I’m so thrilled to announce that Dear Street has been nominated for a 2024 Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award! I love The Forest of Reading program, that gets kids across the country reading (and voting for their favourite books)!

The Forest of Reading® is Canada’s largest recreational reading program. This initiative offers ten reading programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all ages. The Forest helps celebrate Canadian books, publishers, authors and illustrators. More than 270,000 readers participate annually from their school and/or public library. All Canadians are invited to participate via their local public library, school library, or individually.

The Forest of Reading Award Programs are where children and young adults pick the winner! Readers choose a program that they would like to be a part of, usually based on their age or grade, and simply begin reading! They can read all ten of the titles, or pick and choose to read only the ones they are interested in. Participants are encouraged to read at least five of the ten titles to be eligible to vote in April. This program aims to encourage a genuine and life-long love of reading among readers of all ages.

Goals of the Forest of Reading

• Love of reading: Create a meaningful experience for your readers and give exciting opportunities for reluctant readers to become lifelong readers.
• A proven head start: The results are in! Children who read for fun have higher literacy scores, have more success in science and math, and are more socially and civically engaged (Reading for Joy, P4E, 2011).
• Libraries at centre stage: With fun activities, prizes and more, the Forest of Reading puts libraries at the heart of the action!
• Reading Canadian: Help support and celebrate Canadian books, publishers, authors and illustrators by taking advantage of the Forest’s curated, all-Canadian reading lists for all ages and levels.

More information about how to register to vote here!