Browse Books for Kids

Métis writer and educator Nikki Soliman walks children through the importance of mental health and wellness in Magnificent Magnetic Me. This book examines the importance of embracing the tools needed to stay positive. It teaches about the power of thoughts and words and the energy we attract.

Educator Information
Recommended for grades 5 to 8.

Additional Information
32 Pages | Paperback

When searching for berry bushes, Nala becomes lost, alone in the forest! Fortunately, Mama Sasquatch hears her cries and keeps her safe through the night. The following day, Nala learns how Mama and Baby Sasquatch live in the forest away from people, and why.

Both a charming and soothing story for young children, Mama Sasquatch provides mesmerizing painted illustrations from Ditidaht First Nation artist and author Eva Swift.

Educator Information
Recommended for grades K-3.

Mama Sasquatch was inspired by the author/illustrator's personal experience of seeing a Sasquatch.

This book is available in French: Mama Sasquatch (French).

Additional Information
48 pages | 7.00" x 10.00" | Paperback

“Some children are born into the world and are home as soon as they come Earthside. Others spend their lifetimes searching for a home, a place to belong, a place where they are safe. I am one of those children.”

After running away from residential school, Bernard Andreason and his two best friends begin a harrowing 130-kilometre journey from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, one which only Bernard would survive. In this heartbreaking and beautifully told graphic memoir, Bernard recounts his time in residential school and the tragic journey that took the lives of his two best friends. We then follow Bernard as he returns home, haunted by his past and struggling to find his place. Despite enduring more challenges into adulthood, Bernard never stops pursuing healing and higher learning, and he finds a support network that helps him. His story shows us that the possibility of finding a safe and loving home exists, and it is something every child deserves.

Mangilaluk is an extraordinarily affecting new addition to Qinuisaarniq ("resiliency"), a collection of books created to educate readers about the history and impacts of residential schools.

Reviews
"Mangilaluk by Bernard Anderson is a middle-grade novel that immerses readers in the life of an Inuk boy named Mangilaluk, set against the backdrop of the Arctic. This coming-of-age tale explores themes of cultural identity, survival, and the clash between tradition and modern influences. In social studies and history, students can delve into the rich portrayal of Inuit culture, traditions, and the challenges faced by indigenous communities in the Arctic. In Science/Language Arts classes, the book offers insights into Arctic ecosystems, wildlife, and survival skills, making it valuable for science classes. Overall, Mangilaluk enriches education with its engaging narrative and educational connections across various disciplines, providing students a deeper understanding of Arctic life and cultural diversity." - David D., Indigenous Educator & Administrator, Indigenous Books for Schools

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 14-18 by the publisher.  In the Indigenous Books for Schools database, it is recommended as a middle-grade work.

Mangilaluk exposes readers to the experience and perspective of an Inuk residential school survivor. It also shares a powerful story of friendship, personal growth and self-forgiveness, and the value of finding a supportive community.

This book is part of the Qinuisaarniq program. Qinuisaarniq (“resiliency”) is a program created to educate Nunavummiut and all Canadians about the history and impacts of residential schools, policies of assimilation, and other colonial acts that have affected the Canadian Arctic.

Each resource has been carefully written and reviewed to include level-appropriate opportunities for students to learn about colonial acts and policies that have affected Inuit. These acts and policies created long-lasting impacts on Inuit individuals and communities, which are still being felt today.

This book is included in the Indigenous Books for Schools database from the Association of Book Publishers of BC. It is recommended for Grades 5 to 8 for English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies.

Caution: Residential school, abuse, drugs, and alcohol

Additional Information
100 pages | 7.25" x 11.00" | Paperback

What if a school's mascot is seen as racist, but not by everyone? In this compelling middle-grade novel in verse, two best-selling BIPOC authors tackle this hot-button issue.

Six kids. One mascot. Who wins?

In Rye, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, people work hard, kids go to school, and football is big on Friday nights. An eighth-grade English teacher creates an assignment for her class to debate whether Rye’s mascot should stay or change. Now six middle schoolers–-all with different backgrounds and beliefs–-get involved in the contentious issue that already has the suburb turned upside down with everyone choosing sides and arguments getting ugly. 

Told from several perspectives, readers see how each student comes to new understandings about identity, tradition, and what it means to stand up for real change.

Reviews
"Waters and Sorell (Cherokee Nation) join forces to write about the power of being true to oneself.

