Forest of Reading

FOREST OF READING

The OLA Forest of Reading® Program encourages children of all ages in their love of reading. Each year, the Ontario Library Association picks a list of selected titles which celebrate Canadian authors and illustrators. Children and youth across Ontario read from a list of ten titles nominated in the category that corresponds to their age. Readers must read a minimum of five books to be eligible to vote, but may read with a buddy or adult if they are not yet comfortable reading on their own. They then vote for their favourite book in the month of April. In this way, your child will participate in selecting the winner of the 2012 Blue Spruce, Silver Birch or Red Maple Award. The winning titles are announced at the Festival of Trees™, Canada's largest literary event for younger readers.

The 2012 nominees for the Blue Spruce, Silver Birch and Red Maple Awards have been announced. You can find these titles at your local library branch, or ask the staff to show you how to place a hold. Please see the links below for booklists.

The Blue Spruce™ Award

The Blue Spruce™ Award program brings recently published Canadian children's picture books to children ages 4 to 7 in Kindergarten through to Grade 2. Click here to view the 2012 nominees.
Which book should be the winner of the 2012 Blue Spruce Award? Vote here until April 28.

The Silver Birch® Award

The Silver Birch® Award includes children's Fiction and Non-Fiction books for children in Grade 3 to Grade 6. In order to appeal to all of the readers from Grade 3 to 6, a third list has been created, the Silver Birch Express®. This list is a combination of Fiction and Non-Fiction, aimed at the Grade 3 - 4 reading level. Click here for 2012 Silver Birch Fiction nominees, Silver Birch Non-Fiction nominees, and Silver Birch Express nominees. Booklist.

Which book should be the winner of the 2012 Silver Birch Award? (Fiction Category) Vote here until April 28.
Which book should be the winner of the 2012 Silver Birch Award? (Non-Fiction Category) Vote here until April 28.
Which book should be the winner of the 2012 Silver Birch Award? (Mixed Category) Vote here until April 28.

The Red MapleTM Award

The Red Maple program is aimed at students in Grades 7 and 8. Click here for the 2012 nominees.
Which book should be the winner of the 2012 Red Maple Award? Vote here until April 28.

Forest® Social Media

Readers are now able to keep track of their borrowing history, rate and comment on books, and create favourite lists to share with others by signing up on these interactive social media sites.

For Blue Spruce™: http://www.bluespruceonline.ca
For Silver Birch®: http://www.silverbirchonline.ca
For Red Maple™: http://www.redmapleonline.ca

Windsor Volunteers for Literacy Foundation

Thank you to the WVLF who helped purchase titles for this program.