The Blue Spruce Award is an award in the Ontario Library Association (OLA) Forest of Reading Awards. The Blue Spruce Award celebrates English-language Canadian picture books for grades Kindergarten to grade 2 (ages 5-8) every year. [1] Out of ten nominated books in each category students must read a minimum of five to vote for their favourite. The winner is chosen by the most popular book in all participating libraries, schools, groups, etc. The Blue Spruce Award was established in 2002. [2] A French-language version of the Forest of Reading prize for picture books is Le prix Peuplier.
| Year | Author(s) | Illustrator(s) | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Valerie Coulman | Rogé Girard | When Pigs Fly | Winner | [2] |
| Linda Bailey | Alan Daniel, Lea Daniel, and Heather Collins | The Best Figure Skater in the Whole Wide World | Finalist | [2] | |
| Paulette Bourgeois | Stephane Jorisch | Oma's Quilt | |||
| Sarah Ellis | Kim LaFave | Big Ben | |||
| Sheree Fitch | Janet Wilson | No Two Snowflakes | |||
| Tomson Highway | John Rombough | Caribou Song | |||
| Jonathan London | Paul Morin | What the Animals Were Waiting For | |||
| Andrea Spalding | Leslie Elizabeth Watts | It's Raining, It's Pouring | |||
| Margriet Ruurs | Barbara Spurll | Emma's Cold Day | |||
| Mike Ulmer | Melanie Rose | M is for Maple | |||
| 2003 | Matthew M. Napier | Melanie Rose | Z is for Zamboni | Winner | [3] |
| Wallace Edwards | Alphabeasts | Finalist | [3] | ||
| Marie-Louise Gay | Stella, Fairy of the Forest | ||||
| Celia Godkin | When the Giant Stirred | ||||
| Troon Harrison | Zhong-Yang Huang | Courage to Fly | |||
| Robin Muller | Badger's New House | ||||
| Marilynn Reynolds | Don Kilby | The Name of the Child | |||
| Joanne Taylor | Susan Tooke | Full Moon Rising | |||
| Jan Thornhill | The Rumor | ||||
| Frieda Wishinsky | Dean Griffiths | Give Maggie a Chance | |||
| 2004 | Linda Bailey | Bill Salvin | Stanley's Party | Winner | [4] |
| Jane Barclay, Kathryn Cole [a] | Janice Donato | How Hot Was It? | Finalist | [4] | |
| Karleen Bradford | Leslie Elizabeth Watts | You Can't Rush a Cat | |||
| Anne Laurel Carter | Rose Cowles | The F Team | |||
| Valerie Coulman | Rogé [b] | Sink or Swim | |||
| Phoebe Gilman | Jillian Jiggs and the Great Big Snow | ||||
| Shenaaz Nanji | Chum McLeod | An Alien in My House | |||
| Susin Nielsen-Fernlund | Louise-Andrée Laliberté | Hank and Fergus | |||
| Barbara Reid | The Subway Mouse | ||||
| Vlasta van Kampen | It Couldn't Be Worse | ||||
| 2005 | Robert Heidbreder | Bill Slavin & Esperanca Melo | Drumheller Dinosaur Dance | Winner | [5] |
| Aubrey Davis | Duesan Petriecic | Bagels from Benny | Finalist | [5] | |
| Dorothy Joan Harris | Kim LaFave | A Very Unusual Dog | |||
| Hazel J. Hutchins | Ruth Ohi | The Sidewalk Rescue | |||
| Lynn Manuel | Kasia Charki | Camels Always Do | |||
| Sheryl McFarlane | Chrissie Wysotski | This is the Dog | |||
| Gilles Tibo | Bruno St-Aubin | Too Many Books! | |||
| Maxine Trottier & Brian Deines | Our Canadian Flag | ||||
| Troy Wilson | Dean Griffiths | Perfect Man | |||
| Chieri Uegaki | Stéphane Jorisch | Suki's Kimono | |||
