Family Literacy Day & 5 Favourite Canadian Kids’ Authors
Family Literacy Day is celebrated each January 27 in Canada, so we thought we’d take the opportunity to share some of our favourite Canadian authors for the preschool crowd. These are books that are a huge hit with our kids AND don’t make us parents cringe while reading! Be sure to add your picks in the comments – we could always use some new titles to read!
Need a baby shower gift? Kate Beaton‘s King Baby is my new go-to book to gift & The Princess & The Pony is a much-requested read in our house.
Ruth Ohi’s Fox & Squirrel are awesome literary friends to have & the artful inspiration of Scribble will bring a smile to your face.
Funnily enough, I first discovered Marie-Louise Gay‘s Stella & Sam while searching for suitable apps for toddlers. Now her books have filled our shelves!
Jeremy Tankard is a high on my list of favourites. Our whole family can recite Grumpy Bird by heart!
Thanks to our many, many readings of Sheree Fitch‘s Sleeping Dragons All Around, I’ve had to perfect a Mocha Maple Chocolate Cake. Maybe I’ll remember to blog the recipe someday!
And the only thing that keeps our trio entertained on the road …
What are your favourite books to enjoy as a family? I’d love to see some suggestions in the comments!
I think as parents we all recognize that learning to read is important for our children. But I know sometimes parents can be worried about HOW to help kids learn to read. So here are my two easy, awesome ways to encourage reading with your children.
ONE: Establish a designated daily story time. A bedtime story is a simple way to introduce a routine – and feel free to start when your child is an infant, but don’t think you’ve missed the boat if they’re already in school. Make it happen! Find a kid-friendly chapter book to read together as a family, perhaps one with a movie tie-in that you can work towards watching together when you’re finished reading (say, Harry Potter or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Sit down with the paper each morning and read the headlines – or skip to the ‘today’s pet for adoption’ section. Maybe you have time to read a story while supper is cooking. The key is to set a consistent time when you and your child read together and stick to it.
TWO: Make sure your kids see you reading! This can be novels, but it can also be the newspaper, magazines, graphic novels, album lyrics – everything counts! Show them that reading is something you do on your own, not just with them. It helps send the message that reading is important, not just for learning, but as a lifelong skill – and that it’s not something to leave behind in childhood.
FOR READERS AGES 8-10
Reading local is fundamental to raising engaged youth who feel a sense of pride and belonging in where they live. And while it can be somewhat easy to encourage reading local when you’re in charge of choosing the books littles are read, it can be trickier to find books that appeal to emerging readers in late elementary and middle school. That’s why we rounded up some of our favourite New Brunswick books for young adults — with hints of magic, the supernatural, mystery, history, and adventure!
- Dave Atkinson‘s Wereduck Trilogy
- Jennifer McGrath‘s Chocolate River Rescue & White Cave Escape
- Diane Carmel Léger’s The Lookout Tree & Piau’s Potato Present
- Wendy McLeod MacKnight‘s The Frame Up
- Riel Nason‘s The Town That Drowned
- Eric Wilson’s The St. Andrews Werewolf
Want to know more about them? Listen to Jenna & Tosh chat about these books & more on the Pickle Planet Podcast.
Happy Reading, Everyone!
My wife is off to read at my son’s school today armed with Pete the Cat. He borrowed it from school yesterday and was more excited to have that read to him this morning than eat breakfast. His French mom also introduced him to the French version of the character (Pat le chat).
For bedtime, his dad (me) will read a bunch of things by author Mo Willems. We started with his Pigeon books, but are now really digging his Elephant & Piggie series. We are both getting a good chuckle out of Knuffle Bunny and Cat the Cat also by the same author. He writes and draws in a way that is funny for adults too. Highly recommend. The libraries have lots.
We LOVE Knuffle Bunny! Mo Willems is a sure bet every time.
My guy laughs so hard he gets the hiccups when I do Knuffle Bunny gibberish kid talk. Mo Willems is a sure bet. Makes me want to be a children’s author.