicious Monsters is for ages 12 and up.
Liselle Sambury’s young adult novel, Blood Like Magic, is a combination of fantasy and science fiction about Canadian black witches in Toronto.
Liselle Sambury is a youth and Canadian blogger from Trinidad. Her first novel, Blood Like Magic, was shortlisted for the 2021 Literary Prize for Children’s Literature – Governor-General’s Text.
When a bird builds a nest and sets up an outdoor building in Once, a Bird, the citizens of the building are reminded of the interconnectedness of nature and the happiness it can bring. Even when unpredictable things can happen in the world, there is a Consistency in nature that brings comfort.
Once a bird is 3-3 years old.
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Rina Singh is a children’s e-book author based in Toronto. Some of her other works include Grandmother School, which won the Christie Harris Prize for Children’s Illustrated Literature in 2021, and 111 Trees, which won the Social Justice Literature Prize and was a finalist for the 2022 Yellow Prize. She was also nominated for the Cedar Network Award for her e-book Diwali: A Festival of Lights.
Nathalie Dion is an illustrator based in Montreal. She has illustrated several picture books, including Kumo, the Shy Cloud by Kyo Maclear, The Dog Gardener by Patricia Storms, and The Big Bad Wolf in My House, written by Valérie Fontaine and translated by Shelley Tanaka. which won the Naughty Prize in 2021. Big Bad Wolf in My House is also a finalist for the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award, the Governor General’s Literary Award, and the Harry Black Picture Book Award.
A boy and his mother talk about their memories, like having a picnic with dad who is no longer with them. Do You Remember? is a picture book that explores how memories are made, whether they’re happy or sad.
Do you remember? It is intended for children aged 3 to 6 years.
Joanne Schwartz and Sydney Smith win $50,000 TD Prize for Canadian Children’s Literature for Town Is Through the Sea
Some of her other work includes illustrating Joanne Schwartz’s image ebook Town Is Through the Sea, which won the 2017 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Kate Greenaway Medal, as well as writing and illustrating the image. eebook Small in the city. Little in the City won the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Ezra Jack Keats Award.
In the space between here
The area between here and now is for ages thirteen and older.
Sarah Suk is a young woman living in Vancouver. Su first novel, Made in Korea, was named one of the most productive Canadian youth and young adult books of 2022 through CBC Books.
The Kompa Insect Expedition follows two twins as they go on an insect expedition with their grandfather. Inspired by David Suzuki’s adventures with his grandchildren, the picture book showcases a component of nature that can be overlooked: the world of insects.
Bompa’s Insect Expedition is for ages 4 to 8.
David Suzuki has a new picture book inspired by his grandchildren’s adventures
David Suzuki is an environmentalist, scientist and science broadcaster. He was the host of CBC’s The Nature of Things from 1979, until retiring from the show in spring 2023. The Vancouver-based environmentalist is a father of five and grandfather of 10, including twins Nakina and Kaoru. He is also an author of over 50 books, including Letters to my Grandchildren and The Sacred Balance.
Tanya Lloyd Kyi has written more than 30 books for children and teenagers, including The Best Way to Get Your Way, This Is Your Brain on Stereotypes, Under Pressure and Mya’s Strategy to Save the World. Kyi lives in Vancouver.
Qin Leng is a Toronto illustrator, writer and visual development artist. Her recent books include I Am Small, which Leng wrote and illustrated, and she has illustrated numerous books including A Kid is a Kid is a Kid and A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O’Leary.
In The Little Green Envelope, Olive has a small green envelope that she must select to give to Olive’s friend who has moved away – will her wish come true?
The Little Green Envelope is for children up to 6 years old.
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Gillian Sze is an instructor originally from Winnipeg who lives in Montreal. Some of her other children’s books include The Night Is Deep and Wide and You Are My Favourite Color, which was a finalist for the Fédération des écrivains du Québec award. His poetry collections Come with Quiet Night Think, which won the 2023 Pat Lowther Memorial Award.
Claudine Crangle is a Toronto-based artist and multidisciplinary artist. Her previous picture books include writing and illustrating Priscilla Pack Rat, Woolfred Cannot Eat Dandelions, and The House Next Door.
Every Child Matters honours the history and resiliency of Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island and moves everyone forward on a path toward Truth and Reconciliation. Readers will learn the meaning of the phrase “Every Child Matters” on the annual Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30, which honours residential school survivors, their families and communities, and commemorates those who did not return home.
Every Child Counts is aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 10.
New eBook with Images by Phyllis Webstad, Author of Orange Shirt Day, to Explore the Meaning of “Every Child Matters”
Phyllis Webstad was born on the Dog Creek Reservation and is a Northern Secwepemc of the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation. Based in British Columbia, she travels the country telling her own orange blouse story. She won the 2021 YA/Adult of the 2021/2022 First Nations Community Reading Awards category for her eBook Beyond the History of the Orange Shirt.
Karlene Harvey is a Tsilhqot’in and Syilx illustrator and grew up in the territories of the Semiahmoo and Kwantlen nations.
When You Know How to Swim is an e-book with pictures that encourages young people to overcome their fears of water. In the e-book, an adult explains to a young girl the joys and surprises of swimming.
When You Know How to Swim is aimed at children from four to 8 years old.
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Jack Wong is an illustrator living in Halifax who was born in Hong Kong but grew up in Vancouver. When You Know Swimming is his first book.
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