FALL BOOK PREVIEW 50 Canadian kids books to read in fall 2024 Here are the Canadian children’s books coming out in fall that we are excited to read! Books |1 hour ago

Here are the Canadian children’s books coming out in fall that we are excited to read!

In celebration of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 150th birthday, Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill tells the story of a young girl called Anne who lives in Toronto and finds comfort in her library and reading the books of her favourite author, Lucy Maud Montgomery. No one is more excited than Anne when she finds out that her beloved author is visiting her Toronto neighbourhood. 

Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill is for ages 6-10 and is out now.

Catherine Little is an educator, consultant and writer. Her previous books include Endgame, Dragon’s Dilemma and Twelve in a Race. She lives in Toronto.

Sae Kimura is originally from Odawara, Japan and currently lives and works in Toronto. She previously illustrated the picture book Twelve in a Race, also written by Catherine Little. 

In this picture book designed to inspire and empower young activists, Momma’s Going to March features children joining their mothers at different peaceful protest marches. The mothers and children are advocating for equality, freedom, the environment, clean water and peace. 

Momma’s Going to March is for ages 3-6 and is out now.

Jennifer Maruno is an educator and author. Her debut novel, When the Cherry Blossoms Fell, was shortlisted for the Hackmatack Award and the Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Readers Choice Award. She also wrote the picture book, While You Sleep, illustrated by Miki Sato. Maruno lives in Burlington, Ont. 

Vivian Rosas is a queer, Mestizx/Latinx illustrator, dancer and muralist. She previously illustrated the book Better Connected by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and Julia Kyi. Rosas is based in Toronto.

Sarah Ponakey, Storycatcher and Âhâsiw’s Forest Powwow is the first book in a new early chapter book series that celebrates Cree culture and urban Indigenous living. When Sarah Ponakey moves to the city, she is miserable. One day, Sarah finds herself transported to a magical powwow, led by the animals of the forest. Sarah begins to realise that it doesn’t matter where she lives, she can always connect with her Cree culture. 

Sarah Ponakey, Storycatcher and Âhâsiw’s Forest Powwow is for ages 6 to 9 and is out now.

Sita MacMillan is a member of Zagime Anishinabek and is of a mixed Cree and Scottish heritage. She lives in Prince Edward Island. 

Azby Whitecalf is a Plains Cree illustrator and character designer. They previously illustrated the picture book Buffalo Wild! written by Deidre Havrelock. They live in Saskatchewan. 

In the picture book I Am Cherished it’s Kikelomo’s first day of school and she is excited to meet her new classmates. However during circle time some of the other children make fun of her name when she introduces herself. She tells her parents and they explain the origin of her name — that it means ‘a child who is cherished’ in Yoruba. When Kikelomo goes to school the next day she is proud and excited to tell her classmates where her name comes from.

I Am Cherished is for ages 4-8 and is out now.

Onome Ako is a writer and the CEO of Action Against Hunger Canada. In 2021, Ako received the Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award and more recently she received the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award for her impact in social change. Ako was born in Nigeria and lives in Toronto. 

Ken Daley is an illustrator from Cambridge, Ont. His previous books include Joseph’s Big Ride, Auntie Luce’s Talking Paintings and Jayden’s Impossible Garden. 

In Birds on the Brain, Reeni is obsessed with birds. She is desperately trying to save her city’s bird count event before the mayor shuts it down. With the help of their family and the wider community, they set off on a mission to advocate for both the event and to educate people on the threats to city birds.

Birds on the Brain is for ages 9 to 12 and is out now.

Uma Krishnaswami is a writer and author based in Victoria. She is also the author of the books Book Uncle and Me, Two at the Top and Out of the Way! Out of the Way!. 

Edited by writer and activist, Jael Richardson, Today I Am is a collection of short stories written by emerging writers in Canada that examine the meaning of home. From growing up on a faraway planet to being stranded on an island to a difficult school assignment, this collection reflects the adventurous and courageous nature of kids today. 

Told through prose, verse and illustrations, Today I Am features stories by writers Jael Richardson, Marty Chan, Rosena Fung, Michael Hutchinson, Chad Lucas, Angela Misri, Mahtab Narsimhan, Danny Ramadan, Liselle Sambury and Brandon Wint.

Today I Am is for ages 10-14 and is out now.

Jael Richardson is a writer, editor and the executive director of the Festival for Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her other books include the picture book Because You Are and the nonfiction book The Stone Thrower, which was adapted into a picture book of the same name. Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was a finalist for the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.

