2026 Yellow Cedar Award Nominees
Grades 4-8, non-fiction
Discussion Themes/Content for all 10 titles
Booktalking Video for all 10 books
Game Changers: Stories of Hijabi Athletes from Around the World
Written by Charlene Smith
Illustrated by Natayla Tariq
Published by Orca Book Publishers
Meet 13 inspiring hijabi athletes who are changing the rules.
Many of these women were the first in their sport to compete while wearing the hijab. Some were up against cultural traditions that didn’t allow girls to play sports. And, some fought to have institutional anti-hijab rules changed so that they, and Muslim girls after them, would be able to compete.
Discover the stories of Egyptian beach volleyball player Doaa Elghobashy, UAE hockey player Fatima Al Ali, Afghani soccer player Hajar Abulfazl and Syrian-American runner Rahaf Khatib, among many others. Game Changers shows the next generation of Muslim girls that they don’t have to choose between following their religion and following their dreams.
How to Know A Crow: The Biography of A Brainy Bird
Written by Candace Savage
Illustrated by Rachel Hudson
Published by Greystone Kids
Crows are all around us, shouting from lamp posts, poking around on lawns, and generally taking a bright-eyed interest in everything that moves. But most of us don’t know much about their lives. In How to Know a Crow, award-winning author Candace Savage invites us into the fascinating world of these big, brash, and surprisingly brainy birds.
From the moment baby crow Oki pokes her egg tooth through her shell and emerges into her nest, we are her constant companions. As we follow her through the seasons of her life, we explore how crows see and sense the world.
With How to Know a Crow, uncover the answers to questions such as:
- Do crows have families?
- How do crows communicate with one another?
- Do crows play?
- How can we interact with them?
Featuring gorgeous illustrations from Rachel Hudson, How to Know a Crow is a memorable journey of discovery.
The Land Knows Me: A Nature Walk Exploring Indigenous Wisdom
Written by Leigh Joseph
Illustrated by Natalie Schnitter
Published by MANDA (The Quarto Group) becker&mayer! kids
Through the Squamish language and cultural traditions, learn about Indigenous plant relationships and how we are all connected to nature through plant-based foods, medicines, and materials.
The best way to learn about plants is through observing and interacting with living examples. Join Held by the Land author Leigh Joseph and her children in The Land Knows Me, an educational and hands-on journey to discover the wonderful uses and gifts of the plants around us. Through the Indigenous traditions of Squamish culture, you’ll learn how to ground yourself on the land, how to introduce yourself in the Squamish language to your plant relatives, and the many teachings about plants, cultural stories, and learnings related to the flora seen on your walk.
This essential and colourful introduction to Indigenous plant knowledge includes informative sidebars, reflection questions, and plant names in both Squamish and English so you can learn a new language.
The Land Knows Me concludes with a 15-plant profile directory featuring detailed plant illustrations and kid-friendly botanical drawings to aid in learning about the many great uses for plants and their First Nations history. You’ll meet plants like:
- Ḵwiĺayus (kw-ill-eye-os), Red-Flowering Currant, Ribes sanguineum
- Ḵ’emeláý (k-em-ill-eye), Bigleaf Maple, Acer macrophyllum
- Séliýaý (s-elle-ee-eye), Oregon Grape, Mahonia nervosa
- Xápaýay (hey-pie-eye), Western Red Cedar, Thuja plicata
- Ḵwe7úpaý (kw-oh-pa-eye), Pacific Crabapple, Malus fusca
- And more!
The directory also includes essential safety and proper harvesting information for adults seeking more opportunities to educate and engage with children while discovering the secrets of the land around us. Including mindfulness activities, how-to crafts, and yummy treats, The Land Knows Me calls you back again and again to learn something new with each engaging read!
Follow the stream, cross the field, and step into a forest rich in botanical diversity rooted in history and tradition.
Octopus Ocean: Geniuses of the Deep
Written by Mark Lieren-Young
Published by Orca Book Publishers
With their blue blood, big brains and eight arms, octopuses are dramatically different from any other being.
Octopuses are masters of camouflage and are known for their incredible escapes from tight spots. New research shows that they are highly intelligent creatures, and while they prefer to be alone, they will interact with humans and display unique personality traits.
In Octopus Ocean, discover the mysteries and histories of octopuses big and small—their biology, habitat and habits—and explore the top threats to their future, including warming oceans, over-fishing and pollution.
Salt, Pepper, Season, Spice: All the Flavors of the World
Written by Jacques Pasquet (Translated by Ann Marie Boulanger)
Illustrated by Claire Anghinolfi
Published by Orca Book Publishers
The stories of the flavours we love are steeped in history, mythology and cultures from around the world.
Did you know that salt has been around for nearly 5,000 years or that pepper was once called ‘black gold’? Have you heard that two billion cups of coffee are consumed every day and that tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shennong in 2737 BCE?
