Tag Archives: children’s books

Summer Reading Club Fun at VPL!

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Colour logo for TD Summer Reading Club 2026

There is so much to look forward to as the summer months approach, yet many parents also worry about the impact of summer vacation on their children’s reading skills. Fear not – Vaughan Public Libraries is here to help, and we promise, it won’t feel like homework. As soon as the summer holidays start, so does our annual TD Summer Reading Club, which provides a fun way to keep kids reading all summer long. Kids of all ages will also want to come to the library regularly, to participate in all the fun activities we have lined up.

An illustration for the "Dive in to Reading" themed Summer Reading Club. Two children and several sea creatures swim around an underwater library.

New this year, an element of competition will keep readers on their toes. When you register for the reading challenge, you will compete for the Busy Beavers, the Dashing Dolphins, the Swift Sharks, the Turbo Turtles or the Wild Whales, earning points for your team for every book you read and for every report you make. And yes… winning teams WILL get prizes at the end of the summer!

I’m sure that all of our Summer Reading Club participants have what it takes to be a great team player. As for Bad Kitty… well, he has a few things to work on.

Cover art for Nick Bruel's Bad Kitty Joins the Team

Get into the team spirit with this funny junior novel:

Bad Kitty Joins the Team by Nick Bruel

Kitty is terribly out of shape and when Kitty’s owner catches her wheezing, she is told that it is time to exercise, but it will take a lot of convincing and a bit of trickery to get Kitty into the competitive spirit.

Can’t wait for summer so that you can get started on Summer Reading Club fun? Us neither.

Poster for "The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy"

Reading is TOO fabulous to wait. We have a pre-launch event just around the corner happening on June 14 at Civic Centre Resource Library… and it features none other than acclaimed children’s educator-drag performers Fay and Fluffy! This can’t-miss event will get kids hyped for summer reading as a Fay and Fluffy put on a high-energy show to highlight awesome reads (and other fun content). Following the show, there will be hands-on activities, face painting, a photobooth, a Fay & Fluffy meet n’ greet… and best of all, a chance to be among the first to register for Summer Reading Club! The show starts at 1:00 pm and festivities continue until 3:00.

P.S. You’re already fabulous. Read about the joy of being one’s fabulous self with this affirming picture book!

Free to be Fabulous!

by David McMullin, Illustrated by Robbie Cathro

An exuberant and affirming picture book about self-expression, allyship, and celebrating differences.

Fast forward to the weekend of June 27-28 … mark your calendars, because this is our Dive Into Reading launch event and all 13 branches are in on the fun, all weekend long. There will be exciting, hands-on activities for children of all ages and a chance to register for Summer Reading Club, so you don’t miss a minute of summer reading and points-earning fun. Once you’re signed up, you’ll have your tracking card in hand and you can start participating immediately, earning stickers and helping your team win!

Speaking of diving in, have you read the award winning graphic novel, Swim Team?

Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas

Bree can’t wait for her first day at her new middle school, Enith Brigitha, home to the Mighty Manatees–until she’s stuck with the only elective that fits her schedule, the dreaded Swim 101. The thought of swimming makes Bree more than a little queasy, yet she’s forced to dive headfirst into one of her greatest fears.

The TD Summer Reading Club at VPL is about more than reading– it also means hearing your kids ask to come back to the library week after week this summer, because they have so much fun when they come. To this end, we have an exciting lineup of hands-on activity programs that will take place throughout the summer. See the full schedule here: Whether you prefer to attend the library during the day, in the evening, or on weekends, there is a timeslot at one of our 13 branches that will work for you. Best of all, no need to register or pay. Our Summer Reading Club activities are free and always will be. At VPL we believe that time spent in playful, hands on learning is among the best ways for a kid to spend their time, so we are committed to providing lots of opportunities to do exactly that.

Continue the fun once you step outside, with ideas from this book:

21 Things to do with a Mud Pie:
An Outdoor Activity Book

by Jane Wilsher, illustrated by Teo Georgiev

21 Things to Do With a Mud Pie is a fun activity book that invites kids to get into nature and get muddy through a range of unique crafts, arts and games.

Whether your kids are in strollers or in middle school, or somewhere in between, there are so many benefits to joining VPL’s TD Summer Reading Club. We hope to see you all summer long for a super-fun reading adventure.

TD Summer Reading Club logo, including tagline "Reading fun for kids, from Canada's public libraries / tdsummerreadingclub.ca"

A Miscellany of Black History in Canada

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Cover-image-for-Children's-book-Amazing-Women-in-Canada-Jean-Augustine

Black History Month is upon us once more. I thought it would be fitting to explore the origins of the annual celebration of Black achievement, as well as the original reason for its creation. It started as Negro History Week in 1926 with Carter G. Woodson — an American historian and creator of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History — at the helm. Woodson saw how important it was to promote all the amazing things Black folks have accomplished throughout history, becoming an early leader for the celebratory cause. What started as a week grew into a month, but of course a month isn’t really enough time to devote to the topic. Woodson’s decision to choose February for the original week-long affair is an interesting one. There are two monumental birthdays he wanted to encompass with the choice — Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. While the latter is a name most people recognize instantly, the former’s contribution to the abolishment of slavery was significant. These birthdays (although Douglass was born into slavery so the day of his birth isn’t certain) were already occasions for many communities of Black people in the US, which increased the odds that his idea would catch on. Once it did, he imagined that the festivities devoted to these two men could be extended to the race as a whole, and thus, the concept of Black History Month (BHM) was born. Of course, the fight for equality and equity was the context for Woodson’s endeavour. Myself, I certainly appreciate the opportunity to create reader’s advisory content for BHM. Discovering figures and historical snippets from Canada’s past is incredibly valuable. I think it’s important to spread awareness of Canada’s dark past, including slavery and other civil rights violations that have been obscured by its associations with ‘The Promised Land’ and freedom. However, it’s also important to celebrate the contributions and successes Black people have had throughout our history. What follows is a hodgepodge of writings on various figures who have had a real impact on our world, from the days of the Underground Railroad up to contemporary times.

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Poetry Salad for Busy Library Workers

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Cover-image-for-Life-of-the-Party-by-Olivia-Gatwood

I was working on a display for our Adult Reading Challenge the other day, and I came across a poetry collection called Life of the Party by Olivia Gatwood. The cover immediately caught my attention. You can probably see why. The smear of paint covering a woman’s face immediately draws you in, calling to mind notions of erasure and dehumanization perhaps. As something of a true crime aficionado, I was also intrigued by Gatwood’s exploration of the controversial topic. The true crime genre is ripe for discussion, moral or otherwise. The author’s note details a period of her life when she experienced insomnia because of a specific fear that she would become a victim herself, the subject of a true crime story. She interrogates the intentions or agenda of the genre, questioning why certain stories are told instead of others. The complex relationship a lot of women have with true crime, as avid viewers and readers, is briefly yet powerfully illuminated. The poems in the collection continue that theme. Concise stanzas of powerful imagery and analogy, revealing formative experiences in her childhood that have had an impact on who Gatwood is today. I wanted to write about poetry for this blog entry because I believe it’s an efficient way to absorb a lot of meaning from a small amount of text. So, if you find yourself a busy library worker like myself, you can pick up and put down a poetry collection whenever you have a free moment. Finishing a poem feels like a small amount of closure each time, and closure is nothing to scoff at. Here are some of the other exciting collections I’ve come across in our catalogue. To be honest, I am in the process of reading several of them. I have assembled a salad — if you will — of different poetic ingredients, and I am grazing to my heart’s content. Here’s hoping there’s one that strikes your fancy. Like a juicy heirloom tomato in the summer.

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