In The Weedflower, one day when playing outside in the school grounds, a young girl called Sam notices a dandelion sprouting through the concrete and rubber turf of the playground. One day, the adults at the school notice it and announce it must go. Sam and her friends do everything they can to protect their special flower.

The Weedflower is for ages 4-8 and is out now.

Elizabeth Davaze is a writer, photographer and former news journalist from Kincardine, Ont. The Weedflower is her debut picture book. 

Marianne Ferrer is an illustrator originally from Venezuela and now living in Montreal. Previous children’s books that Ferrer illustrated include Wake Up, Little Pin!, 111 Trees, Mel and Mo’s Marvelous Balancing Act and Carmen and the House That Gaudí Built. 

It Bears Repeating is a counting picture book for young readers, celebrating Inuktitut language and art, that features the fascinating Arctic animal — the polar bear. From one to 10, more polar bears make their way through the icy landscape while they play, dance and search for food. This book combines English and Inuktitut words for young readers and parents alike.

It Bears Repeating is for ages 3-7 and is out now.

Tanya Tagaq is an Inuk writer and Juno Award-winning throat singer. Her first novel, Split Tooth, set in 1970s Nunavut, won the Indigenous Voices Award for best published prose in English in 2019.

Cee Pootoogook is an Inuk artist and illustrator. He has worked in carving, stone cutting and illustrations. It Bears Repeating is his first picture book.

Today is Orange Shirt Day is a board book for babies and toddlers that starts the conversation about the importance of Orange Shirt Day and The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This age-appropriate touch-and-feel board book helps children to understand what they can expect to see and do on Orange Shirt Day. 

Today is Orange Shirt Day is for ages 0-3 and is out now.

Phyllis Webstad was born on Dog Creek Reserve and is Northern Secwepemc from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation. Based in Williams Lake, B.C., she travels around the country to tell her own orange shirt story. She won the YA/adult category of the 2021/2022 First Nation Communities Read Awards for her book Beyond the Orange Shirt Story.

Natassia Davies is an artist, graphic designer and illustrator of Coast Salish ancestry. She has illustrated several books for children, including Little Wolf, written by Teoni Spathelfer, and White Raven, written by Teoni Spathelfer, which was shortlisted for the Indigenous Voices Awards.

In the picture book Broom for Two, a young witch is practising for her flying test but she keeps misplacing her broom. On one such occasion she finds her missing broom in the woods near a little rat’s house, and the broom has been bent and chewed. With a broom that is no longer fit for purpose, Little Witch must overcome obstacles to pass her flying test and gets help from an unlikely friend. 

Broom for Two is for ages 3-7 and is out now.

Jennifer Maruno is an educator and author. Her debut novel, When the Cherry Blossoms Fell, was shortlisted for the Hackmatack Award and the Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Readers Choice Award. She also wrote the picture book, While You Sleep, illustrated by Miki Sato. Maruno lives in Burlington, Ont. 

Scot Ritchie is a Vancouver author-illustrator of over 60 books including See Where We Come From!, Zander Stays, written by Maureen Fergus, Join the No-Plastic Challenge!, Follow That Map! and Lilliana and the Frogs. 

In this funny and original picture book, Mummy and Wee Wolf emerge from their coffin to start their ‘day’ every night when the sun goes down. Wee Wolf loves his Mummy and tries to be a well-behaved monster, but isn’t always successful. Mummy & Me explores the hilarity and tender moments of a parent-child relationship. 

Mummy & Me is for ages 3-6 and is out now.

Danesh Mohiuddin is an illustrator and a cartoonist and has previously worked as a toy and games designer. Mohiuddin was born in India and now lives in Toronto. Mummy & Me is his first picture book. 

Dad, I Miss You is a picture book that is based on author Nadia Sammurtok’s family history of residential school separation. A young boy and his dad each tell their story from their own perspective after the young boy is taken from his family and sent to a residential school. Dad, I Miss You explores loss, reconnection and hope.

Dad, I Miss You is for ages 9-12 and is out now.

Nadia Sammurtok is an Inuk writer who lives in Iqaluit. She’s written several picture books inspired by Inuit life and stories, including To My Panik, The Owl and the Two Rabbits, In My Anaana’s Amautik and Siuluk: The Last Tuniq.

Simji Park is an illustrator and animator from South Korea, currently based in London, England.

Waltraut is a middle-grade historical fiction novel, set in 1960s Winnipeg about a young girl who is struggling to fit in at school after she and her family immigrate from Germany. On weekends, she finds young people in a similar situation to her own when she attends German school. When her family announces they are moving to a new neighbourhood Waltraut decides she will use this opportunity as a chance to reinvent herself, although all doesn’t go as planned.

