Hi everyone!

During a few blog posts, I mentioned a program called “Forest of Reading”.

Forest of Reading, is an Ontario reading program, that encourages children of all ages to read more! I have participated since I was 8 years old, and I still thoroughly enjoy the program.

ANY Schools that are located in Ontario can participate, and order books for the program. Once the program is done, you can put those books in the shelves of your schools own library.

Official Website:  https://www.accessola.org/web/OLAWEB/Forest_of_Reading/Welcome

What are the levels?

Each grade has there own level, in which there are 2 clubs. You can choose Non-Fiction, Fiction or Both! This year I branched out and decided to do Non-Fiction, as I have a lot of my own fiction books to read! Also, as you can imagine, the Non-Fiction books are A LOT shorter then the fiction books.

	Blue Spruce™	JK–grade 2	picture books
	Silver Birch®	Grades 3–6	fiction / non-fiction
	Red Maple™	Grades 7–8	fiction, non-fiction (every other year)
	White Pine™	Grades 9–12	fiction, non-fiction (every other year)
	Le Prix Peuplier	varies	picture books
	Le Prix Tamarac	varies	chapter books
	Le Prix Tamarac Express	varies	shorter chapter books or mature picture books

In this program, the focus is reading books for all ages, that are made by Canadian Authors. Personally, I think this is a great idea for children in Grades 7-8, as when they go to high school, they may read a lot of classics and/or books written by canadian authors.

What Have I Read So Far?

I am participating in the Read Maple Selection.

So far, I have read 4 of the 10, non-fiction books:

We Are Canada by Rikia Saddy
The Last Train by Rona Arato
Growing Up, Inside and Out by Kira Vermond
Real Justice: Sentanced To Life at Seventeen: The Story of David Milgaard by Cynthia F.

I will have reviews up for these books soon!

What do you do at the end of the program?

At the end of the program, they hold a ceremony for the books, called the “Festival of Trees”. In which, they choose the most voted books and award them with the Forest of Reading Pick of “that year”. Some schools even go to the ceremony, unfortunatley my school never has.

How do you vote?

In order to vote, you must read at least 5 of the 10 books that were selected, and pick your favourites. The school will send the data to the program administrators, and they do all the rest!

I hope you enjoyed learning about the Forest of Reading Program!

BONUS:

I made a goodreads group/book club! Please join it, it would mean the world to me: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/156785-reading-reading-reading-book-club! This month we are reading “The Lunar Chronicles” Series!

Good Night Book Lions!