Prologue’s Literacy Month Artist Book Recommendations

We asked Prologue artists to send us their favourite books for children and youth. Check out these titles for inspiration to help everyone get reading this month (and beyond!). Click on the book images to learn more about each title.

Spoken word poet Britta B’s poetry book picks

WOKE: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice  by Mahogany L. Browne with Elizabeth Acevedo and Olivia Gatwood

Historically poets have been on the forefront of social movements. Woke is a collection of poems by women that reflect the joy and passion in the fight for social justice, tackling topics from discrimination to empathy, and acceptance to speaking out.

Power Poems for Small Humans by A Flamingo Rampant Anthology

A collection of profoundly uplifting attitude-shifting poems and illustrations giving kids the boost they need to scatter grey clouds and make sure they’re proud.

French favourites from the members of family band Ariko

Nous sommes fiers de célébrer les œuvres de Daniel Marchildon et Micheline Marchand, deux auteurs primés de notre communauté.

Les livres que nous recommandons ont lieu en Huronie, l’endroit où les membres du groupe Ariko habitent. Les récits donnent vie à l’histoire du peuple Ouendat, qui habitait cette région au 17e siècle. 

Zazette la chatte des Ouendats by Daniel Marchildon (8 ans +)

Dans cette histoire inspirée d’événements réels, Zazette fera, bien malgré elle, le grand voyage pour découvrir la Nouvelle-France.

Une aventure au pays des Ouendats by Micheline Marchand (12 ans +)

En 1648, un jeune garçon français, Petit Louis Léger, débarque à la mission jésuite fortifiée de Sainte-Marie. Il se lie d’amitié avec Arakhié, un autochtone Ouendat. Avec son nouvel ami, Louis va vivre les moments les plus tumultueux de l’épopée des Français au pays des Ouendats. Un roman historique passionnant où le passé rencontre le présent.

Tara Hungerford & Eric Hogan, creators of The Gumboot Kids

We recommend The Case of The Vanishing Caterpillar!

This Gumboot Kids Nature Mystery storybook explores metamorphosis and reminds us that nature is always changing and that change can be beautiful and graceful, like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. We hope you enjoy it! 

-Tara & Eric

Books by award winning author and storyteller Rukhsana Khan

Big Red Lillipop (Grades k – 5)

Little kids will relate to the injustice and the tiff between two sisters, bigger kids will relate to the ideas of navigating two different cultures and their expectations! This book was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the 100 greatest children’s books in the last 100 years!

Wanting Mor (Grades 6 +)

Based on a true story, this a story about an Afghan girl whose mother dies during the war. Her father gets remarried and her stepmother doesn’t want her so he abandons her in a marketplace. She ends up in an orphanage in which Rukhsana sponsored a library with the money from one of her other books. It’s a story about resilience.

Book recommendations from Naomi Martin of Tribal Vision Dance

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives…

This would be a good choice for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies students. There is a great online resource created by York University with the help of the author available HERE

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse (age 13+)

While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do monsters.

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (age 13+)

In a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America’s Indigenous people, and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world.

Musician (and dad!) Will Stroet of Will Jams shares his favourites 

Je veux un monstre par Elise Gravel

Toute ma famille aime tous les livers d’Elise Gravel.  Ce livre en particulier est super mignon et drôle, et j’aime toujours une bonne histoire de monstre!

Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli

These books are an amazing collection of short biographies about amazing women from around the world. As a father of two daughters I just love these books, and so do my girls. 

Great Job Dad by Holman Wang

As a dad I love this book (I also love his “Great Job Mom” book as well.) the book captures a series of short moments of a dad with his kids, and the book is beautifully illustrated using meticulously crafted needle felted figures. 

Top picks from Prologue’s Interim Executive Director Maria Williams and her daughter Bella

Reading is our time of the day to unwind and connect before bedtime. It allows us to explore places, learn about some amazing people and sometimes just be silly. Reading before bedtime brings our family together no matter what else is going on in our day.

Little Leaders – Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison

Featuring forty trailblazing Black women in American history, Little Leaders educates and inspires as it relates true stories of breaking boundaries and achieving beyond expectations.

Little Dreamers – Visionary Women Around the World by Vashti Harrison

They’re brave. They’re bold. They have changed the world, all because they were talented, clever, and above all, determined. Discover inspirational heroines like Zaha Hadid, Hedy Lamarr, Wangari Maathai, Mary Blair, Chien-Shiung Wu, and Frida Kahlo.

The Thea Sisters Novels by Thea Stilton (Grades 2 – 4)

These great novels follow the Thea Sisters as they collect clues and solve mysteries in different parts of the world. The books provide us with information on the culture and history of the places they visit. Our most recent novel was Thea Stilton and the Phantom of the Orchestra.

Yoga Bunny by Brian Russo

It’s a perfect day for yoga, and Bunny is practicing his poses and wishes his friends would do yoga with him! But Lizard is too tired, Fox is in a rush, and Bird has the hiccups. Will Bunny ever be able to get his friends to slow down and realize that yoga just might be the solution to their problems?

Yoga Bunny helps readers relax and unwind as they learn beginning yoga poses, from downward dog to tree pose.