Waltraut is for ages 8 and up and is out now.

Gabriele Goldstone is a writer from Winnipeg. Her previous books for children and young adults include Crow Stone, Tainted Amber and Broken Stone.

Set in the same world as The Barnabus Project, Barnaby is a ‘perfect pet’ who is part mouse, elephant and flamingo. Barnaby is living a wonderful life after being purchased by a little girl who adores him. But one day the little girl gets an even more perfect pet and feeling unwanted Barnaby decides to run away. Barnaby Unboxed! follows Barnaby on his unexpected adventure in the city as he tries to figure out how to survive and where to call home. 

Barnaby Unboxed! is for ages 5-9 and is out now.

Terry, Eric and Devin Fan are brothers, writers and artists, and frequent collaborators on children’s books. Some of their books include The Barnabus Project, The Darkest Dark, written by Chris Hadfield, The Night Gardener and Ocean Meets Sky.

In the charming picture book, My Grammie’s House, a little girl is welcoming home the potential new owners of her grandmother’s house and showing them around. She shows them all the things she loves about the house, including the shaggy rug on the floor, the perfect spot to watch her Grammie’s favourite exercise show and the shady closet to hide out in during hot days. Illustrations show hints of what the house used to look like when the little girl’s Grammie still lived there. 

My Grammie’s House is for ages 3-7 and is out now.

Lana Button is a children’s writer and educator based in Burlington, Ont. Her other books include Willow Finds a Way which was shortlisted for the Blue Spruce Award, The Only Lonely Fairy, The Cow Said BOO!, Raj’s Rule and Percy’s Perfect Friend.

Skye Ali is an illustrator based in Texas. 

Bounce is a picture book by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko. The book follows two children, Ruth and Barbara, who are collected by an ambulance en-route home from school after Ruth falls and scrapes her knee. The girls get bored waiting to be seen at the hospital so they start to look around and discover an empty hospital bed with tons of buttons just waiting to be pushed. 

Bounce is for ages 3-7 and is out now.

Robert Munsch is one of Canada’s iconic storytellers, and has published over 80 books for children. Some of his titles include Love You Forever, Mortimer, The Paper Bag Princess and A Promise is a Promise. He was named to the Order of Canada in 2009. He lives in Guelph, Ont. 

Michael Martchenko lives in Burlington, Ont., and is a Canadian artist and illustrator of several of Robert Munsch’s books. Their books together include Class Trip, Mortimer, The Paper Bag Princess and many more.

In 2019, Holocaust survivor Max Eisen’s memoir won Canada Reads. Defended by science journalist Ziya Tong, By Chance Alone tells a moving and heart-wrenching story of luck and survival. Now, that story will be made accessible to younger readers in the new By Chance Alone: The Young Readers’ Edition which tells Eisen’s story after he and his family were forcibly removed from their home in Czechoslovakia and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp

By Chance Alone: The Young Readers’ Edition is for ages 10-13 and is out now.

Max Eisen was a Hungarian Jew who was deported to Auschwitz in the spring of 1944. He was a passionate speaker and educator who volunteered at the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center in Toronto. His memoir By Chance Alone was a finalist for the 2017 RBC Taylor Prize and for the 2017 Non-Fiction Vine Award for Canadian Jewish Literature. It won Canada Reads 2019, defended by Ziya Tong. Eisen died at the age of 93 on July 7, 2022.

Kathy Kacer is a Toronto-based author of fiction and nonfiction for children about the Holocaust. She is the author of over 20 books and has won the Silver Birch, Red Maple and Jewish Book Awards in Canada and the U.S.

In this board book for young children, Mi’kmaw artist Mel Beaulieu shows Mi’kma’ki animals in fun and whimsical scenarios such as a turtle on a skateboard and a salmon snorkeling. The illustrations are done using traditional beadwork, with Animals at Play in Mi’kma’ki featuring 11 full colour beaded illustrations. 

Animals at Play in Mi’kma’ki is for ages 2-5 and is out now.

Mel Beaulieu is a writer and artist from Fredericton, focused on creating contemporary beadwork and augmented reality. They are a member of Metepenagiag First Nation. 

In Getting Glam at Gram’s Alex and their cousins love Sunday dinner at their Gram’s house — the whole family gets together and puts on a playful fashion show borrowed from Gram’s different outfits from across the decades. Getting Glam at Gram’s celebrates gender expression and learning to be yourself and getting glamorous! 

