The Ontario Library Association’s 2018 Forest Festival of Trees threw its annual three-day party in Toronto May 15–17, with workshops, awards, author talks, and lots and lots of free kids’ books. The festival saw 12,000 attendees, most of whom were school children, there to mingle with 91 authors. Highlights included autograph-signing booths, publisher tents, and junior librarian training. Many of the author’s talks were at full capacity, and each session saw students asking thoughtful questions about the Forest of Reading–nominated books. The awards – voted on by students earlier in the year – were given out in six categories, covering fiction and non-fiction and age ranges from 5 to 17.
The 2018 Forest of Reading winners are: