FOLD Kids, Author at The FOLD

Rectangular graphic with green border showcasing the book covers for the titles chosen for the March FOLD Kids Challenge. The titles are: Sylvia and Marsha Start a Revolution! by Joy Ellison and illustrated by Teshika Silver; Growing Up Trans: In Our Own Words edited by Dr. Lindsay Herriot and Kate Fry; and Identity: A Story of Transitioning by Corey Maison and illustrated by Ahmara Smith with Zuiker Anthony. Below the text is the website: thefoldcanada.org/kidschallenge25.

March FOLD Kids 2025 Challenge: A book inspired by a true story by a transgender author

Mar 1, 2025

By Toni Duval This month, we’re reading books that were inspired by true stories by transgendered authors. The true story of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, two transgender women of colour who helped to kickstart the Stonewall Riots, is captured in the engaging picture book “Sylvia and Marsha Start a Revolution!” by Joy Ellison...

Rectangular graphic with green border showcasing the book covers for the titles chosen for the February FOLD Kids Challenge. The titles are: Stars in My Crown by Antonio Michael Downing and illustrated by Richy Sánchez Ayala; We Are the Medicine by Tasha Spillett and illustrated by Natasha Donovan; and Where Was Goodbye? by Janice Lynn Mather. Below the text is the website: thefoldcanada.org/kidschallenge25.

February FOLD Kids 2025 Challenge: A book by a Caribbean Canadian author

Feb 1, 2025

By Ardo Omer This month, we’re reading a book by a Caribbean Canadian author! Antonio Michael Downing (Trinidadian), Tasha Spillett (Cree/Trinidadian) and Janice Lynn Mather (Bahamian) have titles that range in form and in topics. There are many islands in the Caribbean with a rich history of storytelling and many of its people have made...

Rectangular graphic with green border showcasing the book covers for the titles chosen for the January FOLD Kids Challenge. The titles are: Made in Korea by Sarah Suk; The Party Diaries: Top Secret Anniversary by Mitali Banerjee Ruths and Aaliya Jaleel; and Take Me to Lǎolao by Kelly Zhang and Evie Zhu. Below the text is the website: thefoldcanada.org/kidschallenge25.

January FOLD Kids 2025 Challenge: A book by an Asian Canadian author about love

Jan 2, 2025

By Ardo Omer This month, we’re reading a book by an Asian Canadian author about love. Love can come in all forms. It can be the love for a grandparent like in the picture book, Take Me to Lǎolao. It can be celebrating your parents’ love for one another like in the chapter book, The...

Rectangular graphic with green border showcasing the book covers for the titles chosen for the December FOLD Kids Challenge. The titles are: For Our Daughters by Mel Nyoko and Joelle Avelino; Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War by Michel Chikwanine, Jessica Dee Humphreys and Claudia Dávila; Listen, Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied; and Home Is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo. Below the text is the website: thefoldcanada.org/kidschallenge24.

December FOLD Kids 2024 Challenge: 2024 in Reflection – A book by a Congolese and/or Sudanese author

Nov 30, 2024

by Ardo Omer This year, we introduced a new challenge for December: 2024 in Reflection. This new addition allowed us the flexibility to look back at the year and showcase a conversation that we felt was important to cover. We started the year with reading a book by a Palestinian author and this year, we’ve...

Rectangular graphic with green border showcasing the book covers for the titles chosen for the November FOLD Kids Challenge. The titles are: Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline; The Trailblazing Life of Viola Desmond by Rachel Kehoe, Wanda Robson and Chelsea Charles; and When You Can Swim by Jack Wong. Below the text is the website: thefoldcanada.org/kidschallenge24.

November FOLD Kids 2024 Challenge: An ACCESSIBLE* book by a marginalized author

Oct 31, 2024

by Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) CELA is a national accessible library service which provides more than 1.4 million titles to people in Canada who have print disabilities. It is estimated that more than 1 in 10 people have a print disability which includes low vision or blindness, learning disabilities, or physical disabilities which...

Rectangular graphic with green border showcasing the book covers for the titles chosen for the October FOLD Kids Challenge. The titles are: A House Unsettled by Trynne Delaney; Asking for a Friend by Ronnie Riley; and Abolition is Love by Syrus Marcus Ware and illustrated by Alannah Fricker. Below the text is the website: thefoldcanada.org/kidschallenge24.

October FOLD Kids 2024 Challenge: A book by a non-binary and/or transgender author

Sep 27, 2024

by Ardo Omer This month’s challenge is a book by a non-binary and/or transgender author. We’re seeing more and more trans and nonbinary authors in the KidLit space and it would be nice to see more in the middle grade/chapter book realm in particular. The books chosen for this month’s recommendations showcase a wide range...

White rectangular graphic with orange border, showcasing four book covers for the titles chosen for the FOLD September Challenge: Fiction by a neurodivergent author. The titles are The Winter Knight by Jes Battis; The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang; Dawn by Octavia E. Butler; and Dawn by Octavia E. Butler.

September FOLD 2024 Challenge: Fiction by a neurodivergent author

Aug 31, 2024

By Rahma Shere People experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways. Neurodiversity refers to this diversity of all people, but it is often used in the context of neurological or developmental conditions that come under the umbrella of a range of differences in individual brain function and behavior traits. In...

Rectangular graphic with green border showcasing the book covers for the titles chosen for the September FOLD Kids Challenge. The titles are: Something More by Jackie Khalilieh; Paige Not Found by Jen Wilde; and Too Much by Jolene Gutiérrez and illustrated by Angel Chang. Below the text is the website: thefoldcanada.org/kidschallenge24.

September FOLD Kids 2024 Challenge: A book about a neurodivergent character

Aug 31, 2024

This month’s challenge is a book about a neurodivergent character. This includes but is not limited to people with Autism, ADHD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Dyslexia, Schizophrenia, DID, Tourette Syndrome, DCD or learning disabilities. In putting together this list, we noticed that Canadian children’s literature needs more books about neurodivergent characters by neurodivergent authors. That...

White rectangular graphic with orange border, showcasing four book covers for the titles chosen for the FOLD August Challenge: Novel OR book of poetry by a Caribbean author. The titles are WEST OF WEST INDIAN by Linzey Corridon; POLAR VORTEX by Shani Mootoo; BROUGHTUPSY by Christina Cooke; and NANIKI by Oonya Kempadoo.

August FOLD 2024 Challenge: Novel OR book of poetry by a Caribbean author

Jul 24, 2024

By Alya Somar Throughout Canada, there has been a glittering Caribbean presence in our literary scene for many years. By bringing stories from overseas or cultivating new narratives on local soil, Caribbean literature has proven itself to be a mainstay of the CanLit scene through its unique ability to engage with place and colonial narratives...

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