Books published by Kids Can Press

Everything kids need to know to tell facts from ¿fake news¿ on the internet.Here's a comprehensive guide to how real journalism is made, what ¿fake news¿ is and, most importantly, how to spot the difference. It provides practical advice, thought-provoking examples, and loads of explanations, definitions and useful context. Never judgmental, it encourages young people to approach what they find online with skepticism and helps them hone their critical-thinking skills to make good choices about what to believe and share. It's a must-read book on a topic that couldn't be more important in today's online world.Sure, kids know how to look for things on the internet. Now they'll know how to look at them, too.

A girl's pug is missing. But, hey, he's just chasing a wild adventure!A girl races all over the neighborhood looking for her lost pug, Kirby. As she asks one dog owner after another if they've seen him, readers are treated to poetically succinct depictions of the breeds of dogs she comes across in her search. ¿Golden retrievers are pleasers. Poodles are overachievers. Border collies are always on the job.¿ Each alternating spread reveals the story of where her pug actually is, defined by the repeated phrase ¿But pugs cause traffic jams.¿It's a dog's world of fun all around! Who could resist falling in love with this pug? (Hint: no one!)

A charming, child-friendly tour of an environmentally sustainable city.In this green city, neighbors take care of all living things: people, plants and animals, too! Many people choose biking or walking to get where they need to go. Families collect rain to water the garden, while solar panels capture energy from the sun. Folks keep hens and hives in their yards, and plant flowers that feed bees, birds and butterflies. Here, people work together to make the city green. Can we do the same where we live?Seeing how essential --- and awesome --- it is to be green will inspire kids to imagine it into being!

This boisterous family needs to quiet down for their newly adopted baby. Or do they?When J.J. arrives at his new home, his family is so excited to meet him! The four children welcome their tiny brother, then, when he falls asleep, Dad asks everyone to try to be quiet. In no time at all, though, the clamor of family life grows loud, with drumming, shouting, chattering. But, surprise! J.J. sleeps through it all. Even with children running and yelling in his room, J.J. sleeps. Is there anything that will disturb him?Kids will delight in the delicious twist: when you're with family, a noisy home is the most peaceful place to be.

An up close account of the ill-fated Franklin expedition.In 1845, Sir John Franklin set sail from England with two ships in search of the Northwest Passage. Not only did they not succeed, the ships and their crew members vanished, their fate an unsolved mystery for decades. In 10 suspenseful episodes, the captivating story of that doomed polar mission is revealed from the viewpoints of the commander, those back home and the search parties. It's a riveting tale, that in bone-chilling detail answers the question: What really happened in Terror Bay?At last, a story long hidden in the icy Arctic, finally gets to be told.

An intriguing look at some very strange creatures in the sea — but which is the strangest? A feathery tutu dancing through the water? A tiptoeing rock wearing a wig? A mountain of skulls on the ocean floor? Not everything is quite as it seems in this fascinating exploration of 12 bizarre and little-known sea animals. Each creature is introduced with an imaginative first-person depiction of its appearance, accompanied by an artistic interpretation and the question, “Am I the strangest thing in the sea?” Then, open the gatefold, and an illustration and full description of the actual creature in its habitat are revealed, along with the tantalizing answer that, no, this is not the strangest thing in the sea. That is, until the last creature, which is the strangest. But what could it be? The question-and-answer approach and gatefolds in this innovative and engaging book of wonderfully weird sea creatures are sure to pique children’s curiosity and encourage scientific inquiry. Rachel Poliquin has included a range of the very oddest sea creatures — the yeti crab, goblin shark and vampire squid, to name a few — and she provides unique, interesting and quirky information about each as well as their size, prey, habitat and depth. Award-winning illustrator Byron Eggenschwiler’s beautiful art gives the entire book an otherworldly feel, as all the creatures seem to be fantastically imagined. The material aligns with elementary life sciences curriculum: animal adaptations and characteristics, evolution, ecology, habitats, ecosystems, biodiversity and food webs. A final gatefold shows all the creatures together. Includes a glossary.

When a boy struggles after moving to a Japanese internment camp during WWII, baseball shows him another way to approach life.Sandy Saito is a happy boy who reads comic books and is obsessed with baseball --- especially the Asahi team, the pride of his Japanese Canadian community. But when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, his life, like that of every other North American of Japanese descent, changes forever. His family is forced to move to a remote internment camp, and his father must spend months away from them. Sandy, his mother and his brother cope as best they can with the difficulties at the camp. Over time, Sandy comes to realize that life is a lot like baseball. It's about dealing with whatever is thrown at you, however you can. And it's about finding your way home.In this emotionally gripping graphic novel, J. Torres has artfully woven a fictional story into a historically accurate, thoroughly researched account of the events surrounding the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. Using the approachable graphic novel format, the story of this grave chapter in North American history is gently told with sensitivity and insight, and the theme of baseball runs through the story as a message of hope and renewal. The time and place are evocatively rendered in David Namisato's detailed sepia-toned art. Along with its links to social studies and history lessons, this book offers a perfect lead-in to discussions about differences, inclusion and empathy, and about why this history is relevant today. The book includes extended background information in an afterword by Susan Aihoshi and resources for learning more.

