2026 Back-to-School Reading List

As Seen on CTV Your Morning

Here are eight new-ish Canadian books to help kids age 4-17 transition back to class. This segment originally aired on CTV Your Morning on Friday, August 14th.

Picture Books, ages 3-7

The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten is a gentle, fun role reversal in which a kid gets the pleasure of teaching Mom how to be a good student. In Dear Classroom 1B, a frustrated class pet hamster writes letters to the students in order to improve his quality of life- hilarity ensues! The dynamic duo of Naseem Hrab and Kelly Collier have another winner with I Will Not Walk to School. In this engaging read-aloud a monster and his bird buddy make their way to school- will encourage giggles and funny walks. Not all commutes are on foot- in My Subway Runs, a kid watches and wonders at the world from the subway. Quiet, thoughtful and lovely.

Chapter Books & Novels

Little Bee is a new, inclusive chapter book series for emerging readers (ages 5-10) following the everyday exploits of a third grader. In this first instalment Little Bee: The Buzz About the Party, Bee is unsure if her two dads are able to take place in a mothers’ day party. For middle grade readers, The Shapeshifter’s Guide to Gym Classis a gentle, lush fantasy in which a few children develop the ability to shapeshift into animals around puberty. Unfortunately for Maia, around the time that their friend group is starting to shift, prejudice and suspicion are directed at those with this magical ability. For teens, Here for a Good Time is a powerful coming-of-age story about an Indigenous teen who moves from a public to alternative school and finds love, friendship and hope amid tragedy. Everything Comes Back to You chronicles the highs and lows of high school from the perspective of an autistic teenager who struggles with being the perfect daughter to her strict Palestinian-Canadian parents.

Happy reading!