Getting Glam at Gram’s is for ages 3-8 and is out now.

Sara Weed is a queer writer and educator. Weed lives in rural Ontario. 

Erin Hawryluk is an Ontario-based illustrator, artist and designer. 

In Library Girl 11-year-old Essie has secretly lived in the public library her entire life, being raised by four librarians who discovered her when she was abandoned as a baby. Although Essie has been happy with her life so far — being raised by four mothers and all the books she can read — she begins to yearn for more. Essie’s life takes a mysterious turn when she meets a boy at the mall one day, who looks so similar to her she thinks they could be twins. 

Library Girl is for ages 10 and up and is out now.

Polly Horvath is an author of children’s books who has won the Newbery Honor and a National Book Award. She is the author of the acclaimed 2001 book Everything on a Waffle, the 2017 book The Night Garden and won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award in 2013 for One Year in Coal Harbour. Her novel Pine Island Home was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General’s Literary Prize for young people’s literature — text. Horvath is based in Metchosin, B.C.

In the debut graphic memoir Uprooted, Ruth Chan leaves Toronto for Hong Kong with her family after her father gets a new job. Ruth is devastated to leave the city that she loves and although the rest of her family fit right in once they arrive, Ruth doesn’t. Ruth slowly adapts and sets down roots in Hong Kong with the knowledge that home will be where her heart is.

Uprooted is for ages 8-12 and is out now.

Ruth Chan is a writer and illustrator of comics and children’s books from Toronto. Her previous children’s books include Thank You, Neighbor!, Caboose by Travis Jonker and Rick the Rock of Room 214 by Julie Falatko. Chan currently lives in New York City.

In the follow-up to How to Party Like a Snail, introverted snail is back and this time he is planning the ultimate staycation with his friend Stump. Snail finds big holidays overwhelming — he much prefers the feeling of returning home at the end of the vacation. So when he and Stump decide to plan a holiday at home, he couldn’t be more excited. How to Staycation Like a Snail explores finding joy and adventure in your own backyard. 

How to Staycation Like a Snail is for ages 4-7 and is out now.

Naseem Hrab is a Toronto-based writer and storyteller. She is the author of How to Party Like a Snail, Otis & Peanut, Weekend Dad, which was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General’s Literary Prize for young people’s literature — illustrated books, and The Sour Cherry Tree, which won the 2022 Governor General’s Literary Award for young people’s literature — illustrated books.

Kelly Collier is a Toronto artist and illustrator. She is the author-illustrator of A Horse Named Steve, Team Steve and the graphic novel Steve, A Pretty Exceptional Horse. Collier is also the illustrator of numerous books including Sloth and Squirrel in a Pickle, Izzy’s Tail of Trouble, Izzy’s Dog Days of Summer and How to Party Like a Snail. 

In The Mango Monster Marianne and her cousin Zoe are trying to solve the mystery of who is stealing the mangoes from their mango tree. They have waited all year for mango season, so when mangos start to disappear from the lower branches of their trees, they are determined to find out who is responsible. Could it be a mango monster?

The Mango Monster is for ages 4-7 and is out now.

Derek Mascarenhas is a Toronto writer. His previous books include the short story collection, Coconut Dreams, and the picture book, 100 Chapatis, which was illustrated by Shantala Robinson. 

Meneka Repka is Sri Lankan-Canadian illustrator and teacher. The Mango Monster is her first children’s book. Repka lives in Victoria. 

The picture book Courage, Every Day explores the concept of courage and what that means to children. A little girl’s Papa explains to her that courage is in the big, heroic feats, but also in the smaller choices that we need to make everyday. A note at the end of the book explains how to help children develop their own sense of courage. 

Courage, Every Day is for ages 5-8 and is out now.

Wai Mei Wong is a writer and a former early childhood educator. Her previous books include I Love Myself and Hello, Dark, which was shortlisted for the 2022 IODE Jean Throop Book Award. She lives in Toronto.

Kirsti Beautyman is a writer and illustrator based in England. 

In the picture book I Want to Read All the Books, a curious little girl called Hana decides that the only way to get answers to all her questions about the world around her is through books. Before long Hana has read all the books in her house, her friends’ houses and then her entire street! Her mother decides to take her to the library where Hana realises she might have to revisit her plan to read all the books. 

I Want to Read All the Books is for ages 4-8 and is out now.

Debbie Ridpath Ohi is an illustrator and writer. Her previous children’s books include Where Are My Books? and Sam & Eva. She is from Toronto.

