Education Repeating the Mistakes of Underground to Canada: Examining my own Biases While I was in middle school, I only read one novel with Black characters for language arts class: Underground to Canada. This novel told the story of four Black people escaping from slavery
Young Adult Books Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter. Some people view this as a controversial statement. It shouldn't be. Black people in Canada experience systemic racism. It is present in the education system. It is present when Black
Middle Grade Books Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You is a remix of Ibram X. Kendi's book Stamped from the Beginning. Jason Reynolds, an acclaimed author for young people, remixes the content to create a vital text
Indigenous Indigenous Writes Indigneous Writes by Chelsea Vowel is a guide to First Nations, Métis and Inuit issues in Canada. The book provides a dialogue about the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and settlers in Canada. Chelsea
Indigenous A Girl Called Echo - Volume 3 For teachers looking to bring Canadian history to life, with particular emphasis on Métis history, be sure to check out volume three of A Girl Called Echo, written by Katherena Vermette and illustrated
Young Adult Books The 7 Generations Series The 7 Generations Series, a graphic novel series written by David Alexander Robertson and illustrated by Scott B. Henderson, recounts the life of seven generations of an Indigenous family, stories that span from
Middle Grade Books The Ghost Collector The Ghost Collector, by Allison Mills, is a middle grade book about loss, grief, and letting go. The main character Shelly and her grandmother have the power to collect ghosts and set them
Gender Maybe He Just Likes You Maybe He Just Likes You, by Barbara Dee, is an important middle grade book that all students should read. It tells the story of Mila, a girl who deals with harassment by a
Environment Stories that Challenge Greed In previous posts, I have talked about using picture books as a way to help children develop greater eco-consciousness. The first step is to connect kids with nature, but the lessons shouldn't stop
Environment Picture Books that Teach us to Value Nature I have been struggling lately with when to start teaching my young kids about the ecological crises facing our planet. My son is a curious four year old and is starting to ask
Environment The Failings of Climate Change Fiction Young adult and middle grade fiction are useful tools for teaching about tough issues. Problems like the refugee crisis or poverty are difficult and stories are important to help us better understand these
Human Rights Anger is a Gift Anger is a Gift, by Mark Oshiro, tells the story of Moss Jefferies, a black Latinx teen, and his activism against police brutality at his high school. Traumatized by the murder of his
Education How to Be an Antiracist How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi, is an essential book for people who want to better understand how racism is embedded in our society and how we can work more
Human Rights White Rose White Rose, by Kip Wilson, is based on the true story of Sophie Scholl, a member of the German resistance during World War II. This novel in verse tells the story of the
Gender Crush I am not a big fan of romantic comedies. I find the characters in these types of books or films often engage in manipulative behaviour. The resulting relationships rarely strike me as particularly
Canadian No Fixed Address Maybe you have seen the signs before. A child in your class does not bring a lunch to school. They rarely seem to wear clean clothes. They often seem tired and have difficulty
Environment Drawdown - Climate Crisis Solutions and the Classroom As I write this blog entry, it is the early hours of the morning in Winnipeg and the Climate Strike is underway on the other side of the world. Early reports suggest the
LGBTQ Rainbow and Pride Picture Books This blog has recommended a number of books that include LGBTQ characters, particularly books geared for middle years students. For students who are LGBTQ, who are questioning, or who have LGBTQ family members,
Environment Don't Panic: Big Solutions to the Climate Crisis Today's blog post is about the climate crisis and I'd like to preface everything by saying Don't Panic. It is easy to get overwhelmed, but solutions do exist that can help us address
Human Rights On the Come Up On the Come Up is Angie Thomas's follow up to the hugely successful The Hate U Give. It tells the story of sixteen-year old Bri, an aspiring rapper who aims to make it
Indigenous Two Novellas on Reconciliation A number of children's books examine what happened at residential schools and their immediate impact. Rarer are books that focus more specifically on the journey towards reconciliation. For this reason, I was pleased
Human Rights Other Words for Home Stories are important tools for promoting empathy and understanding of others. It is harder to divide the world into "Them" versus "Us," to dehumanize the other, when we understand
LGBTQ Moon at Nine Earlier this year I was asked to read Moon at Nine, written by Deborah Ellis. Our school inherited a number of copies and my principal thought they might be a good fit in
Indigenous This Place: 150 Years Retold This Place: 150 Years Retold is an ambitious project that aims to retell Canadian history by centering Indigenous perspectives and experiences. With over a dozen Indigenous authors and artists, the graphic novel anthology
Indigenous Surviving the City Surviving the City, written by Tasha Spillett and illustrated by Natasha Donovan, tells the story of two girls dealing with the dangers of growing up Indigenous in Winnipeg. When main character Dez's grandmother