Need some holiday inspiration? Sheree Fitch shares her favourite kids books
The books we loved as children have a way of staying with us.
"Sometimes it's a timeless message or ... character that will never leave our heart," said author Sheree Fitch, who published Everybody's Different on Everybody Street this year.
With Christmas just around the corner, the author and bookstore owner has compiled a list of her favourite books for young readers — and checked it twice — to help make your gift shopping a little easier this year.
Her recommendations were inspired by conversations with independent booksellers from across the Atlantic region.
"I always say, if we all read a kids book every night before we went to bed, the world would be a better place."
Can't go wrong with the classics
Fitch said young readers are continually drawn to Anne of Green Gables, and that's why there are iterations of the timeless story for babies right through to high schoolers.
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery by Melanie J. Fishbane
Picture perfect
Christmas with the Rural Mail by Lance Woolaver, art by Maud Lewis
This book for babies is vibrant, beautiful, and a perfect seasonal choice, said Fitch.
Town is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, illustrations by Sydney Smith
Life in a coal mining town is vividly brought to life in this book. "A book like this is ageless and timeless," said Fitch. "It tells stories about where we come from. It's our region."
Africville by Shauntay Grant, illustrations by Eve Campbell
Released in September, Fitch said she quickly grabbed 10 copies of the award-winning author and poet's book for her store, and they promptly flew off the shelves.
The Thundermaker by Alan Syliboy
Mi'kmaw artist and storyteller, Alan Syliboy, has a new book about animals coming out in January.
Stories about acceptance
Flawed by Andrea Dorfman
Based on an Emmy-nominated film, this memoir about accepting one's self "is just a bold, beautiful book," said Fitch.
Worthy of Love by Andre Fenton
This story of a mixed-raced teen who struggles with his weight is the kind of refreshing storytelling we don't see enough of, said Fitch.
Non-fiction favourites
Fitch says there are lots of options, new and old, for the "information-driven readers" in your house.
Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged by Jody Nyasha Warner, illustrations by Richard Rudnicki
My First Book of Canadian Birds by Andrea Miller, illustrations by Angela Doak
My River: Cleaning Up the LaHave River by Stella Bowles and Anne Laurel Carter
