Picture Books

In the time before animals were as they are today, Raven and Loon were both white. Their feathers had no colour at all. Raven spent his days swooping through the sky trying to fight off his incessant boredom, while loon spent her days in her iglu working away on her sewing. One day, too bored to even fly, Raven visited Loon and suggested a sewing game that would give their feathers some much-needed colour. The results—not at all what the two birds expected—led to Raven and Loon acquiring their now-familiar coats.

This whimsical retelling of a pan-Arctic traditional story features lively, colourful illustrations from Kim Smith.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 3-5.

Additional Information
32 pages | 9.25" x 7.30"

The About Habitat series for the very young highlights the defining characteristics of habitats, including the plant and animal life, using examples from around the world.

Award-winning author Cathryn Sill and her husband, noted wildlife illustrator John Sill, offer young readers a first glimpse into desert habitats. In simple, easy-to-understand language, this guide teaches children what deserts are, what kinds of animals and plants live there, and how certain species have adapted to the unique challenges of surviving in this harsh environment. John Sill's beautifully detailed, full-color illustrations reflect the diversity of desert topography—from the vast dunes of the Arabian Desert to the rocky Chihuahuan Desert in the southwestern U.S.—and the astonishing varieties of desert wildlife.

A glossary and afterword provide young readers with further fascinating details on the desert, its creatures, and its conditions.

Awards
- Best Children’s Books of the Year ― Bank Street College of Education, 2008
- Society of School Librarians International Book Awards (Honor Book, Science K-6) ― Society of School Librarians International, 2007

Reviews
"A great choice for beginning readers and for sharing aloud, this elegant blend of clearly presented facts and starkly beautiful paintings makes an informative introduction to a harsh environment and the adaptations made by the plants and animals that live there." — School Library Journal

"...this handsome book introduces deserts...some of the paintings focus on particular plants or animals, while others show broad landscapes, but all are well composed, delicately colored, and sensitively lit...accessible to very young children as well as older students, this provides an appealing introduction to deserts." — Booklist

"Cathryn and John Sill are all but unequalled in their particular style...luscious watercolors are beautiful, sometimes bordering on the spectacular." — Bristol Herald Courier

“Great for reading aloud, this simple but informative book introduces littler kids to arid landscapes for the first time.” ― Letter Blocks, Barnes and Noble Newsletter

Educator Information
With simple text and language, and strong picture support (paintings), this non-fiction narrative teaches children what deserts are and what kinds of animals and plants live there.

Recommended ages: 3-7

Series Information
This book is a part of the About Habitats series, which introduces children to specific habitats and their living and nonliving components.

Additional Information
48 pages | 10.00" x 8.50"

With a very simple text accompanied by rich, vibrant illustrations a young narrator describes what it means to be a child with rights -- from the right to food, water and shelter, to the right to go to school, to be free from violence, to breathe clean air, and more. The book emphasizes that these rights belong to every child on the planet, whether they are "black or white, small or big, rich or poor, born here or somewhere else." It also makes evident that knowing and talking about these rights are the first steps toward making sure that they are respected.

A brief afterword explains that the rights outlined in the book come from the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989. The treaty sets out the basic human rights that belong to children all over the world, recognizing that children need special protection since they are more vulnerable than adults. It has been ratified by 193 states, with the exception of Somalia, the United States and the new country of South Sudan. Once a state has ratified the document, they are legally bound to comply with it and to report on their efforts to do so. As a result, some progress has been made, not only in awareness of children's rights, but also in their implementation. But there are still many countries, wealthy and poor, where children's basic needs are not being met.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 4 to 7.

This book is part of the I Have the Right series. 

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.2

With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

Additional Information
48 pages | 9.63" x 9.63" | Hardcover

Last Leaf First Snowflake to Fall takes us on a dreamlike voyage into nature at that secret moment when fall turns into winter. We find ourselves in a kind of paradise, which humans may be part of but which they have not despoiled. 

A father and son lead us through forests, down rivers, over lakes and ponds. Along the way we experience the primordial beauty of the physical world. This is nature as we all feel in our hearts it must once have been. 

Through lyrical words and a masterful collage technique, Leo Yerxa has created an exquisite and poetic evocation of this moment.

Educator Information
Curriculum Connections: Science and Nature, Visual Arts, Language Arts.

