And the Winner Is ... by
As this informational picture book by award-winning author Etta Kaner begins, sportscasters Walrus and Cockatoo are setting the stage: ?Welcome to the World Animal Games --- that's WAG for short. Top athletes from habitats around the world will be competing for the gold! Exciting, isn't it, Cockatoo? Along with some comic relief, the pair then provide the play-by-play for the seven sporting events covered in the book. With a total of twenty-eight animals competing, each event, from high jump to weight lifting and swimming, pits a different group of four against one another. Readers are given ?stats? for each competitor and are invited to guess who will win. Then they turn the page and find out who won and, importantly, why. They also learn how the winner compares, proportionally, to the best human achievement in that skill. Besides the funny, wisecracking banter between Walrus and Cockatoo, further entertainment is provided in the lively illustrations by David Anderson, as well as in the silly puns. For example, a chicken calls out, ?Foul play!? while a goat exclaims, ?You've got to be kidding!? This book will be hugely appealing to those children who love to learn facts about the strongest, highest and fastest. In the classroom, it's a perfect introduction to science lessons on living things and their characteristics, with the interactive guessing element a great way to keep children engaged. It also works as a read-aloud during major sporting events such as the Olympics.
Ava and the Little Folk by
The most magical things can come in tiny packages! In the Arctic, tales of tiny people who live on the land abound. This children's story follows the adventures of an orphan named Ava who is left to fend for himself by the adults in his village. One day, cold and alone, Ava stumbles upon a group of magical dwarves who finally show him how it feels to have a home of his own. Co-authored by CBC personality Alan Neal and accompanied by Jonathan Wright's ethereal watercolour illustrations, this contemporary tale of Arctic magic will ignite the imaginations of young readers.
Buzz about Bees by
2014 Silver Birch Express Award nominee Canadian Science Writers' Association Outstanding Youth Book 2013 shortlist On CCBC's Best Books for Kids and Teens list 2013 On Resource Links Best of 2013 list On Ontario Library Association Best Bets List 2013 Imagine a world without bees. Not only would it be less colorful - with fewer wildflowers and flowering plants - it would be less fruitful as well. A world without bees would mean a world where the food supply would be significantly diminished. Global bee researcher Laurence Packer estimates that bees are responsible for 1/3 of our food supply. Buzz About Bees is the latest addition to the series that includes Lowdown on Earthworms and follows the same formula offering an in-depth look at an endangered and vital part of the natural world. Accompanying information about the history, social structure and science behind the world of bees and honey are conservation activities to make the world a place where hives of bees can thrive.
Cryptic Canada by
While Canada cannot lay claim to wonders like the Great Pyramid of Egypt, Stonehenge of England, or ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, Canada is by no means lacking for stories of intrigue and adventure. From buried treasure to ice mummies to bootleggers to shipwrecks, curious readers need look no further than Cryptic Canadato discover seven of the country's most engaging unsolved mysteries. Beginning with the ongoing hunt in Nova Scotia for the legendary treasure of Captain Kidd and his crew, moving to the discovery of the mummified Franklin Expedition in Nunavut by modern-day scientists, and ending with an exploration of the Great Lakes Triangle phenomenon (with several other exciting stories in between), this book has something for every adventurous reader. Each chapter, bursting with illustrations by Matt Hammill and color photographs, ends with an interview with an expert in the field, who answers questions kids will be eager to ask after reading about each mysterious case.
