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When the World Feels Overwhelming, Read These Books

When the world feels like it’s turning too fast, pause and take time to read together.

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Welcome to Top Grade: CanLit for the Classroom, a blog and video series that features new releases from Canadian book publishers ideal for use in K-12 classrooms and school library collections. Throughout the year, we dive into new titles, highlighting relevant curriculum links and themes.

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Written by secondary school teacher Spencer Miller

The past few years, months, even weeks—I have often felt like the world is changing too fast. When I am feeling overwhelmed and I need the world to slow down for me, I find it helpful to read about history. Whether in a biography, memoir, history book or work of historical fiction, going back in time in the pages of a book allows me to take a step back and look at the world from a different perspective.

Many students are dealing with similar feelings. When the world feels like it’s turning too fast, my advice is to pause and take time to read together. As you read, look for opportunities to reinforce important lessons from history, such as:

1.    When the world feels like it’s ending, it isn’t.
2.    Nothing is inevitable—we don’t have to repeat the mistakes of the past, there’s always another choice.
3.    During every crisis and conflict, there are always people willing to help.
4.    Young people can and do make a difference.
5.    A single act of kindness can shift the course of history.

These lessons and many others are repeated throughout children’s and young adult historical fiction, biographies, memoirs, etc. To encourage your exploration of history, the book list below features brand new Canadian books for all ages.

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Muhammed's Recipe for Remembering cover image

Muhammad's Recipe for Remembering (ages 4-7) follows a young boy seeking to learn about his ancestors in preparation for a Remembrance Day assembly. By visiting with elder members of his community, Muhammad discovers the untaught history of Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu soldiers who served in the World Wars.

In Class: Find discussion questions and extension activities in the free Educator Guide from Annick Press. Also, colouring sheets!

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Lights along the River cover image

Lights along the River (ages 6-8) gives insight into life in Canada in the 1950s. Readers join in on the excitement with Patsy, a young Métis girl, and her siblings on the day electricity is finally connected to their small town along the Magnetawan River. Patsy ponders how electricity will change all of their daily lives.

In Class: Pair this book with The Light Keeper and explore how light and electricity change daily life.

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The Light Keeper cover image

The Light Keeper (ages 6-8) a gentle tale of bravery and how one ten-year-old made a difference for his community and family. Despite his fear of heights, a young boy named Shmuel accepts a job to climb up and fix his village’s electric lamp to provide for his family and bring light back to his community.

In Class: Pair this book with Lights along the River and explore how light and electricity change daily life.

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Eyes on the Ice cover image

Eyes on the Ice (ages 9-12) takes a look at life in Czechoslovakia under the brutal Communist regime of the 19060s through the eyes of two hockey-loving brothers. Lukas and his brother Denys, who want nothing more than to play hockey, face danger and impossible decisions after the arrest of their father.

In Class: Give students time to explore The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and discuss which human rights are most important to them.

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Lost at Windy River book cover

Lost at Windy River (ages 9-12) is a graphic novel with a true story about a thirteen-year-old Indigenous girl named Ilse who got lost in a snowstorm for nine days in 1944. Canadian author Farley Mowat heard Ilse’s story and wrote about it in his book People of the Deer. But it wasn’t his story to tell. Lost at Windy River, written by Isle’s granddaughter, is taking her story back.

In Class: Listen to author Trina Rathgeber describe the importance of preserving family stories then invite students to write down and record one of their family stories.

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Waltraut cover image

Waltraut (ages 9-12) takes place in 1960s Winnipeg and follows 11-year-old Waltraut, who wishes she had a different name that wouldn’t stick out. Waltraut feels a great divide between her life at home and her life at school and worries she and her German family will never fully fit in in Canada.

In Class: Listen to an interview with author Gabe Goldstone on The Weekend Morning Show (Manitoba) with Nadia Kidwai.

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Undaunted Ursula Franklin cover image

Undaunted Ursula Franklin: Activists, Educator, Scientist (ages 9-12) is a biography of Ursula Franklin, written by her daughter. Born in Germany with Jewish ancestry, Ursula survived the Holocaust while many in her family did not. She became a physicist and an engineer at a time when women were not welcome in academics. Her experiences led her to stand for equality and peace throughout her life.

In Class: Today, Ursula Franklin has not only a street but a school named after her in Toronto. This fact might inspire students to look into the history behind the names of the schools and streets in their community.

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The Rez Doctor cover image

The Rez Doctor (12-18) is a graphic novel that examines the barriers to health care and education faced by many Indigenous communities. It follows the real-life story Ryan Fox as he grows up in 1990s Alberta and pursues a career in medicine after being inspired by a Blackfoot doctor during a school assembly.

In Class: Watch and learn more about systemic racism in Canadian healthcare in this video from TVO Today.

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Genocide cover image

Genocide: Revised and Expanded Edition (ages 14-18) provides a history of genocide worldwide, detailing the holding of the Nuremberg Trials, the adoption of the Genocide Convention, and examining a series of case studies. This new edition also examines the present debates and controversies surrounding the term “genocide” and the harm caused by genocide denial.

In Class: Learning about about genocide and other crimes against humanity can be deeply distressing. Emphasize nothing is inevitable—we don’t have to repeat the mistakes of the past. Use “Chapter 7: Preventing Genocide” as the basis for discussion of what the United Nations, governments, humanitarian and human rights organizations, and others are doing to address and prevent genocide.

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Photo of Spencer Miller

Spencer Miller is a teacher, writer, reader, and fan of the Toronto Raptors. He is currently pursuing graduate studies at the University of Calgary (Treaty 7). You can follow more of Spencer’s passion for books on Instagram @SpencerBMiller.

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