Recommended ages: 5-8.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.13" x 11.00"

Level 3 Illustrated by Bill Helin. Back cover book introduction: Baby Bear likes to share salmon with his friends. Who do you think could be some of Baby Bear’s friends?

Educator & Series Information
Salmon to Share is part of the Strong Readers: Set A series. Set A includes a mixture of both fiction and non-fiction books, from levels 1 through 10, based on the appearance, behaviours, and habitats of frog, bear, eagle, and raven. The fictional stories are about frog, bear, eagle, and raven with their friends in their respective habitats.

The Strong Readers are a guided/leveled reading series chock full of science, numeracy, social responsibility, language arts and oral language teachings. Strong Readers are rich with scaffolded text features and have beautiful illustrations and photographs. The entire series is interconnected and follows the cultural values of frog, bear, eagle and raven throughout.

Guided Reading Level: 3

This resource is also available in English: Du saumon à partager.

Additional Information
Book Dimensions: 6.5in x 5.5in | Pages: 16 | ISBN: 9781927571026

Large, captivating photographs fill this delightful new book for primary students on the basic facts of bear cubs. Children will be amazed to discover how tiny a bear is when it is born! Easy to read text provides brief, simple descriptions of the parts of a cub's body, how the mother bear cares for her cubs, the different kinds of habitats in which different bears live, how some bears sleep during winter, and how bears find their food.

Educator & Series Information
Reading Level: Gr. 1-2
Interest Level: Gr. K-3
Guided Reading Level: J

This book is from the It's Fun to Learn About Baby Animals series.  This beautiful series uses adorable pictures of baby animals to introduce basic curriculum concepts, such as animal classification, color and pattern, habitats, animals anatomy, sense, diet, family structures, the role of play, and life cycles. Children will love the pictures of the cute baby animals and will be thrilled to learn about how each animal lives.

Additional Information
24 pages | 8.20" x 9.10" | Glossary and Index

Children will love learning about these cute members of the dog family. Easy-to-understand text and appealing photos show the different parts of a wolf’s body, where wolves live, how babies are cared for by their mothers, and how they are raised in a pack, or family. A fun activity asks readers to identify which photos on the page are of wolves and which are not.

Educator & Series Information
Reading Level: Gr. 1-2
Interest Level: Gr. K-3
Guided Reading Level: J

This book is from the It's Fun to Learn About Baby Animals series.  This beautiful series uses adorable pictures of baby animals to introduce basic curriculum concepts, such as animal classification, color and pattern, habitats, animals anatomy, sense, diet, family structures, the role of play, and life cycles. Children will love the pictures of the cute baby animals and will be thrilled to learn about how each animal lives.

Additional Information
24 pages | 7.82" x 8.48" | Glossary and Index

A young girl delights in a visit to her grandpa's farm. She and her cousins run through the fields, explore the root cellar where the salmon and jars of fruit are stored, swing on a rope out the barn loft window, visit the Appaloosa in the corral and tease the neighbor's pig. The visit is also an opportunity for this child to ask Grandpa what her grandmother, Yayah, was like, and to explore the "secret room," with its old wooden trunk of ribbons, medals and photos of Grandpa in uniform.

There is a wonderful blend of fun and family history in this visit to a grandparent, and the realization that there can be some things about the people we know and love that will always remain a mystery. But above all, there's nothing like being with Grandpa.

In her two previous picture books, Shi-shi-etko and Shin-chi's Canoe, Nicola Campbell worked with elders and survivors of residential schools, documenting the tragic experiences that many endured. This new book, based on her own childhood memories, is a sunny, joyful story, vibrantly illustrated by Kim LaFave.

Reviews
"Grandpa’s Girls follows a group of four cheerful Interior Salish cousins let loose on their grandfather’s sprawling B.C. farm.... The book is a vicarious pleasure for anyone who ever wished they’d once had a hay loft to swing from, a pig to tease, or a cobwebby root cellar to explore. Beyond that, it is an honest look at how kids sometimes need to experience the past in the context of the present to really understand it." - Quill & Quire 

Educator Information
Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, Visual Arts, History

Recommended Ages: 4 - 7

Additional Information
32 pages | 7.50" x 9.63"

Most babies are smaller versions of their parents, but some babies do not look anything like their adult counterparts. This book looks at the life cycle of pond frogs and tree frogs, with amazing photographs following their metamorphosis from tadpoles to adult amphibian. This book is so much more than just another life-cycle book, with easy-to-follow text describing frogs different habitats, how they find food, and how they protect themselves.

