National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Kids)

Updated August 29, 2025
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
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...
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...
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 she...
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...
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...
The orange shirt story
Webstad, Phyllis.
Paper Book
The Orange Shirt Story was the best selling children's book in Canada for several weeks in September (Book manager). This true story also inspired the movement of Orange Shirt Day which could become a federal statuatory holidayWhen Phyllis Webstad (nee Jack) turned six, she went to the residential...
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...
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
The beloved story of an Inuvialuit girl standing up to the injustices of residential school. Margaret Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton's powerful story of residential school in the far North has been reissued to commemorate the memoir's 10th anniversary with updates to the text, reflections on the...
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...
Raven's Ribbons
Spillett, Tasha.
Paper Book
★ "Spillett captures the joy of the round dance, and a feeling of belonging and connection offered in intergenerational Indigenous community."​ --Publishers Weekly, starred review ★ "Simple and tender." --...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.