So what are you going to be reading for the first annual “I Read Canadian Day”?
What’s that? You haven’t heard about it? And what exactly is it anyway?
“I Read Canadian Day” is “a national day of celebration of Canadian books for young people.” The first one is this coming Wednesday, February 19.
Here’s some suggestions of books I have recently read.
Picture Books
“Albert’s Quiet Quest” by Isabelle Arsenault
I won this fantastic book in an Isabelle Arsenault prize pack from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Albert goes on a quest for a quiet place to read his book, but he is soon joined by his less than quiet neighbourhood friends.
“Up! How Families Around the World Carry their Little Ones” Written by Susan Hughes and Illustrated by Ashley Barron
Babies around the world are carried by various family members in different ways. My favourite pages are the one where the baby is nestled in grandmother’s parka and the one where the twins are seeing the world in uncle’s baskets.
“An Inukshuk Means Welcome” by Mary Wallace
Wallace takes each letter of the word Inukshuk, which are stone towers, and represents it by an Inuktitut word. My favourite part is the other types of stone towers that Wallace inserts throughout the book and explains at the back of the book.
“Go Show the World: a Celebration of Indigenous Heroes” by Wab Kinew; pictures by Joe Morse
Kinew celebrates Canadian and American indigenous heroes, some famous and some not, through a rap song. There is great back matter with the biographies of the heroes mentioned.
Kinew is also an accomplished musician. Check out “Heroes” in the following video.
“The Grizzlies of Grouse Mountain: The True Adventures of Coola and Grinder by Shelley Hrdlitschka and Rae Schidlo, illustrated by Linda Sharp
The story of how the grizzly bears came to live on Grouse Mountain, but also facts about grizzly bears, such as how they “cork” themselves during winter. I particularly enjoyed this book, because I visited them when I was in Vancouver a couple of years ago.
Middle Grade
“Nikki Tesla and the Fellowship of the Bling” by Jess Keating
Admittedly I haven’t read this book, which is number 2 in a series, because it’s been released so recently, but if it’s anything like the first book, I am in for a treat. It’s likely the book that I will be reading on Wednesday.
Graphic Novels
“Friends with Boys” by Faith Erin Hicks
Faith Erin Hicks is a Canadian writer and illustrator, and she is incredibly talented. “Friends with Boys” is her 2012 graphic novel, which is semi-autobiographical, about a ninth grade girl entering public school for the first time, after being homeschooled. There are several threads in this story: her relationships with her three older brothers, her coping with her mom leaving, even a ghost!
Adult Books
Because I think everyone should be encouraged to read Canadian, not just young people, I have included a couple of adult books. Or if you want to read at the same time as a young person in your life, but they decline to be read to, pick up a book like one of the following.
“Season of Fury and Wonder” by Sharon Butala
In this series of short stories the season of fury and wonder is the old age of women. The stories contain some hard truths and there are many shocking twists. Every story is inspired by a classic work that has influenced Butala’s writing.
“Nobody Ever Talks About Anything But the End” by Liz Levine
Levine writes about the death of her childhood love from cancer, as well as her younger sister by suicide. The format is uniquely made up of short stories using the alphabet as a structure. According to Levine, “My Alphabet isn’t a history of death. It’s a collection of things that make up death.”
If you are short for time, read this personal essay by Liz Levine’s mom, Carol Cowan-Levine, on how the fragmented health care system failed her daughter.
Here’s another list of Canadian books I have enjoyed reading that I prepared for the end of last year.
Click here for some lists of Canadian books that have been nominated for or won an award.
Are you planning on participating? I’d love to know what you are going to read.
Shoe's Seeds & Stories 
Great list of books Linda. Have read a few. My favourite Cdn author is Susanna Kearsley. (adult, writes many dual time-line books- fascinating)
Wednesday would be a great day to read one of her books!