In a middle school in Rye, a fictional town near Washington, D.C., a racist mural and offensive pep rally chants shock new student Callie Crossland, who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and African American. Callie shares a heartfelt poem with her seventh grade honors English class, reminding everyone that the “stupid tomahawk-chop chant” and the “cheap chicken-feather headdress” are nothing less than symbols of “white supremacy.” Afterward, Ms. Williams, her teacher, assigns a persuasive writing and oration project entitled “Pros and Cons of Indigenous Peoples as Mascots.” The small, broadly diverse group of students is assigned to work in pairs; Callie is matched with Franklin, who is Black and a proud fan of the Rye Braves football team. Franklin insists, “I wish we could Lysol racism away. / It’s a bad odor,” but he feels conflicted: “I still don’t think our mascot is racist though. It brings so much joy. / …what’s the big deal?” This clever novel unfolds in poems told in multiple voices showing the wide range of students’, families’, and community responses to the controversy; for some, initial feelings of opposition, hesitation, or indifference change and friendships are tested. The compelling, highly relevant subject matter and accessible text invite readers to understand different perspectives and witness individual growth.

A brilliant story not to be missed; deeply engaging from the first page. (glossary, additional information and resources) (Verse fiction. 10-14)" —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Told via seven alternating narratives, this ripped-from-the-headlines collaboration in verse by Waters (African Town) and Cherokee Nation member Sorrel (One Land, Many Nations) follows a fictional town’s division over a racist sports mascot. Callie Crossland, who is Cherokee and Black, has just transferred to a middle school in Rye, Va. She immediately expresses disgust at her school’s mascot, a “copper-toned, muscled, loincloth-clad, tomahawk-wielding” caricature of an Indigenous person. Callie’s English teacher Ms. Williams soon assigns a group writing project regarding the “Pros and Cons of Indigenous Peoples as Mascots,” and Callie is annoyed at being paired with Black classmate Franklin, who believes the mascot “brings so much joy.” Waters and Sorrel paint a complex portrait of the differing reactions toward the controversy by layering the racially diverse tweens’ perspectives and showcasing the effects the event has on their individual relationships and the community beyond their school. The creators eschew judgment to present a well-rounded discussion about classism and racism, as well as effective allyship, with compassion and understanding. A glossary and resources conclude. Ages 10–up." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Ms. Williams tasks her... honors English students with a persuasive writing and oral presentation assignment arguing the pros and cons of using Indige-nous peoples as mascots. Throughout the course of a school year the story unfolds in a series of poems that detail the per-spectives of six students: Callie (Cherokee African), Franklin (African American), Priya (Indian American), Luis (Salvadoran American), Tessa (white and previously homeschooled), and Sean (working-class white). Predictably, Callie, Priya, and Tessa (who sees herself as a committed antiracist) oppose Indigenous mascots, while the boys, who enjoy war paint and tomahawk chops at Rye Braves games, claim the mascot de-picts pride in the team and their school. While the discord around the mascot is a long-standing one in the Virginia community, the assignment empowers the students to take the issue to the school board. After further research, one student switches sides, losing a friend in the process. While the plot requires a fair amount of exposition detailing history and arguments on both sides, the characters are well developed and believable, and the story flows smoothly. A valuable classroom pick that demonstrates the importance of debate." —Booklist

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 10+

Includes a glossary and additional resources / information.

Subjects / Themes: Discrimination, Different Perspectives, Identity, Tradition, Standing up for Change, Social Responsibility, Verse Fiction / Poetry

Additional Information
256 pages | 5.75" x 8.56" | Hardcover

A decodable book featuring four phonics stories specially designed to help children with dyslexia or other language-based learning difficulties find reading success.

While Meg and Greg are visiting Greg’s family on Stardust Island they find themselves searching for one lost or missing item after another! Join Meg, Greg, cousin Martha and a puppy named Scarlet as they discover the thief who took off with a precious garnet ring at a farmers’ market, find and catch a horse named Popcorn who got lost in a forest, save a surfer who fell from his board and got badly hurt and chase an escaped teddy bear dangling from a helium balloon at a fun fair.

Meg and Greg: Scarlet and the Ring is the fourth book in the Orca Two Read series designed for shared reading between a child learning to read and an experienced reader. Inside you'll find four stories that focus on words with r-controlled vowels. For the first time in the series, readers will also be introduced to multiple spellings for a single sound.

Reviews
“Provides a supported flow to the reading of each story that enables the young reader to gain confidence. The modelling by the adult /buddy reader provides strategies for the young reader. At the same time, the story requires each partner to contribute to the reading in order to discover and enjoy each adventure. This partnership makes shared reading a special experience for both readers. Highly Recommended.”— CM: Canadian Review of Materials

“An extremely useful and entertaining series for striving readers; children reading this book along with their partner are not only getting the adventures of Meg and Greg, but learning their sight words and phonics with ease.”— School Library Journal

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 6 to 9.

This book includes features to accommodate struggling or dyslexic readers, such as comic-book-style illustrations, a dyslexia-friendly typeface with ample spacing and shaded paper to reduce contrast between text and paper—all of which make this series more accessible.

