National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Kids)

Updated May 22, 2026
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Miya Wears Orange
John-Kehewin, Wanda.
Paper Book
This beautifully illustrated book, based on the lived experience of the author, that gently explores the complicated feelings a young girl experiences as she learns about tragedy and injustice. Miya loves her school and she especially loves storytime. One day, her teacher shares a story...
Today Is Orange Shirt Day
Webstad, Phyllis
Paper Book
Today, we gather togetherToday, we listenToday, we learnToday, we open our hearts A first conversation about the importance of Orange Shirt Day - Every Child Matters and what little ones can expect to see and do on Orange Shirt Day - The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. An...
The case of the missing auntie
Hutchinson, Michael
Paper Book
The Mighty Muskrats are off to the city to have fun at the Exhibition Fair. But when Chickadee learns about Grandpa's missing little sister, who was adopted by strangers without her parents' permission many years ago, the Mighty Muskrats have a new mystery to solve.
The Witness Blanket : truth, art and reconciliation
Newman, Carey
Paper Book
For more than 150 years, thousands of Indigenous children were taken from their families and sent to residential schools across Canada. Artist Carey Newman created the Witness Blanket to make sure that history is never forgotten. The Blanket is a living work of art--a collection of...
Righting Canada's Wrongs: Residential Schools: The Devastating Impact on Canada's Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Findings and Calls for Action
Florence, Melanie
Paper Book
"If I were purchasing materials for a high school library, I would buy at least 2 copies, and I would urge Social Studies and Aboriginal Studies classroom teachers to have at least one copy on their bookselves. Perhaps the strongest work to date in the Righting Canada's Wrongs series, Residential...
Shirley : An Indian Residential School Story
Robertson, Joanne.
Paper Book
Shirley is only five years old when she is taken away by the Indian agent to live at a residential school. She loves learning, but she is not there by choice. From the first day walking up the long, lonely stone steps of the school building, life is hard and full of rules. Separated from...
Residential schools
Hudak, Heather C.
Paper Book
Residential schools are a dark part of Canada's history. Learn more about what occurred and what is being done for reconciliation.
Red Wolf
Dance, Jennifer.
Paper Book
Life is changing for Canada's Anishnaabek Nation and for the wolf packs that share their territory.In the late 1800s, both Native people and wolves are being forced from the land. Starving and lonely, an orphaned timber wolf is befriended by a boy named Red Wolf. But under the Indian Act, Red...
Muinji'j Asks Why : The Story of the Mi'kmaq and the Shubenacadie Residential School
MacEachern, Shanika Jayde.
Paper Book
An educational and heartfelt retelling of the story of the Mi'kmaq and their traditional lands, Mi'kma'ki, for young readers, focused on the generational traumas of the Indian Residential School System. "The story of the Mi'kmaw people is one that very few truly know, Ladybug....
Phyllis's orange shirt
Webstad, Phyllis.
Paper Book
Phyllis's Orange Shirt is an adaptaion of The Orange Shirt Story which was the best selling children's book in Canada for several weeks in September 2018(Book manager). This true story also inspired the movement of Orange Shirt Day which could become a federal statuatory holiday.When Phyllis was a...
These are my words : the residential school diary of Violet Pesheens
Slipperjack, Ruby
Paper Book
Acclaimed author Ruby Slipperjack delivers a haunting novel about a 12-year-old girl's experience at a residential school in 1966. Violet Pesheens is struggling to adjust to her new life at residential school. She misses her Grandma; she has run-ins with Cree girls; at her "white" school,...
When we were alone
Robertson, David
Paper Book
Winner of the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award! A young girl notices things about her grandmother that make her curious. Why does her grandmother have long, braided hair and beautifully coloured clothing? Why does she speak Cree and spend so much time with her family? As the...
I am not a number
Dupuis, Jenny Kay.
Paper Book
When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school she is confused, frightened, and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from, despite the efforts of the nuns who are in charge at the school and who tell her that...
With our orange hearts
Webstad, Phyllis
Paper Book
"Every child matters, including you and me. With our orange hearts, we walk in harmony." As a young child, your little world can be full of big emotions. In this book, I, Phyllis Webstad, founder of Orange Shirt Day, show that sharing my story with the world helped me to process my feelings. My true...
White Raven
Spathelfer, Teoni
Paper Book
"Storytelling is essential for healing! Mixed with historical facts and lovely art, the values of mentorship and courage shine through in this important story."  --Robert "Lucky" Budd, co-author of the Northwest Coast Legends Series
I lost my talk
Joe, Rita
Paper Book
Rita Joe's powerful poem is presented anew in this children's picture book with illustrations from Pauline Young. A story of recovering what was lost in residential school, I Lost My Talk will raise conversation about language as a vehicle for truth and reconciliation. Published...
The train
Callaghan, Jodie
Paper Book
Ashley meets her great-uncle by the old train tracks near their community in Nova Scotia. Ashley sees his sadness, and Uncle tells her of the day years ago when he and the other children from their community were told to board the train before being taken to residential school where their lives...
I'm finding my talk
Thomas, Rebecca (Poet)
Paper Book
I'm finding my talkAnd it may take some time,But I'm learning to speakIn a language that's mine. A response to Rita Joe's iconic poem "I Lost My Talk," and published simultaneously with the new children's book edition illustrated by Pauline Young, comes a companion picture book by...
Shin-chi's canoe
Campbell, Nicola I.
Paper Book
Winner of the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and finalist for the Governor General's Award: Children's Illustration This moving sequel to the award-winning Shi-shi-etko tells the story of two children's experience at residential school. Shi-shi-etko is about to return for her...
When I was eight
Jordan-Fenton, Christy.
Paper Book
Bestselling memoir Fatty Legs for younger readers. Olemaun is eight and knows a lot of things. But she does not know how to read. Ignoring her father's warnings, she travels far from her Arctic home to the outsiders' school to learn. The nuns at the school call her Margaret. They...
Shi-shi-etko
Campbell, Nicola I.
Paper Book
Winner of the Anskohk Aboriginal Children's Book of the Year Award. Finalist for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the Ruth Schwartz Award In just four days young Shi-shi-etko will have to leave her family and all that she knows to...
Amik loves school A story of wisdom
Vermette, Katherena.
Paper Book
Amik loves going to school, but when he shares this with his grandfather, he finds out Moshoom attended residential school. At Moshoom's school, students were forbidden from speaking their language. It sounds very different from Amik's school, so Amik has an idea... In this heartwarming...
Treaty words : for as long as the rivers flow
Craft, Aimée
Paper Book
The first treaty that was made was between the earth and the sky. It was an agreement to work together. We build all of our treaties on that original treaty. On the banks of the river that have been Mishomis's home his whole life, he teaches his granddaughter to listen--to hear both...
Fatty legs : a true story
Jordan-Fenton, Christy
Paper Book
Eight-year-old Margaret Pokiak has set her sights on learning to read, even though it means leaving her village in the high Arctic. Faced with unceasing pressure, her father finally agrees to let her make the five-day journey to attend school, but he warns Margaret of the terrors of residential...
The Secret Pocket
Janicki, Peggy.
Paper Book
★"Captures the sympathy of readers and holds their attention...An age-appropriate telling by an Indigenous creative team of a tragic historical period."--School Library Journal, starred review The true story of how Indigenous girls at a residential school sewed secret pockets into...
Little Shoes
Robertson, David A.
Paper Book
From the bestselling and Governor General's Award-winning author of On the Trapline comes a beautifully told and comforting picture book about a boy's journey to overcome generational trauma of residential schools. Deep in the night, when James should be sleeping, he...

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