In the middle-grade mystery, Izzy Wong’s Nose for News, Grade 6 student Izzy decides to start her own investigative podcast. The girls’ washroom floods at her school, and it looks like it was done on purpose, so Izzy sets out to solve the mystery — documenting it on her new podcast as she goes. 

Izzy Wong’s Nose for News is for ages 9-12 and is out now.

Marty Chan is a children’s book author based in Edmonton. His other books include Willpower, Final Cut, Kung Fu Master, Haunted Hospital, Kylie the Magnificent, the Ehrich Weisz Chronicles and the Keepers of the Vault series.

What Inspires is a picture book about what can happen when you open your mind to creativity and imagination. Three young friends go to the park and it appears as though nothing is happening. But as one seemingly small event leads to another, which leads to another, soon the children find themselves having a day filled with laughter, creativity and possibility. 

What Inspires is for ages 6-8 and is out now.

Alison Hughes is a writer from Edmonton. She has written over 20 books for children and young adults, including Fly, Life Expectancy and Hit the Ground Running, which was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for young people’s literature — text. Her writing has been shortlisted for the Writers’ Union Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers, longlisted for the 2011 CBC Short Story Prize and her story Funhouse Mirrors was shortlisted for the 2021 CBC Nonfiction Prize.

Ellen Rooney is a designer, artist and children’s book illustrator. She also illustrated the picture books Her Fearless Run by Kim Chaffee, Grandmother School by Rina Singh and Dusk Explorers by Lindsay Leslie. She lives in the southern Okanagan Valley, B.C. 

In the nonfiction picture book, Barefoot Skateboarders, a young boy called Ramkesh wonders what the construction project is for in his remote village in Northern India. Soon he discovers it’s a skatepark and he’s hooked! People from other villages hear about Janwaar’s skatepark and visit to watch the children skateboard and perform amazing tricks. 

Barefoot Skateboarders is for ages 6-8 and is out now.

Rina Singh is a Toronto-based author of children’s books. Some of her other works include Grandmother School, which won the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize in 2021, Once, a Bird and 111 Trees, which won the Social Justice Literature Award and was a finalist for the 2022 Yellow Cedar Award. She was also nominated for the Red Cedar Award for her book Diwali: A Festival of Lights.

Sophie Casson has illustrated over 25 children’s books, including The Artist and Me, a finalist for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, Same Here!, The Prisoner and the Writer and Helen’s Birds. She lives in Montreal.

In The Book Witch, the Wee White Dog & the Little Free Library, a Book Witch and her small white dog are trying to find a solution to the problem of having too many books. After a pile of heavy books fall over and land on the Wee White Dog’s tail, the Book Witch knows she needs to rehome some of her books. But where? This picture book celebrates the magic of little libraries and the joy they can bring to communities. 

The Book Witch, the Wee White Dog & the Little Free Library is for ages 3-7 and is out now.

Lana Shupe is a writer living in Calgary. Her previous books include The Lonely Little Lighthouse and The Hippie Pirates. 

Tegan Thomas is an illustrator and animator from Victoria, living in Halifax. 

Fighting Words is a picture book about the power of words. When Ali’s cousin tears pages in his favourite book, angry words burst out of him. The words then come to life and go on a rampage through the community, wreaking havoc. Ali feels terrible and sets off to catch his words and to attempt to make right his wrongs.

Fighting Words is for ages 4-7 and is out now.

Leonarda Carranza is a writer who was born in San Salvador and is currently based in Brampton, Ont. Her debut picture book, Abuelita and Me, won the International Latino Book Award. Carranza also co-edited the anthology, Tongues: On Longing and Belonging Through Language. 

Erika Medina is a Mexican illustrator, art instructor and book publicist living in Vancouver. She has illustrated a number of children’s books including Margot and the Moon Landing, 48 Grasshopper Estates and Adela’s Mariachi Band.

One Box is a tender counting picture book about a migrant worker who sends a box of gifts and supplies, also known as Balikbayan boxes, back home to their family in the Philippines. Instead of counting the days until they will see each other again, they count the ways they are going to rebuild their relationship after being separated for so long. 

One Box is for ages 4-7.

When you can read it: Sept. 24, 2024

Andi Vicente is a writer and visual artist. They are based in Montreal.

Allan Matudio is an artist born to Filipino parents in Montreal. He is the author of the graphic novel Kasama.

