NorthWindowBooks

A Canadian perspective on children’s books

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

This week’s pair is @JudyBlume’s Deenie and @AlysonGerber’s Braced. Both Deenie and Rachel grow strong in new ways as they tackle middle school in back braces for their scoliosis. Deenie learns to see others more clearly; Rachel discovers how to stand up for herself.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

This week’s pair is Jean Little’s Mine for Keeps and @ThanhhaLai’s Listen, Slowly. Sally has grown up at boarding school; Mai has never visited her family in Vietnam. Each discovers the courage to claim her place in a “home” that’s unfamiliar.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

This week’s pair is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series and @LindaSuePark’s Prairie Lotus. Laura and Hanna share a time and place; Hanna embodies, and participates in, a more complex picture of what that world was like.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

New pair! @JK_Rowling’s Harry Potter series & @KevinSandsBooks’ Blackthorn Key series. Both Harry & Christopher find their places in worlds bigger than they could’ve imagined alongside deeply faithful friends. C’s world is a 17thC London full of conspiracies, codes, & explosions.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

This week’s pair is Otis and the Tornado by @LorenLong and Out Into the Big Wide Lake by @PaulHarbridge & @JoseeBis (ill). Otis & Kate find reserves of both physical & social courage when those around them need them most, enabling reconciliation in the midst of crisis.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

This week we’re pairing Kit Pearson’s Guests of War series with Joy Kogawa’s Naomi’s Road. Norah and Naomi are displaced from home and family for very different reasons, but each finds her way through the effects of war with determination and hope.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

Next pair: Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes & @ChadSell01’s Doodleville. Both Calvin & Drew create worlds — & friends — of their own, & often things get out of hand. Calvin has Hobbes to help (or keep him company when he’s grounded). Drew finds similarly imaginative friends.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

Congratulations to this year’s @kidsbookcentre winners! Fantastic books from an excellent shortlist.

[The CCBC @kidsbookcentre]

The 2021 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Book Awards Celebrate Excellence in Literature for Young People, with the Fan Brothers Taking Home the $50K Top Prize https://t.co/eoA1YiRJ3Z #CCBCBookAwards

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

This week we’re matching @BruceColville’s My Teacher is an Alien with @GeoffRodkey’s We’re Not From Here. Both Colville’s and Rodkey’s books mix the philosophical with the ridiculous in their sci fi, resulting in fun stories readers will think about long after the last page.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

This week’s pair is @LoisLowryWriter’s The Giver & @CoreyAnnHaydu’s Eventown. Each presents apparent utopia that proves possible only by giving up memories — especially those that hurt. Both Jonas & Elodee learn to recognise the cost & insist on better for their communities.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

It’s award season for Canadian kidlit! This year’s @kidsbookcentre awards will be announced October 29th and the Governor General Literary Awards will be announced November 17th. Check out the finalists at https://t.co/7mWqX01MZN and https://t.co/eyi9dvCyys.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

Next match: Jean George’s My Side of the Mountain & @LynneKelly’s Song for a Whale. Both Sam & Iris have interests & determination that literally take them far. They also share a sense of isolation: Sam leans into that, Iris seeks out someone else she suspects is just as lonely.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

@deluce_wrdsb @DaveAlexRoberts Just read Chad Lucas’s Thanks a Lot, Universe, and it was amazing! Michael Hutchinson’s Mighty Muskrats series is also excellent.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

This week’s match is Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia and @LeslieConnor29’s The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle. Both celebrate the magic of a special place and explore the pain of losing a friend. Bonus: Mason Buttle has to be one of the most loveable kids in literature!

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

Today’s pairing: CS Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia & @DaveAlexRoberts’s Narnia-influenced portal fantasy series The Misewa Saga. Both start by taking kids from unfamiliar new homes to fulfill quests in wintry alternate worlds — in Misewa’s case, a world based on Cree sky stories.

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

Love Ramona Quimby? Try Atinuke’s Anna Hibiscus! Both series feature loveable, relatable heroines and an episodic format that makes them perfect bedtime books. Anna’s stories are mostly set in Amazing Africa, except for a few that take place right here in Canada! @Candlewick

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

This week we’re matching Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time with @pacylin’s When the Sea Turned to Silver. Both feature kids on fantastic quests that reveal the stories they heard growing up are true after all. Both books also have other loosely connected novels to love!

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

Unlike Anne, Ada also tackles the physical & social challenges of a physical disability. The story has its own historical appeal, with events set in rural England during WW2. It even has a satisfying sequel: The War I Finally Won. #CanKidLit #WeNeedDiverseBooks 2/2

[NorthWindowBooks @NorthWindowBks]

The Canadian essential Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery pairs with @kimbbbradley’s The War that Saved My Life. Like Anne, Ada goes from a harsh & lonely childhood to an unusual but loving home where she thrives. 1/2