Targeted at struggling readers ages six to nine has a wide appeal to ELL readers, reluctant readers and at-level readers alike with its engaging and age-appropriate plots and low reading level that doesn’t demoralize or stigmatize struggling readers.

This is the fourth book in the Orca Two Read series, designed for shared reading between a child learning to or struggling to read and an experienced reader.  All of the stories have special features to help a child with dyslexia or another language-based learning difficulty find reading success.

A downloadable resource pack is available: Resource Pack - Meg and Greg: Scarlet and the Ring

Additional Information
159 pages | 5.87" x 8.25" | Paperback

Promenons-nous dans la rue. Les amis et voisins nous saluent. Il y a tant de gens à rencontrer. Beaucoup de voisins à côtoyer. Il peut être difficile de s’installer dans un nouvel endroit, mais lorsque vos voisins vous accueillent à bras ouverts, il y a tant à découvrir et à célébrer.

Accompagnez les enfants des livres à succès Bienvenue! et Tempête d’émotions alors qu’ils présentent à un nouvel enfant une communauté où chacun a sa place, est aimé et est apprécié, quoi qu’il arrive.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 4 to 8.

This book is available in English: All Are Neighbors.

Additional Information
10.00" x 10.04" | Paperback

Minnow, une jeune autochtone, protectrice des eaux, entreprend un voyage sous l'eau ou elle en apprend de notre famille qui vit dans l'ocean. Quand elle retourne a la surface, elle rassemble sa communaute pour aider a apporter des changements. Cette histoire est racontee en rimes lyriques et aide les enfants a mieux respecter les gens qui protegent les eaux et les terres autochtones, l'environnement et le monde qui les entoure. Elle aide a faire decouvrir l'activisme aux enfants tot dans leur vie.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 6 to 10.

A teacher lesson plan for this title is available: Minnow: la fille qui est devenue mi-poisson plan de cours

This book is available in English: Minnow: The Girl Who Became Part Fish

Additional Information
44 pages | 9.94" x 6.34" | Paperback

A young Indigenous water protector named Minnow goes on an underwater journey; learning from our ocean-living relatives. When she returns to the surface, she gathers her community to help make a change. This story is told in lyrical rhyme and helps children gain a better respect for Indigenous water and land protectors, the environment, and world around them, and helps show children activism at an early age.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 8 to 10.

Find a teacher lesson plan here: Minnow: The Girl Who Became Part Fish Teacher Lesson Plan

This book is available in French: Minnow: la fille qui est devenue mi-poisson 

Additional Information
48 pages | 10.83" x 8.58" | Paperback

Les relations constituent le fondement de tous les traités.Mishomis apprend à sa petite-fille à être attentive à la fois aux sons et aux silences autour d’elle pour mieux prendre conscience de sa place dans la création. Surtout, il lui apprend ce que sont les traités : des liens durables de réciprocité et de renouveau.L’auteure d’ascendance anishinaabe-métisse Aimée Craft souligne l’importance des traités dans cet album magnifiquement illustré par l’artiste visuel Luke Swinson. Un livre essentiel pour tous les lecteurs et toutes les lectrices.

Educator Information
This book is available in English: Treaty Words: For As Long As the Rivers Flow

Additional Information
60 Pages

In this bilingual book, an Anishinaabe child explores the story of a precious mnoomin seed and the circle of life mnoomin sustains.

Written in Anishinaabemowin and English, the story opens at harvest time. A child holds a mnoomin seed and imagines all the life that made a single seed possible-Mayfly, Pike, Muskrat, Eagle and Moose, all had a part to play in bringing the seed into being. What will happen if the seed sprouts? Underwater leaves will shelter young fish, shoots will protect ducklings, stalks will feed larvae, in turn providing food for bats...until finally mnoomin will be ready to harvest again.

We follow the child and family through a harvest day as they make offerings of tobacco, then gently knock ripe seeds into their canoe. On shore, they prepare the seeds, cook up a feast, and gratefully plant some seeds they'd set aside.

This beautifully written and illustrated story reveals the cultural and ecological importance of mnoomin. As the author's note explains, many Anishinaabeg agree that "wild rice" is an inaccurate term for this plant relation, since part of the harvest is sown every year to help sustain human and non-human beings. Includes a translator's note.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 3 to 6.

Thi book is written in Anishinaabemowin and English.

Key Text Features:

• explanation
• illustrations
• informational note
• translations
• translator's note

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

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2

Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

Translated by Mary Ann Corbiere, who grew up in Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island speaking Nishnaabemwin. She taught her language at the University of Sudbury for many years, obtained a doctorate and continues to work on instructional resources for adult learners. She now lives in Lively, Ontario.

