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
LGBTQ Maiden & Princess Last week, I was reading Daniel Haack's Prince & Knight to my three year old. When we reached the last page, where the two main male characters get married and live happily ever
Education White Fragility and the Canadian Classroom Four months ago, I finished reading White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo. Appreciating this excellent book, I opened a tab to create a
Education Teaching with the World on Fire Warnings about climate change have been around for years, but increasingly it feels like a problem no longer in the remote future. Living in Manitoba, climate change has been a problem we see
Indigenous Path to Reconciliation A few weeks ago I attended the Manitoba Adolescent Literacy Summit and listened to author David Alexander Robertson's keynote entitled the Path to Reconciliation. It was a highlight of the conference, as his
Education Open Letter to the Manitoba Education Review Commission Dear Commissioners of the Manitoba Education Review, This week, I attended the first Education Review Workshop at the Caboto Centre in Winnipeg. I began the workshop feeling energized. I was in a room
Education What Kind of Citizen? A key purpose of education is to prepare students to be good citizens. Few people would argue with this statement, but what does it mean to be a good citizen? What kind of
LGBTQ Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World As a middle school teacher, I have tried to fill my classroom library with books that are representative of LGBTQ students' experiences. I have collected a variety of books relating to trans youth,
Gender Equality Books about Poverty and Abuse Recently I read two books that have striking similarities: The Benefits of Being an Octopus, by Ann Braden, and Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell. Both books feature main characters who are living
Picture Book Dreamers When Yuyi Morales first arrived in America with her son, she could barely speak English. Unable to return home and adjusting to life in a strange country, she soon discovered the magic of
Human Rights 10+ Books about Refugees for Middle Years When I read the news or see stories on social media about refugees, I am distressed by negative representations, stereotypes, and misinformation that surface, particularly when people question their motives. It puts me
Gender Equality The Poet X I am a sucker for narrative books in verse, and the newest addition to my collection, The Poet X, is a powerful one. Written by slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo, it tells the story
Identity Islandborn Islandborn, written by Junot Díaz and illustrated by Leo Espinosa, is a gorgeous book that explores the difficulty in negotiating identity for immigrants. Islandborn tells the story of Lola, a girl who can
Human Rights Daniel's Story I began reading Daniel's Story, by Carol Matas, in preparation for the Manitoba Adolescent Literacy Summit in April. Carol Matas will be offering a session about teaching the Holocaust, and I wanted to
LGBTQ Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is the coming of age story of two teenage boys as they embark on a friendship that gradually becomes a deeper relationship. With beautiful
Books for a Beautiful World: 2018 Year in Review About a year ago, I started Books for a Beautiful World. The purpose of this blog was to review books that promote a better, kinder, more just world. I examined books that promoted
Indigenous A Girl Called Echo When I pick up a book set in my own province, it feels like I have found something special. Seeing my home in print on the page gives me a feeling of connection
Human Rights Prisoner B-3087 Prisoner B-3087, by Alan Gratz, is based on the true story of Yanek Gruener, a Holocaust survivor. Starting in the Jewish ghetto in Kraków, Poland, the novel recounts his experiences in ten concentration