This year – more than ever before – is the time to seriously engage in the TD Summer Reading Program as well as the Forest of Reading – which have both gone virtual and digital!  And the hundreds of resources are now free to our children, educators and library staff as we transit these emergency lockdown(s) . . .

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 of Reading

Dear Forest supporters,

We hope all of you are safe and healthy during this challenging time in our lives and we are providing an update on the Forest of Reading for you as we enter May.

Now more than ever, it is crucial to keep the love of reading alive and to support our writing, publishing, school, and library communities.

PASSWORD WEBSITE: The Forest of Reading is a paid program, however, in these unprecedented times, it is important our children, educators and library staff to have access to our program. The password website, which was previously only accessible to current registrants, is open to the public for free at forestofreading.com. With over 500 resources for this year’s nominated titles and virtual author visits previously recorded, there is so much content for people to use. Please share it widely across all of your networks.

VOTING: We have extended voting in the school-aged programs until June 1. Voting can be done through the Forest of Reading website under “Voting” in the top menu. We will plan to announce the winners in a VERY exciting way this year. More information will be released in early May on the announcement in early June. Stay tuned…

VIRTUAL NOMINEE VISITS: The Forest Friday program and Merce-LIT program have been very successful this year and we encourage you to go to the recordings of both programs and watch the 45 sessions with your favourite authors.

Forest Friday recordings

Mercre-LIT recordings

BLUE SPRUCE & PEUPLIER READ-ALOUDS: The Forest of Reading has released 10 videos of our Blue Spruce authors reading our favourite picture books of this year. They are available  on social media and can be found on our YouTube channel playlist. The Le prix Peuplier videos also have been released, and to date, we have permissions to release 7 videos. They too can be found on the Peuplier YouTube channel playlist.

*Please Note: These videos will be removed on June 30 and are not permitted to be downloaded and used in any other format.

ACCESSING THE FOREST OF READING TITLES: During this difficult time, the question we get asked most has been, “How do we access English Forest of Reading books during COVID-19?” We’ve worked with the publishers and compiled a list where you can find e-versions of the Forest of Reading English books. See the English spreadsheet here. For the French titles, we have created another spreadsheet and we will update it as we receive information from publishers. See the French spreadsheet here.

KID AND TEEN COMMITTEES: The Silver Birch Kid Committee, Red Maple Kid Committee and the Teen Committee have all been selected now. We had over 100 applications and every single applicant was amazing! The Teen Committee will meet on May 22 and the Kid Committees will meet on May 29 to select a great summer reading list for young people across the country. Stay tuned for this list to be released June 3.

I READ CANADIAN – GET READY FOR CANADA DAY!: As we look ahead to July 1, we encourage you to take a look at our I Read Canadian merchandise that is for sale. So many of you celebrated I Read Canadian Day on February 19, so please keep supporting this amazing initiative by purchasing all the great swag, including T-shirts, stickers, and pencils.

NOMINEES: Please connect with nominees via social media and encourage them to hold story time over social media or streaming platforms. CBC Books is keeping a running list of Canadian authors who are holding story time over social media as well as author events, readings, and festivals that will be held online this year.

FOREST OF READING FESTIVAL: A reminder that we have cancelled all Festival events this year. You can read the full update from March 6 here.

OUR OFFICIAL WHOLESALER: If you are able to, consider purchasing booksets from our official wholesaler, Tinlids. They are still receiving online orders.

STAY CONNECTED: Please share what you’re doing during this time, including virtual story times. Tag @ForestofReading and @IReadCanadian on Twitter.

If you have any questions, please email us at forest@accessola.com. Please note that we may take slightly longer than usual to reply to your query, but that we will reply to all queries within 3-5 business days.

Please take care of yourselves, your families and friends. Thank you for your continued support as we work together through this changing situation. Stay safe, stay healthy.

From the Folks at the Forest of Reading

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