| 2006 | George Elliott | Andrej Krystoforski | The Boy Who Loved Bananas | Winner | [6] |
| Sean Cassidy | Gummytoes | Finalist | [6] | ||
| Sarah Ellis | Kim LaFave | Ben Over Night | |||
| Marie-Louise Gay | Stella, Princess of the Sky | ||||
| Maureen Hull | Leanne Franson | Rainy Days with Bear | |||
| Hazel J. Hutchins | Ruth Ohi | Beneath the Bridge | |||
| Laura Langston | Lindsey Gardiner | Mile-High Apple Pie | |||
| Stehpanie Simpson McLellan | Dianna Bonder | Leon's Song | |||
| Evan Solomon | Bill Slavin | Bigbeard's Hook | |||
| Sheri Radford | Christine Tripp | Penelope and the Humongous Burp | |||
| 2007 | Mélanie Watt | Scaredy Squirrel | Winner | [7] | |
| Linda Bailey | Bill Slavin | Stanley's Wild Ride | Finalist | [7] | |
| Lili Chartrand, Susan Ouriou [c] | Rogé Girard | Taming Horrible Harry | |||
| Don Gillmor | Michael Martchenko | Sophie and the Sea Monster | |||
| Susan Hughes | Stephane Poulin | Earth to Audrey | |||
| Ruth Ohi | Clara and the Bossy | ||||
| Sheri Radford | Christine Tripp | Penelope and the Monsters | |||
| Margriet Ruurs | Sean Cassidy | Wake Up, Henry Rooster! | |||
| Colleen Sydor | Pascale Constantin | Camilla Chameleon | |||
| Gilles Tibo | Bruno St-Aubin | Where's My Hockey Sweater? | |||
| 2008 | Melanie Watt | Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend | Winner | [8] | |
| Barbara Reid | Fox Walked Alone | Finalist | [8] | ||
| Jeremy Tankard | Grumpy Bird | ||||
| Margriet Ruurs | Ron Broda | In My Backyard | |||
| Linda Bailey | Bill Slavin | The Farm Team | |||
| Kari-Lynn Winters | Ben Hodson | Jeffery and Sloth | |||
| Rebecca Upjohn | Renne Benoit | Lily and the Paper Man | |||
| Hazel Hutchins | Maria van Lieshout | The List | |||
| Frieda Wishinsky | Marie-Louise Gay | Please, Louise! | |||
| Debby Waldman | Cindy Revell | A Sack Full of Feathers | |||
| 2009 | Mélanie Watt | Chester | Winner | [9] | |
| Carolyn Beck | Andrea Beck | Buttercup's Lovely Day | Finalist | [9] | |
| Chris Mizzoni | Clancy with the Puck | ||||
| Anne Cottringer & Alex T. Smith | Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero | ||||
| Pamela Hickman | Geraldo Valéro | It's Moving Day! | |||
| Rachna Gilmore | Leslie Elizabeth Watts | Making Grizzie Grow | |||
| Hazel Hutchins & Gail Herbert | Dusan Petricic | Mattland | |||
| Linda Bailey | Bill Slavin | Stanley At Sea | |||
| Cary Fagan | Dusan Petricic | My New Shirt | |||
| Dan Bar-el | John Manders | Such a Prince | |||
| Year | Author(s) | Illustrator(s) | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Jeremy Tankard | Boo Hoo Bird | Winner | [10] | |
| Tim Beiser | Rachel Berman | Bradley McGogg | Finalist | [10] | |
| Robert Heidbreder & Rae Mate | Crocodiles Play | ||||
| Beth Cruikshank | Lynn Johnston | Farley Follows His Nose | |||
| Katarina Jovanovic | Philippe Beha | The King Has Goat Ears | |||
| Kenneth Oppel | Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher | The King's Taster | |||
| Linda Bailey | Bill Slavin | Stanley's Beauty Contest | |||
| Valerie Sherrard | David Jardine | There's a Cow Under My Bed | |||
| Marie-Louise Gay | When Stella Was Very, Very Small | ||||
