As CBC’s great Canadian book debate, Canada Reads, kicks off its 23rd edition early next month, the literary celebration for young readers also returns with the second annual CBC KIDS READS, running March 2 – 7. All week long on the CBC Kids morning lineup, CBC Gem and CBC Kids YouTube, young audiences are invited to join CBC Kids hosts Tony and Janaye, as well as Gary the Unicorn, Mr. Orlando, Cottonball and Mosey, as they share their six favourite Canadian picture books and celebrate their love of reading. New this year, CBC KIDS READS will culminate in a half-hour special on Thursday, March 7 at 8:10 a.m. local time on CBC, CBC Gem and CBC Kids YouTube, to determine the winning book.
During the special, each CBC Kids pal presents their defense of their chosen book - whether through dance, song, baking or art, each book has a moment to shine. Kids from across Canada also weigh-in on which book should be crowned the 2024 CBC Kids Reads Champion - all in the celebration of reading!
With a focus on equity-deserving authors based across Canada, the selected books showcase inclusion, self-love and kindness. In addition to the defenders’ videos for their individual books, CBC KIDS READS week will see literacy-focused programming and music videos air during the CBC Kids morning schedule on CBC TV and CBC Gem from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. local time. The videos will also be available on CBC Kids YouTube.
The six selected finalists are listed below.
*Photos of the CBC Kids hosts with their selected books can be found here.*
|
Defender |
Book Finalist |
Author |
|
Cottonball |
Roz MacLean |
|
|
Mosey |
Sakshi Mangal |
|
|
Mr. Orlando |
Sal Sawler Illustrator: Emma FitzGerald |
|
|
Janaye |
Aija Komangapik |
|
|
Tony |
Dallas Hunt Illustrator: Amanda Strong |
|
|
Gary the Unicorn |
Sylv Chiang Illustrator: Mathias Ball |
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About CBC Kids
CBC Kids entertains, informs, and enlightens kids living in Canada from two to tween and their grownups on CBC TV, CBC Gem, cbckids.ca and cbckidsnews.ca as well as on YouTube and TikTok.
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Tanya Koivusalo, CBC PR
