Day: October 21, 2025

2025 Governor General’s Literary Awards

| Tasha

The Canada Council for the Arts has announced the finalists for the 2025 Governor General’s Literary Awards which celebrate the books by Canadian creators. The winners will be announced on November 6th. Here are the finalists in the youth categories:

Young People’s Literature – Text

Beast by Richard Van Camp

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

A Drop in the Ocean by Léa Taranto

The Outsmarters by Deborah Ellis

Tig by Heather Smith

Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books

Bog Myrtle by Sid Sharp

It Bears Repeating by Tanya Tagaq, illustrated by Cee Pootoogook

Oasis by Guojing

The Rock and the Butterfly by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan

This Land Is a Lullaby by Tonya Simpson, illustrated by Delreé Dumont

Night Light by Michael Emberley – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

Night Light by Michael Emberley

Publisher: Holiday House

Publication Date: April 15, 2025

Reviewed from library copy.

ISBN: 9780823458165

In this graphic novel for beginning readers, two of the author’s recurring characters get caught in a blackout. It’s too dark to read bedtime stories, but one of them gets an idea. Grabbing a long ladder, they climb up into the sky with a big bag and gather up all of the stars. Released from the bag into the bedroom, it is suddenly too bright to read without wearing sunglasses. But someone else misses the stars in the sky. Perhaps giving them back is the right thing to do after all? 

Written with a wry sense of humor and a delight in making a normal circumstance magical, this comic for new readers is a grand bedtime read. Done entirely in speech bubbles, the book is nicely paced. The illustrations are joyous and full of action, sharing the loving dynamic between the two characters. 

A great pick for new readers looking for a graphic novel. Appropriate for ages 4-7.