Books to keep kids reading over the holidays
Get them reading over the winter break and maybe you can, too
It's the time of year where you might like to curl up in a comfy chair beside the fire with a holiday read nestled in your hands.
But unless your kids also have a great book to keep them occupied, they might just have different plans.
Writer and broadcaster Bee Quammie and CBC Books producer Lucy Mann recently stopped by The Next Chapter to talk about some great Canadian books to get kids reading over the winter season.
Lena The Chicken (But Really A Dinosaur!) by Linda Bailey and K-Fai Steele
Quammie's first choice is Lena The Chicken (But Really A Dinosaur!) by Linda Bailey, illustrated by K-Fai Steele.
"This is a story about Lena the chicken. When you look at her, she's a chicken. She doesn't think she's a chicken. She thinks she's a dinosaur," Quammie said.
A weasel breaks into the chicken coop one night and everyone is chickening out. But Lena taps into her ancestral strength and roars like a dinosaur, scaring the weasel away and becoming a hero to her family in the process.
"You get two lessons," Quammie said, "because you get the lesson of self-confidence, but you also get a little science and paleontology." At the end of the book, there is a list of nonfiction books for kids about the connection between dinosaurs and chickens.
Linda Bailey is an award-winning author of nearly 40 children's books, which have been translated into 22 languages. She lives in Vancouver.
K-Fai Steele is a children's book illustrator who lives in Sweden.
The One About The Blackbird by Melanie Florence, illustrated by Matt James
Mann's first pick is The One About The Blackbird by Melanie Florence, illustrated by Matt James.
"The book begins with this young boy, Jack, who lives in a house full of music with his grandfather. His grandfather plays numerous instruments, and Jack will listen to his grandfather play for hours."
One day, Jack asks if he can play the guitar. While it doesn't go well at first, Jack grows up to become a professional musician, touring the world.
Melanie Florence is a writer of Cree and Scottish heritage, based in Toronto. She is the author of Missing Nimâmâ, Stolen Words, He Who Dreams, The Missing and Benjamin's Thunderstorm.
Matt James is an illustrator and a writer, based in Toronto. He illustrated the picture books I Know Here and Rock by Laurel Croza, Yellow Moon, Apple Moon by Pamela Porter and The Stone Thrower by Jael Ealey Richardson. He also wrote and illustrated Tadpoles, Nice Try, Charlie! and The Funeral.
Fresh Start by Gale Galligan
Quammie's next pick is Fresh Start by Gale Galligan.
The middle-grade graphic novel tells the story of a young girl called Ollie Harrison. "Her dad is a diplomat, so the family moves around very often, and she's used to going to schools with other kids used to moving around. She's not too concerned with building connections with people because she knows she'll always get a fresh start."
When her parents decide to put down roots to give the girls a normal life, Ollie has to learn to live with the consequences of her actions and, for the first time, develop lasting friendships.
"There's no running away from herself or from her experiences. And, all of her classmates are like, 'let's be friends. Let's do this, let's do that,' so you see Ollie learn to be OK with herself."
Galligan is the New York Times author and illustrator of Freestyle and four of the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels. She lives in New York.
Kindred Dragons by Sarah Mensinga
Mann's next pick is Kindred Dragons by Sarah Mensinga.
"The book opens with this young girl called Alice. She's arriving in P.E.I., living with her stern and no nonsense grandmother, but we do quickly realize that P.E.I. isn't exactly the P.E.I. that we know because there are dragons."
Alice, who is obsessed with dragons, has arrived in the island province to live with her strict grandmother. It also deals with the ways society treats dragons badly.
"The illustration style in this book is so unique — intricate, delicate illustrations," Mann said, "I really love how the author draws Alice. I just think she's nailed it. She's done it so beautifully."
Mensinga is a Canadian writer and illustrator of several books for children including the Trillium Sisters series and Shimmerdark. She is currently based in Texas.
You Started It by Jackie Khalilieh
Quammie's final pick is the YA title You Started It by Jackie Khalilieh.
Teens Jamie and Ben have been dating for three years. "Jamie's very intense senior year at school has started," Quammie said. "She has a list called their 'Kill It' list of all the things they're going to experience and do throughout the year."
When Ben suddenly breaks up with Jamie, she convinces herself that he just needs space. But one day she's driving down Ben's block, lost in thought, and runs over a bike. That's when she spots Ben with her nemesis, Olivia.
Quammie said the book reminded her so strongly of being that age that she was really able to feel Jamie's pain.
Khalilieh is a Toronto-based Palestinian Canadian writer. She is the author of Something More and Everything Comes Back To You.
Songs for Ghosts by Clara Kumagai
Mann's last pick is Songs For Ghosts by Clara Kumagai.
Songs for Ghosts tells the story of Adam, who lives in the United States with his dad, stepmom and a new baby brother. His mother lived in Japan but died shortly after he was born.
I just loved how creative and unique the premise of the book is. It's truly like nothing I've read before.- Lucy Mann
In his attic one day, Adam stumbles upon a box with Japanese writing on it that belonged to his mother. When he opens it, he finds a diary written by another woman from Japan.
"At that point, the novel splits into a dual timeline with Adam in present day, and the mysterious diary writer from over 100 years earlier," said Mann, adding that the engaging narrative involves themes of love, betrayal, death and heartbreak.
Adam then travels to Japan and "the mystery, the pace, everything picks up. I read those last 200 pages in a single sitting," Mann said.
"It really gripped me."
Kumagai is a writer from Vancouver, who has also lived in Japan and Ireland. Her first book, Catfish Rolling was shortlisted for a Yoto Carnegie award in 2024. She currently lives in Ireland.
