2025 FOREST OF READING - DIGITAL PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE
FOREST FRIDAYS – Author visits with Award Nominees
Silver Birch Express, Silver Birch Fiction and Red Maple Nominees will participate in Author and Panel workshops that will be released on the following dates:
| FOREST FRIDAY’S | BOOK | Program | Release Date | Release Time (Eastern Time) | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Heather Smith | Tig | Red Maple | 1/10/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Kristy Jackson | Mortified | Silver Birch Fiction | 1/10/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Marty Chan | Dragon on the Loose | Silver Birch Express | 1/10/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Giselle Vriesen | Why We Play With Fire | Red Maple | 1/17/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Shari Green | Game Face | Silver Birch Fiction | 1/17/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Sita MacMillan | Sarah Ponakey and Ahasiw’s Forest Powwow | Silver Birch Express | 1/17/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Deborah Kerbel | Iggy Included | Silver Birch Fiction | 1/24/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Uma Krishnaswami | Birds on the Brain | Silver Birch Express | 1/24/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Wali Shah & Eric Walters | Call Me Al | Red Maple | 1/24/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| A.Y. Chan | The Legendary Mo Seto | Silver Birch Fiction | 1/31/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Brian Slattery | Escape to Ponti | Red Maple | 1/31/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Maria Birmingham | Odd Couples: A Guide to Unlikely Animal Pairs | Silver Birch Express | 1/31/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Candace Savage | Always Beginning: the Big Bang, the universe and you | Silver Birch Express | 2/7/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Ronnie Riley | Asking for a Friend | Silver Birch Fiction | 2/7/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Wanda John-Kehewin | Hopeless in Hope | Red Maple | 2/7/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Christina Kilbourne | 40 Days in Hicksville | Red Maple | 2/21/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
Special Event Series
| SPECIAL EVENTS | BOOK NAME | Program | Release Date | Release Time | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Freedom To Read Special Event: Meet David A. Robertson along with Ainara Alleyne | David A. Robertson – The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage | Silver Birch Fiction | 2/25/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Freedom To Read Special Event: No More Bubble-Wrap: Teens, Tough Themes & Open Discussions | PANELISTS Lawrence Hill, Maria Martella, Wendy Burch-Jones MODERATOR Michelle Arbuckle | N/A | 2/26/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Red Maple Special Event | Jael Richardson along with nominees, Marty Chan, Chad Lucas, Rosena Fung from Red Maple Nominee, Today I Am: 10 Stories of Belonging | Red Maple | 3/4/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Sutherland vs. Szpirglas: Scary Showdown (Special Event) | Red Maple Nominee Jeff Szpirglas, author of Book of Screams and Yellow Cedar Nominee, Joel Sutherland, author of Haunted Canada Graphic Novel 01: Four Terrifying Tales | Yellow Cedar & Red Maple | 3/6/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
Illustrator Events with our Forest Illustrators – February, 2025
Come draw with our very own Forest of Reading Illustrators! We are excited to bring you two sessions on how to draw your favourite characters. Be sure to have your readers tune in with pencil and paper and have some fun with our amazing nominees! These presentations will be at 1:00pm Eastern Time
| ILLUSTRATOR EVENTS | BOOK | Program | Release Date | Release Time (Eastern Time) | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Anoosha Syed | Lost Stick | Blue Spruce | 2/3/2025 | 12:00:00 PM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Mei Yu | Lost & Found: Based on a True Story | Silver Birch Express | 2/4/2025 | 12:00:00 PM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Roz MacLean | More Than Words: So Many Ways to Say What We Mean | Blue Spruce | 2/5/2025 | 12:00:00 PM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Mathias Ball | Still My Tessa | Blue Spruce | 2/11/2025 (original date was 2/6/2025) | 12:00:00 PM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Flo Leung | The Blue Bowl | Blue Spruce | 2/7/2025 | 12:00:00 PM | LINK TO CONNECT |
Mercre-LIT: Digital Author Visits – February – March, 2025
French nominees for Le prix Mélèze and Tamarac will be hosting author visits on the following dates:
| MERCRE-LIT | LIVRE | PROGRAMME | DATE DE SORTIE | HEURE DE PUBLICATION (Heure de l’Est) | LIEN POUR SE CONNECTER |
| Stéphanie Boyer | La louve et l’enfant | Mélèze | 2/19/2025 | 12:00:00 PM | lien à connecter |
| Andrée Poulin | Semer des soleils | Tamarac | 2/26/2025 | 12:00:00 PM | lien à connecter |
| Sarah Lalonde & Catherin | Encore une histoire de pets | Mélèze | 3/5/2025 | 12:00:00 PM | lien à connecter |
| Pierre-Alexandre Bonin | Peut-on manger ses crottes de nez? 20 faits sur le corps | Mélèze | 3/19/2025 | 12:00:00 PM | lien à connecter |
| Audrée Archambault | Lili-Jade 01 Pro des animaux | Tamarac | 3/26/2025 | 12:00:00 PM | lien à connecter |
| Diya Lim – presented in Partnership with Canadian Parents for French | Éli Labaki et les gouttes de pluie | Peuplier | 3/26/2025 | 12:00:00 PM | lien à connecter |
White Pine Wednesdays: Author visits & Panel Discussions – March – April, 2025
Our White Pine readers will get up close and personal with the authors of the White Pine Award learning about their craft, their nominated books and how they ended up where they are now. NOTE: These sessions are pre-recorded due to all schools/libraries having different schedules. You can watch at any time until June 30th that works best for you.
| WHITE PINE EVENT | BOOK | Program | Release Date | Release Time (Eastern Time) | LINK TO CONNECT |
| White Pine Event #1 with Ishi Robinson | Sweetness in the Skin | White Pine | 3/5/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| White Pine Event #2 with Stephanie Cooke & Ali Bryan | Pillow Talk & Takedown | White Pine | 3/19/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| White Pine Event #3 with Matteo L. Cerilli & Carrie Mac | Lockjaw & Zombie Apocalypse Running Club | White Pine | 3/25/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| White Pine Event #4 with Sarah Suk & A.B. Poranek | The Space Between Here & Now & Where the Dark Stands Still | White Pine | 3/27/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
BLUE SPRUCE READ-ALOUDS – April, 2025
Our amazing Blue Spruce nominees are given the option to read their books on video so that you can share with your young readers as you prepare for your voting. This is a great recap of the books and ensures that your young people get a chance to see the authors reading what they love. These videos will be released daily the week of April 7, 2025
| READ ALOUD BY AUTHOR | BOOK | Program | Release Date | Release Time (Eastern Time) | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Asha and the Toymaker | Sakshi Mangal | Blue Spruce | 4/7/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| The Blue Bowl | Flo Leung | Blue Spruce | 4/7/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Harold the Iceberg Melts Down | Lisa Wyzlic | Blue Spruce | 4/8/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| If You See a Bluebird | Bahram Rahman | Blue Spruce | 4/8/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| The Little Regent | Yewande Daniel-Ayoade | Blue Spruce | 4/9/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Lost Stick | Anoosha Syed | Blue Spruce | 4/9/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Mandeep’s Cloudy Days | Kuljinder Kaur Brar | Blue Spruce | 4/10/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| More Than Words: So Many Ways to Say What We Mean | Roz MacLean | Blue Spruce | 4/10/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| Still My Tessa | Sylv Chiang | Blue Spruce | 4/11/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
| When the Stars Came Home | Brittany Luby | Blue Spruce | 4/11/2025 | 10:00:00 AM | LINK TO CONNECT |