In Salt, Pepper, Season, Spice, discover where our favourite spices, condiments and confections come from and how they’re grown, harvested and prepared. Find out how they’re used to enhance and create flavours in the foods we know and love today. A tasty read guaranteed to get your mouth watering!
A Sick History of Medicine: A Warts-And-All Book Full of Fun Facts and Disgusting Discoveries
Written by Jelena Poleksic
Illustrated by Ella Kasperowicz
Published by Neon Squid
WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED. This revolting history of medicine through the ages by Jelena Poleksic is full of blood, guts, and gore!
If you don’t like going to the doctor, spare a thought for your ancestors. Got a headache? We can drill into your skull! Need to buy medicine? Can we recommend a dose of ground-up Egyptian mummy? Want to fight off diseases? Try smelling a stinky cesspit.
It’s well-known that to make advances in science, you have to make a few mistakes along the way. In this hilarious history book, kids will be whisked around the world—from ancient Rome to imperial China—to meet the medical innovators who pushed the boundaries of what was possible, with sometimes disastrous effects. They’ll learn about the use of leeches, maggot therapy (as gross as it sounds), dancing plagues, public dissections, grave robbers, electric eel treatments, exploding teeth, and much more!
Written by a doctor, everything in this book has been scrupulously researched, and readers will learn about the development of some of our greatest inventions, from vaccines to X-rays. Amusing illustrations by Ella Kasperowicz make this a book kids will want to return to again and again.
Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes That Dot Our Planet
Written and Illustrated by Geo Rutherford
Published by Abrams Books for Young Readers
Dive into the most mysterious waters around the world (if you dare) in Spooky Lakes, an illustrated nonfiction book from TikTok star and educator Geo Rutherford. An instant New York Times bestseller!
From Geo Rutherford—the creator of the hit series Spooky Lake Month (over 65 million likes!)—comes this thrilling nonfiction book that plumbs the depths of 25 unusual lakes around the world.
Backed by extensive research and packed with all-new content—including eerie and eye-popping watercolour illustrations in full colour—Spooky Lakes takes readers on an adventure through weird and wild waters.
Some of Earth’s strangest—and creepiest—wonders lie deep below the surface…
There’s Lake Natron, a Tanzanian lake so briny that its waters can mummify any creature that touches its surface; Lake Maracaibo, a Venezuelan tidal bay where a constantly brewing storm sends an average of 28 lightning bolts per second into the water; and at the bottom of Lake Superior, the crew of the USS Kamloops—which mysteriously disappeared in 1921—remains somehow almost perfectly preserved to this day.
Readers will learn not only about the science of hydrology but also why understanding the natural world is crucial to protecting it from pollution and climate change.
Includes a glossary, bibliography, author’s note, and index.
The True Story of Vanilla: How Edward Albius Made History
Written by Ann Richards
Illustrated by Arden Taylor
Published by Orca Book Publishers
In 1841, a 12-year-old enslaved boy, Edmond Albius, made history when he discovered a method for hand-pollinating vanilla plants using a bamboo twig.
Until that time, only bees in Mexico could pollinate the plant—botanists couldn’t figure out another way. With his master, Edmond travelled around Réunion Island to share his technique, le geste d’Edmonde (Edmond’s gesture), which is still in use today. Despite his essential achievement as an enslaved person, Edmond didn’t receive payment or recognition for his contribution to science, eventually dying in poverty after being freed from slavery in 1848. Today, it is recognized that Edmond’s method of pollination was key to bringing vanilla to the world, helping to create a billion-dollar industry and giving us the flavour we love to use in cooking, baking, medicine, and, of course, ice cream.
Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains
Written by Anita Yasuda
Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu
Published by Harper Clarion Books
Junko Tabei dreamed of a life climbing mountains. But men refused to climb with her. Sponsors told her to stay home. And gloves were not made to fit her hands. Junko, eager and unstoppable, wouldn’t let these obstacles get in her way.
Instead, she planned an expedition to summit Mount Everest with an all-women team. Battling icy peaks, deep crevasses, and even an avalanche, Junko refused to give up. She climbed step by step… up, up, ever up!
After summiting the world’s tallest peak, Junko took on a new challenge: protecting the wild spaces she loved for future generations.
This gorgeously illustrated celebration of a trailblazing climber who shattered gender stereotypes invites us to dare to reach our dreams—no matter how big.
Zoom in on Zombies
Written by Kari-Lynn Winters & Catherine Rondina
Published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside
A new look into a unique part of the natural world from the series that includes Buzz About Bees, Lowdown on Earthworms and Bite Into Bloodsuckers.
Co-authors Kari-Lynn Winters and Catherine Rondina delve into the world of zombies, the popular creatures of film and television. Along the way, they discover many examples of natural zombies in the real world, from amber snails and carpenter ants to foot fungus, wood ticks and tardigrades.
Zoom in on Zombies helps young readers identify “zombies” in the world around us, using quizzes, activities, fun sidebars, and humorous trivia and stories.