| Frieda Wishinsky & Kady MacDonald Denton | You're Mean, Lily Jean | ||||
| 2011 | Dave Whamond | My Think-A-ma-Jink | Winner | [11] | |
| Nicholas Oldland | Big Bear Hug | Finalist | [11] | ||
| Sharon Jennings | Ashley Spires | C'mere, Boy! | |||
| Mélanie Watt | Have I Got a Book for You! | ||||
| Andrew Larsen | Irene Luxbacher | The Imaginary Garden | |||
| Christina Leist | Jack the Bear | ||||
| Barbara Reid & Ian Crysler | Perfect Snow | ||||
| Jane Barclay | Renne Benoit | Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion | |||
| Tania Duprey Stehlik | Vanja Vuleta Jovanovic | Violet | |||
| Lana Button | Tania Howells | Willow's Whispers | |||
| 2012 | Rebecca Bender | Giraffe and Bird | Winner | [12] | |
| Sarah Tsiang | Qin Leng | A Flock of Shoes | Finalist | [12] | |
| Heather McLeod | Brooke Kerrigan | Kiss Me! (I'm a Prince!) | |||
| Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas & Wangari Maathai [d] | The Little Hummingbird | ||||
| Nicholas Oldland | Making the Moose Out of Life | ||||
| Heather Hartt-Sussman | Geneviève Côté | Noni Says No | |||
| David Ward & Brian Deines | One Hockey Night | ||||
| Marie-Louise Gay | Roslyn Rutabaga and the Biggest Hole on Earth! | ||||
| Ashley Spires | Small Saul | ||||
| Linda Bailey | Bill Slavin | Stanley's Little Sister | |||
| 2013 | Martin Springett | Isobel Springett [e] | Kate and Pippin | Winner | [13] |
| Nicholas Oldland | The Busy Beaver | Finalist | [13] | ||
| Rebecca Bender | Don't Laugh at a Giraffe | ||||
| Cary Fagan | Geneviève Côté | Ella May and the Wishing Stone | |||
| Heather Hartt-Sussman | Georgia Graham | Here Comes Hortense! | |||
| Jane Barclay | Esperança Melo | JoJo the Giant | |||
| Ashley Spires | Larf | ||||
| Émilie Rivard | Anne-Claire Delisle | Really and Truly | |||
| Kevin Sylvester | Splinters | ||||
| Elin Kelsey | Soyeon Kim | You Are Stardust | |||
| 2014 | Dave Whamond | Oddrey | Winner | [14] | |
| Alma Fullerton | Karen Patkau | A Good Trade | Finalist | [14] | |
| Helene Boudreau | Serge Bloch | I Dare You Not to Yawn | |||
| Elly MacKay | If You Hold a Seed | ||||
| Andrew Larsen | Dusan Petricic | In the Tree House | |||
| Cary Fagan | Dusan Petricic | Mr. Zinger's Hat | |||
| Peter H. Reynolds | Sky Color | ||||
| Jon Klassen | This is Not My Hat | ||||
| Wallace Edwards | Uncle Wally's Old Brown Shoe | ||||
| Lana Button | Tania Howells | Willow Finds a Way | |||
| 2015 | Maureen Fergus | Mike Lowery | The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten | Winner | [15] |
| Roy MacGregor | Geneviève Després | The Highest Number in the World | Finalist | [15] | |
| Ruth Ohi | Kenta and the Big Wave | ||||
| Anne Villenueve | Loula is Leaving for Africa | ||||
| Kathy Stinson | Dusan Petricic | The Man with the Violin | |||
| Christine Baldacchino | Isabelle Malenfant | Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress | |||
| Ashley Spires | The Most Magnificent Thing | ||||
| Jessica Young | Catia Chien | My Blue is Happy | |||
| Dave Whamond | Oddrey and the New Kid | ||||
| Frank Viva | Young Frank, Architect | ||||