Danny, Who Fell in a Hole by
Finalist for the 2014 Silver Birch Express Award Danny finds himself stranded at the bottom of a giant construction hole, armed with nothing but his school backpack, his wits -- and the company of a poetry-spouting mole... Danny's parents have always been a bit flaky, but this time they have gone too far. Now his mother wants to bake cheesecakes in the mountains, and his father wants to be an opera singer. That means Danny and his older brother will spend half the year in Banff (wherever that is) and half the year in New York City. Worst of all, in preparation for the big move, his parents have given away the family dog, Thwack. Furious with his family, Danny runs out of the house and keeps running -- straight onto a construction site, where he ends up at the bottom of a very, very large hole. When it appears that help is not immediately forthcoming, he settles in for the short haul, like a subterranean Robinson Crusoe. Drawing on his ingenuity, he provides himself with shelter (garbage bag and paper clips), cereal (coffee creamer, rainwater, granola bars and a few rogue raisins found at the bottom of his backpack) and a washroom (a hole in a hole). He even does his homework! The only thing missing is a Man Friday. Who turns out to have a long, earth-covered snout, a taste for beetles, and no eyes to speak of. Oh, and he also talks. His name is Mole, and he is excellent company -- until a snake appears, and Danny must be not only ingenious, but also brave, if he is going to save his new friend. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3 Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
Jason's Why by
2014 Silver Birch Express Award nominee Jason's mom says he is a problem, and puts him in a group home. Now Jason has to live with boys and grown-ups he doesn't know. Jason thinks, Now I'm in a house that isn't my house. I watch their hands and feet. When hands and feet move fast, you're going to get hit. There's a big bubble of mad inside Jason. It makes him yell and throw things. Jason wants to be good and move home again, but the mad bubble just won't go away.
The Secret of the Village Fool by
Milek and his brother Munio live in a sleepy village in Poland, where nothing exciting seems to happen. They reluctantly do as their mother asks when she asks them to visit their neighbor Anton, knowing that the rest of the village laughs at him because of his strange habits of speaking to animals and only eating vegetables. Things change quickly when war comes to their town in the form of Nazi soldiers searching for Jewish families like that of Milek and Munio. Anton refuses to tell the soldiers where to find them, and then goes so far as to hide the family in his own home, putting his life at risk without a thought. Based on a true story.
The Gargoyle at the Gates by
2014 Red Cedar Book Award -- Shortlisted 2014 Forest of Reading, Silver Birch Express -- Shortlisted, Fiction 2013 Diamond Willow Award -- Shortlisted 2013 Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award -- Shortlisted 2013 Saskatchewan Young Reader's Choice Award -- Shortlisted 2013 White Ravens Award -- Commended What do you do when the park next door is inhabited by 400-year-old creatures? Christopher has a problem. He has just moved to Toronto. He has a new school and no friends. But even worse, the park next door is creepy: voices whisper in the bushes, and something throws apples at his window and howls at the moon. But what? Gargoyles! Their names are Gargoth and Ambergine, and they need help. An evil thief called the Collector is after them and wants to lock them away in his dark mansion, forever. Befriending a gargoyle takes courage, but it's worth it. Once he does, Christopher suddenly has more friends than he ever imagined, including Katherine, a girl from his class who knows the gargoyles, as well. When the Collector steals Ambergine, it's up to Christopher and Katherine to get her back, as long as something else doesn't catch them along the way. This is the third book in the award-nominated Lost Gargoyle series.
The Stamp Collector by
On the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Honour List 2014 2013 Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award Honor Book 2013 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award nominee Forest of Reading's Golden Oak 2014 winner 2014 Silver Birch Express Award nominee OLA 2012 Best Bet - Picture Books category A city boy finds a stamp that unlocks his imagination; a country boy is captivated by stories. When they grow up, the two boys take different paths--one becomes a prison guard, the other works in a factory--but their early childhood passions remain. When the country boy's stories of hope land him in prison, the letters and stamps sent to him from faraway places intrigue the prison guard and a unique friendship begins.
When I Get Older by
Somali-Canadian poet, rapper, singer and songwriter K'naan tells his own story. When the Somali Civil War began in 1991, K'naan was just thirteen. His mother made the difficult decision to move her family so that they could grow up in safety. First in New York and then in Toronto, K'naan faced many challenges. Like so many other immigrants, he had to make a place for himself in a world of alien customs, clothes, and language. His road was a hard one and he lost many friends to violence.
The Secret of the Village Fool by
Milek and his brother Munio live in a sleepy village in Poland, where nothing exciting seems to happen. They reluctantly do as their mother asks when she asks them to visit their neighbor Anton, knowing that the rest of the village laughs at him because of his strange habits of speaking to animals and only eating vegetables. Things change quickly when war comes to their town in the form of Nazi soldiers searching for Jewish families like that of Milek and Munio. Anton refuses to tell the soldiers where to find them, and then goes so far as to hide the family in his own home, putting his life at risk without a thought. Based on a true story.