The  Ontario Arts Council and Ontario Arts Foundation have released the 2025 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award shortlists.

The annual awards, which come with a $6,000 prize each, recognize artistic excellence in writing and illustration in English-language Canadian picture books and middle grade/ young adult literature.

Nominated in the picture book category are:

• Fighting Words by Leonarda Carranza and Erika Medina, ill. (Annick Press)
• I Want to Read All the Books by Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• The Little Regent by Yewande Daniel-Ayoade and Ken Daley, ill. (Owlkids Books)
• Métis Like Me by Tasha Hilderman and Risa Hugo, ill. (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada)
• One Giant Leap by Thao Lam (Owlkids Books)

Nominated titles in the young adult/middle grade category are:

• Fledgling: The Keeper’s Records of Revolution by S.K. Ali (Kokila/Penguin Random House)
• Is There a Boy Like Me? by Kern Carter (Scholastic Canada)
• The New Girl by Cassandra Calin (Scholastic Canada)
• The Shape of Lost Things by Sarah Everett (HarperCollins)
• Today I Am: 10 Stories of Belonging, edited by Jael Richardson (Scholastic Canada)

The nomination committee was composed of Becky Dixon, librarian at the Niagara Falls Public Library; Rabia Khokar, teacher and equity and education consultant; and Christie Vella, teacher-librarian at John English Public School in Toronto.

Student juries from Birch Cliff Public School in Scarborough, Ontario, will choose the winning titles. The winners will be announced in June.