| 2016 | Linda Bailey | David Huyck | If Kids Ruled the World | Winner | [16] |
| Elly MacKay | Butterfly Park | Finalist | [16] | ||
| Michael Moniz | The Cardinal and the Crow | ||||
| Colleen Sydor | Brooke Kerrigan | Fishermen Through and Through | |||
| Sandra Bradley | Sara Palacios | Henry Holton Takes the Ice | |||
| Alma Fullerton | Brian Deines | In a Cloud of Dust | |||
| Sangeeta Bhadra | Marion Arbona | Sam's Pet Temper | |||
| Heather Tekavec | Pierre Pratt | Stop, Thief! | |||
| Claudia Dávila | Super Red Riding Hood | ||||
| Nancy Wilcox Richards | Tom Goldsmith | We're All Friends Here | |||
| 2017 | Terry Fan & Eric Fan | The Night Gardener | Winner | [17] | |
| Shane Peacock | Sophie Casson | The Artist and Me | Finalist | [17] | |
| Kyo Maclear | Marion Arbona | The Good Little Book | |||
| Kathy Stinson | Qin Leng | Harry and Walter | |||
| Vikki VanSickle | Cale Atkinson | If I Had a Gryphon | |||
| Maureen Fergus | Dusan Petricic | InvisiBill | |||
| Hazel Hutchins | Dusan Petricic | Snap! | |||
| Danielle Daniel | Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox | ||||
| Linda Bailey | Bill Slavin | Stanley at School | |||
| Willow Dawson | The Wolf-Birds | ||||
| 2018 | Jess Keating | Marta Álvarez Miguéns | Shark Lady | Winner | [18] |
| Mireille Messier | Pierre Pratt | The Branch | Finalist | [18] | |
| Chris Hadfield & Kate Fillion | The Darkest Dark | [19] | |||
| Shelly Becker | Eda Kaban | Even Superheroes Have Bad Days | [18] | ||
| Kari-Lynn Winters | Francois Thisdale | French Toast | |||
| Lauri Holomis, Glen Gretzky, Wayne Gretzky [f] | Kevin Sylvester | Great | |||
| Carolyn Huizinga Mills | Brooke Kerrigan | Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain | |||
| Bree Galbraith | Josee Bisaillon | Milo and Georgie | |||
| Roselynn Akulukjuk | The Owl and the Lemming | ||||
| Andrew Larsen | Mike Lowery | A Squiggly Story | |||
| 2019 | Pierre Collet-Derby | Barnaby Never Forgets | Winner | [20] | |
| Jessica Scott Kerrin | Qin Leng | The Better Tree Fort | Finalist | [20] | |
| Jean Little | Joel Weissmann | Harry's Hiccups | |||
| Belle DeMont | Sonja Wimmer | I Love My Purse | |||
| Leanne Shirtliffe | Lorenzo Montatore | I Love Sharks, Too! | |||
| Zachary Hyman | Joe Bluhm | The Magician's Secret | |||
| Deborah Kerbel | Suzanne Del Rizzo | Sun Dog | |||
| Kari Rust | Tricky | ||||
| Aviaq Johnston | Tim Mack | What's My Superpower? | |||
| Cale Atkinson | Where Oliver Fits | ||||
| Year | Author(s) | Illustrator(s) | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Andrée Poulin | Félix Girard | That's Not Hockey! | Winner | [21] |
| Anne Renaud & Leanne Franson | Emma's Gems | Finalist | [21] [22] | ||
| Rebecca Bender | Giraffe and Bird Together Again | ||||
| Kit Pearson & Katherine Farris | Gabrielle Grimard | The Magic Boat | |||
| Heather Smith | Brooke Kerrigan | A Plan for Pops | |||
| Kerry Lyn Sparrow | Guillaume Perreault | Sheep, Sheep! | |||
| Andrew Larsen | Anne Villeneuve | Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden | |||
| Marie-Louise Gay | Mustafa | ||||
| Maureen Fergus | Elina Ellis | The Reptile Club | |||