In Beautiful Junk a child and his family are packing up their house to move to a new home and they decide to leave all their ‘junk’ on the curb. The young boy is shocked and delighted to see people taking items from their curb to use in their own homes, instead of the items ending up in the landfill. Beautiful Junk is a picture book that will help encourage children to consider reusing and recycling. 

Beautiful Junk is for ages 5-8.

When you can read it: Sept. 30, 2024

Melissa Assaly is a writer and an elementary school teacher from Toronto. Her previous books include The Imperfect Garden, illustrated by April dela Noche Milne. 

Samantha Lucy Haslam is an animator, graphic designer and illustrator. She is based in Calgary.

In the middle-grade novel, Is There a Boy Like Me?, a boy called London is feeling pressured to be the person his school friends and parents think he is. But he doesn’t want to be the confident video gamer, or the genius coder, London just wants to be by himself and read his books. So one day he starts an anonymous online comic called Is There A Boy Like Me. London’s comic goes viral and a conversation ensues about what being a boy today really means. 

Is There a Boy Like Me? is for ages 10-14.

When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2024

Kern Carter is a Toronto author and freelance writer. His other books include the novella Thoughts of a Fractured Soul, the novel Beauty Scars and the YA novels Boys and Girls Screaming and And Then There Was Us. Kern also has writing credits in Forbes, the New York Times, Global Citizen, Elle Magazine and Fatherly.com.

Mystery at the Biltmore is a mystery novel for children which follows novice detective, Elodie LaRue, who lives in the Upper West Side of New York City in a building called The Biltmore. When some jewelry disappears from a neighbour’s apartment, Elodie sets out to investigate and find the culprit, with the help of her friend Oscar and her dog Carnegie. 

Mystery at the Biltmore is for ages 7-10.

When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2024

Colleen Nelson is a children’s and YA writer based in Winnipeg. Her other books include If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It, which she co-wrote with Kathie MacIsaac, Pulse Point, Spin, Harvey Comes Home, Harvey Holds His Own and The Umbrella House. 

Peggy Collins is a children’s author and illustrator of over 35 books including Hungry for Math, In the Garden and The Only Lonely Fairy written by Lana Button. She is currently living in Newburgh, Ont.

Elise Gravel uses her signature monster characters to celebrate the incredible things that our brains can do in the picture book It’s My Brain!. Gravel explores how brains work with our senses and control our bodies and how to take good care of our brains. 

It’s My Brain! is for ages 6-9.

When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2024

Elise Gravel is a Quebec author and illustrator who has written and illustrated over 50 books for children. Her books include Club Microbe, Not Me, The Bat, The Worst Book Ever, The Mushroom Fan Club, I Want a Monster! and What Is a Refugee. Gravel won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People in 2022 for her body of work. She lives in Montreal. 

Mad at Dad is a lift-the-flap picture book that explores big feelings and managing anger in healthy ways. A little girl gets mad at her dad, but quickly realises she doesn’t like the feeling of being mad, except she doesn’t know how to stop it. 

Mad at Dad is for ages 2-6.

When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2024

Janie Hao is an illustrator and writer. She has a degree in illustration from Sheridan College and lives in Toronto. 

In Getting Us to Grandma’s, a young girl is helping her family navigate from their home in Toronto to her grandmother’s house in the Bronx for a family wedding. Nikki and her family are taking a long road trip and Nikki loves nothing more than reading from her big map book. As they drive to the wedding, Nikki also uses the trip as a chance to trace routes to other places her relatives live — such as Florida, Atlanta, Boston and England. 

Getting Us to Grandma’s is for ages 3-6.

When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2024

Nadia L. Hohn is a Toronto-based award-winning writer and educator. She is the author of numerous picture books which includes Malaika, Carnival Queen, Malaika’s Costume, Malaika’s Winter Carnival, Malaika’s Surprise and Harriet Tubman: Freedom Fighter, illustrated by Gustavo Mazali. 

TeMika Grooms is a writer and illustrator living in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Mandeep’s Cloudy Days is a picture book about a young girl who is deeply missing her father, who has to be away from their home during the week for his job as a truck driver. Mandeep and her dad love spending time together, performing Bhangra shows and having cha parties. When he’s not around Mandeep finds it difficult to be happy. Mandeep’s Cloudy Days explores the complex emotions of being separated from the people we love and how we can find moments of happiness and light amongst the more difficult times.

Mandeep’s Cloudy Days is for ages 4-7.

When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2024

Kuljinder Kaur Brar is a writer and an elementary school teacher. Her first picture book, My Name Is Saajin Singh, was selected for the first edition of CBC Kids Reads. She is based in Abbotsford, B.C.