Dee has a problem with Apostrofee. Namely, he keeps stealing letters and replacing them with himself! Dee and the other letters have had enough! Though they have to admit Apostrofee does make words shorter, and without him, nobody could own anything. (The BOOK can''t be DEE''S BOOK without an apostrophe!) And the letters do kind of miss him when he''s not around ... Should they forgive him, so they can all live in peace ''n'' harmony?

The coolest facts about the music we make, listen to and love.This illustrated book explores how music and the ways we experience it has transformed over the years and the science behind all of it. It starts with the basics --- how does sound work? and what, exactly, is music? --- then follows the progression of music-recording technology, from the phonograph to streaming. It covers how everyday items like headphones were created, and includes a look at the science of how we experience music (like why we can't get certain songs out of our heads). All while suggested playlists accompany the text so that readers can listen along!Kids know that music moves them. Now they can learn how!

In this charming simple story, things are lost, things are found and, somehow, it's all just as it should be.Sometimes things are lost. A hair ribbon. A pencil. A dog on a leash. But when someone loses a thing, another person may find it, sometimes with surprising results. In this thoughtful and deceptively simple story, several things are lost, and then each is found --- not always by the person who lost it, but always by someone who can use it. Though for most young children --- and their grownups! --- losing something is a cause for stress, Carey Sookocheff's delightful picture book presents the experience in a calm, matter-of-fact tone and invites readers to consider things from a different perspective. The subtle message is one we can all learn from --- while you can't always control what happens, you can manage how you respond. With very spare text and easy-to-follow visual storytelling, the book has a this-then-that rhythm that is reassuring and pleasant. It also begins and ends with the same girl walking her dog in the park, making for a cohesive and satisfying story. The illustrations use a limited, cool palette with the color orange signifying each of the lost items, perfect for enhancing observational skills and visual literacy. This book would work well as a jumping off point for children to create stories of their own, imagining what might have happened to something they've lost, who might have found it, and what might happen to it next.

A refreshing take on an all-too-important topic.Neo spends all his time playing his favorite video game, joining forces with other Earth-bots to defend the planet against invading aliens. But when his sea creature neighbors won't stop pleading with him to help them clean up the plastic that's ruining the ocean, Neo reluctantly agrees to check it out, and he's shocked by what he discovers. There's an actual invasion taking place right outside his door --- a plastic invasion! And it's too big to handle on his own!Sure to inspire real Earth-bots --- er, children --- everywhere to heed Neo's call to protect the oceans from plastic!

An artistic new kid navigates life at middle school.Dave doesn't have high hopes for himself at his new school in a town called Muddle. But he has no idea just how bad it will be. Public bullying. His secret crush revealed. And then that snot bubble . . . No, things aren't going well. But while building a time machine for the science fair, Dave gets an idea. What if he goes back in time, and has a redo? Could he turn everything around? Could he actually become . . . cool?A hilarious tonic for every adolescent dealing with humiliation, discomfort, awkwardness --- a.k.a. middle school!

A young girl's exploration of the city she loves.A young girl and her father spend a day in the city, her city, traveling to the places they go together. As they do, the girl, who is visually impaired, describes what she senses in delightfully precise, poetic detail. Her city, she says, ¿pitters and patters, and drips and drains.¿ It's both ¿smelly¿ and ¿sweet.¿ Her city also speaks, as it ¿dings and dongs and rattles and roars.¿ And sometimes, maybe even some of the best times, it just listens.A celebration of all there is to appreciate in our surroundings --- just by paying attention!

In this delightful exploration of the seasons in nature, an oak tree and its animal inhabitants change and grow over the course of a year --- just like their human neighbors!A large oak tree stands near an empty house. Like the house, it provides shelter and a place to raise a family. From its branches to its roots, six animals share the tree as a home. We follow the tree and the animals --- a raccoon, opossum, acorn weevil, gray squirrel, blue jay, chipmunk --- through the four seasons. Meanwhile, in the illustrations, we watch as a human family moves into the empty house, grows and adapts over time.Trees and animals --- including humans! --- follow life cycles across the seasons. Kids will love exploring nature's parallel lives.

An eye-opening look at the science of sleep --- covering everything adolescents could possibly want to know about a subject that's suddenly keeping them up at night!For something that all humans do every night, sleep is not that well understood. One thing we do know, though, is that it's important. Here's the scoop on why it's so crucial, including what our bodies do while we're sleeping, what happens when we don't sleep enough, and how the science of sleep research began. Also included are the reasons why teens and tweens aren't getting enough sleep --- and what school principals can do about it!It's a deep dive into a fascinating subject that's so intriguing, it just might keep kids up at night!