| Helaine Becker | Orbie | Sloth at the Zoom | |||
| 2021 | Mike Boldt | Bad Dog | Winner | ||
| Peter H. Reynolds | Be You! | Finalist | [23] [24] | ||
| Kim Smith | Boxitects | ||||
| Heather O'Connor & Claudia Davila | Fast Friends | ||||
| Sherry J. Lee | Charlene Chua | Going Up! | |||
| Rina Singh | Ellen Rooney | Grandmother School | |||
| Sennah Yee | Elaine Chen | My Day with Gong Gong | |||
| Ibtihaj Muhammad, S. K. Ali [g] | Hatem Aly | The Proudest Blue | |||
| Danny Ramadan | Anna Bron | Salma the Syrian Chef | |||
| Hazel Hutchins & Gail Herbert | Dusan Petricic | The Truth About Wind | |||
| 2022 | Peggy Collins | Harley the Hero | Winner | [25] | |
| Sara de Wall | Erika Medina | 48 Grasshopper Estates | Finalist | [25] [26] | |
| Bonnie Sherr Klein | Élisabeth Eudes-Pascal | Beep Beep Bubble | |||
| Nhung N. Tran-Davies | Ravy Puth | The Doll | |||
| Bahram Rahman | Gabrielle Grimard | The Library Bus | |||
| Nadia L. Hohn | Irene Luxbacher | Malaika's Surprise | |||
| Alma Fullerton | No More Plastic | ||||
| Stephanie Simpson McLellan | Zoe Si | The Sorry Life of Timothy Shmoe | |||
| Jeffrey Ansloos & Shezza Ansloos | Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley | Thunder and the Noise Storms | |||
| Monique Gray Smith | Nicole Neidhardt | When We Are Kind | |||
| 2023 | Monica Arnaldo | Are You a Cheeseburger? | Winner | [27] | |
| Leonarda Carranza | Rafael Mayani | Abuelita and Me | Finalist | [27] | |
| Leona Prince & Gabrielle Prince | Carla Joseph | Be a Good Ancestor | |||
| Mahak Jain | Anu Chouhan | Bharatanatyam in Ballet Shoes | |||
| Dane Liu | Lynn Scurfield | Friends Are Friends, Forever | |||
| Sadé Smith | Ken Daley | Granny's Kitchen | |||
| Tina Athaide | Åsa Gilland | Meena's Mindful Moment | |||
| Nan Forler | Yong Ling Kang | Rodney Was a Tortoise | |||
| Bahram Rahman & Peggy Collins | A Sky-Blue Bench | ||||
| Anoosha Syed | That's Not My Name! | ||||
| 2024 | Sarabeth Holden | Emma Pedersen | Benny the Bananasaurus Rex | Winner | [28] |
| Sandra Bradley | Gabrielle Grimard | Cocoa Magic | Finalist | [28] | |
| Lindsay Zier-Vogel | Caroline Bonne-Muller | Dear Street | |||
| Esi Edugyan | Amélie Dubois | Garden of Lost Socks | |||
| Naseem Hrab | Kelly Collier | How to Party Like a Snail | |||
| Ibtihaj Muhammad & S. K. Ali | Hatem Aly | The Kindest Red | |||
| Shauntay Grant | Kitt Thomas | My Fade is Fresh | |||
| Kuljinder Kaur Brar | Samrath Kaur | My Name is Saajin Singh | |||
| Maureen Fergus | Danesh Mohiuddin | Princess Pru and the Ogre on the Hill | |||
| Jack Wong | The Words We Share | ||||
| 2025 | Sakshi Mangal | Asha and the Toymaker | Finalist | [29] | |
| Flo Leung | The Blue Bowl | ||||
| Lisa Wyzlic | Rebecca Syracuse | Harold the Iceberg Melts Down | |||
| Bahram Rahman | Gabrielle Grimard | If You See a Bluebird | |||
| Yewande Daniel-Ayoade | Ken Daley | The Little Regent | |||
| Anoosha Syed | Lost Stick | ||||
| Kuljinder Kaur Brar | Samrath Kaur | Mandeep's Cloudy Days | |||
| Roz MacLean | More Than Words | ||||
| Sylv Chiang | Mathias Ball | Still My Tessa | |||
| Brittany Luby | Natasha Donovan | When the Stars Came Home | |||