Vancouver-based non-fiction publisher Greystone Books has announced the launch of Greystone Kids. The imprint will focus on picture books and non-fiction middle-grade books.

In addition to titles that focus on natural history, the environment, science, sports, and social justice, the imprint will include a division to be developed by Groundwood Books founder Patricia Aldana. Aldana Libros will specialize in English-language editions of international titles.

Greystone Kids will launch with five titles this fall. Peter Wohlleben’s Can You Hear The Trees Talking? will be a middle-grade guide to the life of trees. Julie Flett’s Birdsong will blend prose and collage to tell the story of a girl and her elderly neighbour.

Eliza Robertson has written Spur, A Wolf’s Story, a picture book illustrated by Nora Aoyogi about a wolf that saves her pack, inspired by pervasive wolf culls in Canada. Candace Savage’s Hello, Crow! is inspired by a true story about a crow who brings a young girl gifts, with illustrations by Chelsea O’Byrne. The first title for Aldana Libros will be Gerelchimeg Blackcrane’s picture book The Moose of Ewenki, a fable about a Mongolian hunter-gatherer who bonds with an orphaned moose calf, featuring illustrations by Jiu’er.

The Greystone Kids team will consist of publisher Rob Sanders; editor, picture books, Kallie George; consulting creative director Sara Gillingham; and Aldana.