Count down from ten striding velociraptors to a ferociously funny end in this counting book for dinosaur lovers of all ages!

Meet the unbeatable hero of a fresh new early chapter book series --- Wednesday Wilson!The most important thing to know about Wednesday Wilson is that she's an entrepreneur. Well, she almost is. She and her best friend, Charlie, are hard at work thinking up business ideas to make it big. Only now there's been an incident with the Emmas (whose last initials happen to spell M.E.A.N.) involving a bearded dragon named Morten and a piece of kale . . . it's a long story. But maybe this is just the opportunity Wednesday and her friends needed. Maybe they'll invent something brilliant that will save the day and make them millionaires. Or . . . not?It'll take more than one incident with the Emmas to keep this girl down. Wednesday Wilson is bound for success!

A young boy finds a way to help his sister go to school.Victor and his twin sister, Linesi, are close. Only, now that they are eight years old, she is no longer able to go to school with him. Linesi, like the other older girls in their community, must walk to the river to get water five times a day to help their mother farm. But Victor is learning about equality in school. He's beginning to realize how boys and girls are not treated equally. And that's not fair to his sister. So Victor comes up with a plan to help.Can one boy make a difference in an unequal world? It turns out, he can!

A hilarious story about one bug's quest for greatness (with some cool insect facts mixed in!).Meet Burt, a ten-lined june beetle. He's sure he has a superpower like other insects. No, he can't carry 50 times his weight, like ants, or spray paralyzing venom, like some termites. What june beetles seem to do best is chase porch lights and lie on their backs flailing their legs in the air ... hmm. Maybe Burt doesn't have any special skills after all ... But when some other bugs get into perilous trouble that even their superpowers can't get them out of, Burt realizes there is one helpful thing only he can do ...Why shouldn't every bug have its day (even the wannabe superhero kind)? Kids will be rooting for this one!

Rhyming, fanciful allegory of the creative writing process.When a child's carefully written poem slips out of a ripped pocket, its words join randomly with other words to form funny riffs and puns all over a busy city street. The child scrambles to capture the loose words and arrange them back into poem form, only to lose them again as a storm swoops in. Eventually, the words plant themselves in the muddy ground, growing into something that might be even better than the original poem: a Poet-Tree.A poem is never really lost. The words may just need a little room to play.

In this delightful picture book, Minnow seems to be the only one of King Neptune's fifty mermaid daughters who has no particular skill or accomplishments. That is, except for her persistence in asking many, many questions. "Why don't crabs have fins?" "Where do bubbles go?" "What lies beyond the kingdom?" But one day, as Minnow is drifting in the ocean all alone, a single red woman's shoe, "the loveliest thing she'd ever seen," floats toward her seemingly from out of nowhere. Never having seen a shoe before, Willow becomes intrigued by what it might be. When no one in the kingdom can tell her, she sets off on a quest to find out and, along the way, uncovers answers to many of the things that have been vexing her, including what her true purpose is!Award-winning author and illustrator K. G. Campbell beautifully captures the watery world of his mermaids with soft blues and grays, long hair rippling in the currents and lots of bubbles. Young readers will chuckle knowingly at Minnow's misinterpretations of the world "at the edge of the kingdom, where bubbles burst and the above place began," as they delight in her discovery of what the shoe is used for. With the feel of a fairy tale, this is a fun and humorous story with a wonderful message appropriate for character education lessons about the value of believing in yourself and the power of perseverance when you are searching for answers to life's most important questions.

Steve is a horse who wants to be exceptional and inspires his peers in his mission to become extraordinary.

Caroline Lawson is three months away from freedom, otherwise known as graduation day. That''s when she''ll finally escape her rigid prep school and the parents who thought they could convert her to being straight. Until then, Caroline is keeping her head down, pretending to be the perfect student even though she is crushed by her family and heartbroken over the girlfriend who left for California. But when her best friend Madison disappears, she realises how little she knew of what her friend was up to. Caroline has some uncomfortable secrets about the hours before Madison disappeared, but they''re nothing compared to the secrets Madison has been hiding.

The stories Gabe ''reads'' to his little sister start out sounding familiar - a red-caped girl on her way to Grandma''s house meets a wolf in the woods - but then, just in the nick of time, Sir Gabriel swoops in to save the day. His sister points out that''s not how the story is supposed to go. The boy says his way is better: ''Nothing bad happens in my story.'' But when his sister stops listening, the boy realises he needs to reconsider. Are his stories boring? Why does it seem like there''s always something missing?

In the style of ''The House That Jack Built,'' here''s a cumulative, rhyming tale that follows an acorn on an arduous journey, as one animal after another steals it, drops it or tosses it, sending the acorn inside an old shoe, high above the trees and down to the bottom of a stream. But in the end, the rat, goose, bear and more turn out to simply be the conduits that help the acorn eventually land on a hillside, where the warm sun helps it grow into another grand oak tree, which now holds the house where Jack (Jill''s grandson) plays.