Educator & Series Information
Reading Level: Gr. 1-2
Interest Level: Gr. K-3
Guided Reading Level: J

This book is from the It's Fun to Learn About Baby Animals series.  This beautiful series uses adorable pictures of baby animals to introduce basic curriculum concepts, such as animal classification, color and pattern, habitats, animals anatomy, sense, diet, family structures, the role of play, and life cycles. Children will love the pictures of the cute baby animals and will be thrilled to learn about how each animal lives.

Additional Information
24 pages | 8.20" x 9.30"

In just four days young Shi-shi-etko will have to leave her family and all that she knows to attend residential school.

She spends her last days at home treasuring the beauty of her world -- the dancing sunlight, the tall grass, each shiny rock, the tadpoles in the creek, her grandfather's paddle song. Her mother, father and grandmother, each in turn, share valuable teachings that they want her to remember. And so Shi-shi-etko carefully gathers her memories for safekeeping.

Richly hued illustrations complement this gently moving and poetic account of a child who finds solace all around her, even though she is on the verge of great loss -- a loss that native people have endured for generations because of the residential schools system.

This gentle story of a child on the verge of great loss was selected as the Aboriginal Children’s Book of the Year.

Awards

• Winner of the Anskohk Aboriginal Children's Book of the Year Award. 

Educator Information
Recommended Grades: 1-10.

Curriculum Connections: Indigenous Studies, Visual Arts, Science, Health.

Recommended Authentic First Peoples resource K-9.

This illustrated children's story is recommended for English First Peoples Grades 10 for units pertaining to childhood through Indigenous writers' eyes and the exploration of residential schools and reconciliation through children's literature.

This book is available in French: Shi-shi-etko (French)

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.50" x 8.13" 

Igvillu is a little dog with big dreams. One of her favorite dreams is of becoming a sled dog. When Igvillu is adopted from her kennel by an Inuit storyteller and moves to northern Canada, she comes face-to-face with real sled dogs. Igvillu loves living in the North, chasing siksiks and dreaming about her future. She''s a dog who believes anything is possible!

Alego is a beautifully simple story, written in Inuktitut and English, about a young Inuit girl who goes to the shore with her grandmother to collect clams for supper. Along the way she discovers tide pools brimming with life -- a bright orange starfish, a creepy-crawly thing with many legs called an ugjunnaq, a hornshaped sea snail and a sculpin.

Written and illustrated by Ningeokuluk Teevee, one of the most interesting young artists in Cape Dorset, home to the great tradition of Inuit art, this is an enchanting and utterly authentic introduction to the life of an Inuit child and her world.

Educator Information
Alego includes an illustrated glossary of sea creatures as well as a map of Baffin Island. Ages 4-7.

This book is delivered in a dual-language format, written in Inuktitut and English.

Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, Science, Visual Arts.

Additional Information
24 pages | 7.63" x 9.63"

Butterflies are the most beautiful insects, and this latest Crabtree title shows these colorful creatures in all their glory! The book starts with the stages of metamorphosis from egg to wormlike caterpillar to pupa, and finally, to a magnificent butterfly. It then introduces some caterpillars and butterflies and asks children to notice their similarities and differences. The book then challenges children to guess which caterpillars would change into which butterflies.

Educator & Series Information
Reading Level: Gr. 1-2
Interest Level: Gr. K-3
Guided Reading Level: J

This book is from the It's Fun to Learn About Baby Animals series.  This beautiful series uses adorable pictures of baby animals to introduce basic curriculum concepts, such as animal classification, color and pattern, habitats, animals anatomy, sense, diet, family structures, the role of play, and life cycles. Children will love the pictures of the cute baby animals and will be thrilled to learn about how each animal lives.

Additional Information
24 pages | 8.20" x 9.30"

Follow the adventures of Chuck as he gets lost on his first trip to the big city. Chuck encounters stray dogs and alley cats, kids on skateboards and rollerblades, and tall office towers. After realizing he is lost, Chuck relies on what he has learned to find his way back to his kookum's (grandmother's) condo.

Chuck in the City is Jordan Wheeler's second book for children. The award-winning Cree author and scriptwriter previously introduced young readers to Chuck in Just a Walk. Wheeler writes in a rhyming style that will capture and hold a child's attention.

Series Information
This is the second book in the Chuck series.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.00" x 8.00"