Samrath Kaur is a queer, American-born Punjabi illustrator based in Boston, MA. She illustrated the picture book My Name Is Saajin Singh, written by Kuljinder Kaur Brar.

Alina in the Deep is the follow-up book to Alina in a Pinch. Alina is so excited — her cousin Safi is going to be visiting her in Calgary for the summer, coming from Kenya, and she can’t quite believe it! She pictures her and Safi becoming instant friends and is confused when she finds it hard to connect with her. But as the summer progresses, Alina and Safi learn that the more they listen to one another, and spend time together, the more their friendship starts to form.

Alina in the Deep is for ages 6-8.

When you can read it: Oct. 8, 2024

Shenaaz G. Nanji is a writer who has published over 12 books for children. Her previous books include Alina in a Pinch, which was a finalist for the Silver Birch Express Award 2023 and Child of Dandelions, which was a finalist for the 2008 Governor General’s Literary Award, Young People’s Literature — Text. Nanji was born in Kenya and now lives in Calgary. 

In the picture book The Animal People Choose a Leader, a group of animals, who share the same language, come together to decide who should be their leader. The different animals give their reasons why they should be considered for this revered position, and then they decide that the animals must race one another around a mountaintop lake. This tradition-steeped story reflects on respecting the land, wisdom and kindness. 

The Animal People Choose a Leader is for ages 5-9.

When you can read it: Oct. 12, 2024

Richard Wagamese was an Ojibway writer from the Wabaseemoong First Nation in Ontario. He is the author of six novels, including Indian Horse, which was a finalist on Canada Reads 2013, defended by Carol Huynh. He also wrote a collection of poetry and three memoirs. Wagamese died in 2017 at the age of 61. 

Bridget George is an Anishinaabe writer and illustrator from London, Ont. She was raised on the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, and she belongs to the bear clan. Her first picture book that she also wrote was It’s a Mitig!. She has illustrated numerous children’s books including Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior by Carole Lindstrom. 

The heartwarming picture book, Grampy’s Chair, is told from the perspective of a grandfather’s favourite chair. The chair keeps an eye on Grampy’s granddaughter, affectionately referred to as My Love. Grampy’s chair is the perfect spot for My Love to read and play games, and also to curl up on when sick. When Grampy passes away, his chair is moved into storage and it wonders if it will ever see My Love again. Grampy’s Chair explores grief, love and the importance of life moments taking place in our favourite spots. 

Grampy’s Chair is for ages 4-7.

When you can read it: Oct. 15, 2024

Rebecca Thomas is a Mi’kmaw poet and children’s writer, registered with Lennox Island First Nation. She is a former Halifax Poet Laureate. Her previous books include I place you into the fire, Swift Fox All Along and I’m Finding My Talk. Thomas lives in K’jipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki.

Coco A. Lynge is a Greenlandic-Danish Inuit artist. She lives in Denmark.

In It’s Okay, Just Ask, a little girl and her family are emigrating to a new country. The little girl has a lot of questions about the upcoming move, to which her mother supportively responds — “it’s okay, just ask!” This story is inspired by Monique Leonardo Carlos’s own experience of moving her family from the Philippines to Canada.

It’s Okay, Just Ask is for ages 4-7.

When you can read it: Oct. 15, 2024

Monique Leonardo Carlos is a writer, a homeschooler and a former classroom teacher. She was born in the Philippines and now lives in Surrey, B.C. 

Salini Perera is an illustrator and artist. Perera was born in Sri Lanka and now lives in Toronto. 

How to Know a Crow is a nonfiction book for children, introducing them to the wonderful world of crows. Savage introduces us to baby crow Oki, who we then follow throughout the story. Young readers will learn if crows have families, how they communicate with one another, how they play and how humans can interact with them. 

How to Know a Crow is for ages 9-12.

When you can read it: Oct. 15, 2024

Candace Savage is a Saskatoon writer of several books, including Hello, Crow!. Her work for adults, A Geography of Blood, won the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction and in 2022 she was awarded the Writers’ Trust Matt Cohen Award. 

Rachel Hudson is an artist, illustrator and writer who lives in England.

Sari Sisters is a picture book about two sisters, Ruhi and Kayra. Ruhi is envious of her older sister who gets to wear a sari for the first time to a family gathering. Ruhi can’t wait until she can also wear a sari and doesn’t want to miss out on the fun. Ruhi decides she will learn how to tie and pleat one of her mother’s saris, and then surprise everyone with a sari dance party. 

