The first three winners of the Forest of Reading Awards have been announced as the annual festival kicks off its three-day award ceremony. The winners were voted on by 270,000 Canadian students.

The Ontario Library Association nominates 10 books across 10 categories targeting different age ranges. The winners of the Silver Birch Express Award (fiction and non-fiction for grades three and four), Silver Birch Fiction Award (fiction for grades three to six), and Yellow Cedar Award (non-fiction for grades four through eight) will be announced on May 19.

The winners of the French-language categories will be announced on May 20. The Evergreen Award, which is aimed at adults, will announce its winner in October. The ceremonies will stream live on Curio.ca.

The winners of the first three categories follow.

Blue Spruce Award (Picture books selected by students in JK – Grade 2)
Bad Dog, Mike Boldt (Doubleday Books For Young Readers)

Red Maple Award (Fiction selected by students in Grade 7 and 8)
Bloom, Kenneth Oppel (HarperCollins Canada)

White Pine Award (Fiction selected by high-school students)
Hunted by the Sky, Tanaz Bhathena (Penguin Teen Canada)