Grade 1, Heritage and Identity: Our Changing Roles and Responsibilities
The Chinese Violin by 
Ode to Newfoundland by
Winner of the Lillian Shepherd Award for excellence in illustration of a children’s book set in Atlantic Canada Winner of the Lila Stirling Award by the Canadian Author’s Association, Nova Scotia. The Lila Stirling Award honors a great book by a Nova Scotia author for children under the age of ten. You don’t have to come from Newfoundland to appreciate it as a unique and wonderful place – the first land to see the break of day in North America. The sentiments in Ode to Newfoundland reflect the peoples’ relationship with the sea, the weather, and the rugged terrain. Written by Sir Cavendish Boyle, governor of Newfoundland from 1901 to 1904, and set to music composed by Sir C. Hubert H. Parry, Ode to Newfoundland is a tribute to a small land with an enormous heart. In this new book, Newfoundland-born Geoff Butler has set this well-loved anthem to joyous paintings, and provides readers with intriguing facts about the province: did you know, for example, that according to the Flat Earth Society, Brimstone Head on Fogo Island, is one of the four corners of the earth? With the Ode’s full text and music, and with extensive notes about Newfoundland, this informative book is one to treasure by everyone who has been touched by the magic of The Rock.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/the-ode-to-newfoundland-as-you-ve-never-heard-it-before-1.5569690
Piano Starts Here by
Regardless of whether they've heard of jazz or Art Tatum, young readers will appreciate how Parker uses simple, lyrical storytelling and colorful, energetic ink-and-wash illustrations to show the world as young Art Tatum might have seen it. Tatum came from modest beginnings and was nearly blind, but his passion for the piano and his acute memory for any sound that he heard drove him to become a virtuoso who was revered by both classical and jazz pianists alike. Included in the back matter is a biography and bibliography.
When the Beat Was Born by
A John Steptoe New Talent Award Winner Before there was hip hop, there was DJ Kool Herc. On a hot day at the end of summer in 1973 Cindy Campbell threw a back-to-school party at a park in the South Bronx. Her brother, Clive Campbell, spun the records. He had a new way of playing the music to make the breaks--the musical interludes between verses--longer for dancing. He called himself DJ Kool Herc and this is When the Beat Was Born. From his childhood in Jamaica to his youth in the Bronx, Laban Carrick Hill's book tells how Kool Herc came to be a DJ, how kids in gangs stopped fighting in order to breakdance, and how the music he invented went on to define a culture and transform the world.
Canadian Railroad Trilogy by
Nominee for the 2012 Silver Birch Express Award in the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading Program This lavishly illustrated book brings Gordon Lightfoot's heart-stirring song, "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," to readers young and old. The song was commissioned by the CBC in 1967 to mark Canada's centennial year and it has been a classic ever since. It eloquently describes the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway -- "an iron road runnin' from the sea to the sea" -- a great feat of nation building that changed Canada forever for good and for ill, as in the process many people died and were dispossessed of their land. Highly acclaimed, award-winning illustrator Ian Wallace brings the song to visual life with his sweeping landscapes and evocative portrayals of the people who lived the building of the railroad -- from the financiers in the east to First Nations people across the country to the thousands of navvies themselves, many of whom came from as far away as China.
Malaika's Winter Carnival by
Grade 2: Changing Family & Community Traditions
When Malaika moves to Canada, there's a lot to get used to, especially Carnival in the wintertime! Malaika is happy to be reunited with Mummy, but it means moving to Canada, where everything is different. It's cold in Québec City, no one understands when she talks and Carnival is nothing like the celebration Malaika knows from home! When Mummy marries Mr. Frédéric, Malaika gets a new sister called Adèle. Her new family is nice, but Malaika misses Grandma. She has to wear a puffy purple coat, learn a new language and get used to calling this new place home. Things come to a head when Mummy and Mr. Frédéric take Malaika and Adèle to a carnival. Malaika is dismayed that there are no colorful costumes and that it's nothing like Carnival at home in the Caribbean! She is so angry that she kicks over Adèle's snow castle, but that doesn't make her feel any better. It takes a video chat with Grandma to help Malaika see the good things about her new home and family. Nadia L. Hohn's prose, written in a blend of standard English and Caribbean patois, tells a warm story about the importance of family, especially when adjusting to a new home. Readers of the first Malaika book will want to find out what happens when she moves to Canada, and will enjoy seeing Malaika and her family once again depicted through Irene Luxbacher's colorful collage illustrations. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6 With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
Northwest Passage by
CONNECTIONS: Grade 4, Exploring Forms and Musical Contexts. A Canadian folk song interpreted through art and with links to Canada's past and present.
When I Get Older by
CONNECTIONS: Grade 5: Identify & describe key influences of music within contemporary culture.
Somali-Canadian poet, rapper, singer and songwriter K'naan tells his own story. Book trailer by Queen's 2013 teacher candidate Karli Feldman.
Gus and Me by
Long before there was a band, there was a boy: a young Keith Richards, who was introduced to the joy of music through his beloved granddad, Theodore Augustus Dupree, affectionately known as "Gus," who was in a jazz big band and is the namesake of Keith's daughter, Theodora Dupree Richards. Gus & Me offers a rare and intimate look into the childhood of the legendary Keith Richards through this poignant and inspiring story that is lovingly illustrated with Theodora Richards's exquisite pen-and-ink collages. This unique autobiographical picture book honors the special bond between a grandfather and grandson and celebrates the artistic talents of the Richards family through the generations. It also includes selected photographs from the Richards family collection and an exclusive audio CD featuring bonus content.
Powwow Day by
In this uplifting, contemporary Native American story, River is recovering from illness and can't dance at the powwow this year. Will she ever dance again? River wants so badly to dance at powwow day as she does every year. In this uplifting and contemporary picture book perfect for beginning readers, follow River's journey from feeling isolated after an illness to learning the healing power of community. Additional information explains the history and functions of powwows, which are commonplace across the United States and Canada and are open to both Native Americans and non-Native visitors. Author Traci Sorell is a member of the Cherokee Nation, and illustrator Madelyn Goodnight is a member of the Chickasaw Nation.