Sari Sisters is for ages 3-7.

When you can read it: Oct. 22, 2024

Anitha Rao-Robinson is a writer, a conservationist and a former accountant. Her previous books include A Family for Faru, Broken Promises and Broken Worlds. She lives in Milton, Ont.

Anoosha Syed is a Pakistani-Canadian illustrator, writer and character designer for animation. She has illustrated over 40 books, including That’s Not My Name!, Bilal Cooks Daal and Lost Stick. 

In the middle-grade novel, The Shape of Lost Things, Skye’s world completely changed four years ago when her brother Finn went on the run with her dad. One day they get a call saying that Finn has been found, but the boy who returns home — who is quiet and secretive — is nothing like the brother that Skye remembers. Skye tries to piece together what happened and how to deal with all the changes that she and her family are going through. 

The Shape of Lost Things is for ages 8-12.

When you can read it: Oct. 22, 2024

Sarah Everett is a writer based in Alberta. She has written several books for children and teenagers, including The Probability of Everything which won the 2023 Governor General’s Literary Award for young people’s literature — text, Some Other Now, How to Live without You and No One Here is Lonely. CBC Books named Everett a Black Canadian writer to watch in 2024. 

Snow Day is a picture book, written in rhyming verse, about an Indigenous family enjoying a winter snowstorm. This atmospheric story captures the small joys that a winter’s day can bring — from sitting by the fire indoors and drinking hot chocolate, to making snow angels and catching snowflakes on your tongue. 

Snow Day is for ages 3-7.

When you can read it: Oct. 29, 2024

Lindsay Gloade-Raining Bird is a mixed-Cree writer and poet from Truro, N.S. Snow Day is her first children’s book. 

Ashley Thimot is an artist, illustrator and graphic designer from Bridgewater, N.S, currently living in Edmonton. Snow Day is her first children’s book. 

Reasons to Look at the Night Sky is a middle-grade novel, written in verse, about a space-obsessed 11-year-old girl called Luna who has always dreamed of being an astronaut when she grows up. When a substitute teacher replaces Luna’s regular teacher, she begins to see the world differently. 

Reasons to Look at the Night Sky is for ages 9-12.

When you can read it: Oct. 29, 2024

Danielle Daniel is a writer and illustrator of settler and Indigenous ancestry living in the traditional territory of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (Sudbury, Ont.). Her books include The Dependent, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Northern Lit Award, Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox, which won the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and Daughters of the Deer, her debut novel for adults.

In the follow-up to Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer, it’s 1979 in Vancouver Island and 12-year-old Truly is living in Eagle Shores Trailer Park with Andy El, the Salish Elder who took her in after she was abandoned by her mother. Truly’s pen pal, Elvis, gives her a secondhand guitar, which she loves. However, one day Truly’s mother shows up asking for a second chance, leaving Truly unsure what to do next. 

Elvis, Me, and the Postcard Winter is for ages 9-12.

When you can read it: Nov. 16, 2024

Leslie Gentile is an author and singer-songwriter of Northern Salish, Tuscarora and Scottish heritage. Based on Vancouver Island, she performs with her children in The Leslie Gentile Band. She is also the author of Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer and Shamus the Urban Rez Dog, P.I. 

In the picture book Milo the Knight, all Milo has ever known is being a knight. He doesn’t know that his life could be different — Milo is doing what all the generations of knights before him did to be prepared if a dragon attacks. One day Milo’s armour gets rusty in the rain, leaving it impossible to move. With the help of a court jester, Milo learns to shed his armour and experience what it feels like to be free.

Milo the Knight is for ages 4-8.

When you can read it: Nov. 19, 2024

Grégoire Laforce is a children’s book writer from Gatineau, Que. He also wrote the picture book, The Last Drop, illustrated by Benjamin Flouw. 

Charlotte Parent is an illustrator and comic artist from Montreal.

A Recipe for Rhyme and Rescue is a middle-grade novel about friendship, food and poetry. Darla meets with the Food Poets every week at Carol’s Café where they share poetry, with each other and the customers, that has been inspired by cooking. When it’s announced that Carol’s Café might close Darla and the Food Poets do everything they can to save the café.

A Recipe for Rhyme and Rescue is for ages 8-12.

When you can read it: Dec. 31, 2024

Wanda Taylor is a writer, freelance journalist, screenwriter and college instructor. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications such as Atlantic Books Today, Black2Business magazine, Peak Magazine and anthologies across Canada, the US and the UK. Her previous books include The Grover School Pledge. 

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