This book is available in Anishinaabemowin and French: Précieux mnoomin

Additional Information
36 pages | 8.75" x 8.50" | Hardcover

A fun, rhyming read-aloud celebrating diversity, and a tool for teaching young readers the names of all the colours of the rainbow.

Blue's my favourite colour!
It really is the best.
I love my lucky socks.
Blue's better than the rest.
Although...

What's your favourite colour? When a teacher asks her students this question, one little girl just can't decide! Enter her vibrant imagination as she considers every colour and all the reasons that she loves the whole rainbow. Orange glows through autumn leaves, but pink is the colour of sunsets and cotton candy! And green shines all around the garden — how will she ever choose just one favourite colour? In her debut picture book, author Lindsay Ruck joins artist Bryanna Chapeskie to create a stunning poem that illustrates why being unique is always something to celebrate.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 3 to 7.

Additional Information
32 pages | 9.00" x 8.00" | Paperback

An all-new, richly illustrated easy-to-use guide that with the six identifying features of each of the most common birds on the east coast.

This book makes identifying the most common birds found on the east coast of Canada easy. It includes detailed illustrations of every bird, showcasing their size and colour, flight patterns, dietary habits and other useful facts.

Using this book, kids and novice bird watchers will be able to identify birds you may see in your back yard, on the trails or at the beach, helping them to reconnect with nature and wildlife.

Author and illustrator Jeffrey C. Domm is an expert with over 20 nature guides published. His illustrations go far beyond anything seen in common bird guides with detail and clarity.

More than forty birds are included, from those you will see in your backyard – like the American crow and the Blue Jay – to those you will see while at the beach or walking along a trail, like the Great Blue Heron and the Bald Eagle. Each bird has over ten illustrations for easy and clear identification.

Reviews
"This book is charming...looking closer at the book I noticed the bird images weren’t the generated images I thought they were. They were illustrations. And beautiful ones." — Katy Jean, The Chronicle Herald

Educator Information
Children's Book.

Additional Information
104 pages | 5.51" x 8.50" | Paperback

My Little Métis Sleepy Horse is a bedtime story in a board book format that is best read aloud by adult caregivers to small children. Horse stories are an important theme in Métis oral history and telling horse-themed stories can help reconnect children to their Métis cultural roots on the high plains. Award-winning, bestselling author, and artist, Leah Marie Dorion captures our connection to horses through her vivid paintings.

Educator Information
Dual-language: English and Michif

Michif Translators: Irma Klyne and Larry Fayant.

This book is included in the Indigenous Books for Schools database from the Association of Book Publishers of BC.

Additional Information
24 Pages | 5.5" x 7" | Board Book

From the award-winning and bestselling author of We Are Water Protectors comes an empowering picture book about family history, self-expression, and reclaiming your identity

Our ancestors say our hair is our memories,
our source of strength and power,
a celebration of our lives.

Mom never had long hair—she was told it was too wild. Grandma couldn’t have long hair—hers was taken from her. But one young girl can’t wait to grow her hair long: for herself, for her family, for her connection to her culture and the Earth, and to honor the strength and resilience of those who came before her.

From Carole Lindstrom, author of the New York Times bestseller and Caldecott Medal winner We Are Water Protectors, and debut illustrator Steph Littlebird comes an empowering and healing celebration of hair and its significance across Indigenous cultures.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Additional Information
48 pages | 9.00" x 11.00" | Hardcover 

Nature's repeating patterns, better known as fractals, are beautiful, universal, and explain much about how things grow. Fractals can also be quantified mathematically. Here is an elegant introduction to fractals through examples that can be seen in parks, rivers, and our very own backyards.

Young readers will be fascinated to learn that broccoli florets are fractals—just like mountain ranges, river systems, and trees—and will share in the wonder of math as it is reflected in the world around us. Perfect for any elementary school classroom or library, Mysterious Patterns is an exciting interdisciplinary introduction to repeating patterns.

Reviews
"This fascinating exploration should awaken readers' powers of observation and appreciation for the intricacies of nature." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Using clear text and outstanding color photographs, Campbell explores the concept of these unusual shapes. . . An afterword reveals more of Mandlebrot's background and work, which will be an inspiration to budding scientists/mathematicians." —School Library Journal, starred review

"This beautifully designed volume is a useful resource and, apparently, the only children's book devoted to fractals." —Booklist

"Through examples of what fractals are and what they aren't, this photo essay introduces a complex mathematical idea in a simple, inviting way. Using a straightforward text and eye-catching photographs, the Campbells start with the familiar: spheres, cones, cylinders--shapes readers can find and readily name in their environments. But then they move on to the more elaborate forms . . . For visual learners, this is a particularly accessible demonstration of an intriguing concept." —Kirkus Reviews

Educator Information
Recommended for grades 2 to 5.

Additional Information
32 pages | 11.06" x 8.50" | Paperback | Full-Colour Photographs