13 Canadian books to read for Earth Day 2024

Earth Day is celebrated around the world on April 22. Here's a reading list of 13 Canadian books fiction, poetry, nonfiction and books for kids about the flora and fauna, climate change and how to care for the environment.

Apocalypse Child by Carly Butler

InApocalypse Child,Carly Butler recounts growing up in 1990s Montana and moving to the Canadian wilderness at a young agedue to her mother's belief in the Evangelical Christian end of the world. Isolated in the woods, her life shifts to learning survival techniques based on religious doctrine and conspiracy theories.

The book explores Butler's resilient journey dealing with the end of the world that never came, motherhood and the development of her queer, Mexican-Indigenous identity.

• 26 works of Canadian nonfiction coming out in spring 2024

Butler is a B.C.-based author who has written for Loose Lips Magazine. She has been a babysitter, birth doula, barista and house cleaner and identifies as a bisexual Indigenous woman with roots in Mexico.

It Stops Here by Rueben George, with Michael Simpson

It Stops Here: Standing Up for Our Lands, Our Waters, and Our Peopleis part memoir, part call-to-action. It recounts the stance taken against the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion from the perspective of Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation who has devoted years to fighting this project.

• 'We'll continue to win': How Indigenous leaders reached new heights in 2018

George is Sundance Chief and a member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN). He is the manager of TWN's Sacred Trust initiative to protect the unceded Tsleil-Waututh lands and waters from the proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.

Michael Simpson is a writerwhose work focuses on settler colonialism and conflicts over oil and gas pipelines in Canada.

Medicine Wheel for the Planet by Dr. Jennifer Grenz

InMedicine Wheel for the Planet,restoration ecologist Jennifer Grenz meditates on the disconnect between her training in Western colonial science and her Indigenous worldview to explore the preservation of flora and fauna. Her decades of experience in the Pacific Northwest expose ecology's failure to reach its goal of creating a pre-human, untouched natural world. Based on the knowledge of elders, field observations and sacred stories, Grenz explores land reconciliation and advocates for a diversity of world views to fight against climate change and protect the planet.

• An Indigenous ecologist on why we need to stop and listen to save the planet

Grenz is a Nlaka'pamux ecologist based in British Columbia. She is the founder and leader of Greener This Side, a consulting company that conducts invasive species management and environmental restoration activities for the provincial government and Indigenous communities. She is also an assistant professor in the department of Forest Resources Management at the University of British Columbia.

LISTEN | Dr. Jennifer Grenz talks aboutMedicine Wheel for the PlanetonQuirks & Quarks:

Quirks and Quarks19:12An Indigenous ecologist on why we need to stop and listen to save the planet

Earth day is April 22. And Earth is not in great shape to celebrate the day. Overheated, overpopulated, overexploited were not being particularly careful with our planet. We talk to Indigenous ecologist Jennifer Grenz, of the University of British Columbia, about her new book, which is part memoir, part prescription for the medicine our planet needs a compound of science and traditional wisdom.  Her book is Medicine Wheel for the Planet: A journey toward personal and ecological healing.

Followed by the Lark by Helen Humphreys

Followed by the Larkwas inspired by poet and abolitionist Henry David Thoreau's own journals and writing. Crafted as a series of short vignettes, the novel examines Thoreau's connections to nature and its intimate ties with grief and loss throughout his life.

• Helen Humphreys delves into the history of the apple in North America

Helen Humphreys is anauthor of fiction, non-fiction and poetry from Kingston, Ont. Her 2015 novel,The Evening Chorus, was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award. Her memoir,Nocturne, was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award.Previous novels includeCoventry, a finalist for the Trillium Book Award;Afterimage, which won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize;Leaving Earth, which won the Toronto Book Award; andThe Lost Garden, which was aCanada Readsselection in 2003, when it was defended by Mag Ruffman.

Prairie Edge by Conor Kerr

Isidore "Ezzy" Desjarlais and Grey Ginther live together in Grey's uncle's trailer, passing their time with cribbage and cheap beer. The former is cynical of what she feels is a lazy and performative activist culture, while the latter is simply devoted to her distant cousin. So when Ezzy concocts a scheme to set a herd of bison loose in downtown Edmonton, Grey is along for the ride a ride inPrairie Edgethat has devastating, fatal consequences.

• How an escaped Albertan bison herd inspired Conor Kerr's latest novel about resisting colonial structures

Kerr is a Mtis/Ukrainian writer who hails from many prairie towns and cities, including Saskatoon. He now lives in Edmonton. A2022 CBC Books writer to watch, his previous works include the novelsOld GodsandAvenue of Champions, which waslonglisted for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize, andwon the ReLit award the same year. Kerr currently teaches creative writing at the University of Alberta.

LISTEN | Conor Kerr spoke toThe Next Chapter's Ali Hassan aboutPrairie Edge:

The Next Chapter18:53Bison roam Downtown Edmonton in Prairie Edge

Mtis-Ukrainian author Conor Kerr's latest novel takes inspiration from a real-life news story. In Prairie Edge, two distant Mtis cousins release bison into Edmonton's urban green spaces in an act of reclamation.

Dispersals by Jessica J. Lee

Dispersals: On Plants, Borders, and Belongingis a collection of 14 essays that use the global world of flora to examine how the lives of plants and human beings intersect and connect with each other. Blending memoir, scientific research and history, Jessica J. Lee interrogates displacement, identity and belonging to explore the movement and evolution of individuals and plant species across borders.

• Jessica J. Lee wrote a memoir about her search for her family roots

Leeis a British Canadian Taiwanese author and environmental historian. She won the2020 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the2021Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literatureand the2019 RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Writer Award. She is the author ofTurningandTwo Trees Make a Forest.

Hazard, Home by Christine Lowther

Hazard, Homeis a collection of nature poetry with a decolonial lens.The work examines the world with wonder at the animals and plants and grief due to urbanization, climate change and loss of biodiversity.

• 37 poetry collections to watch for in spring 2024

Christine Lowther resides in auukwiiat (Tla-o-qui-aht) territory on the west coast. She is the editor ofWorth More Standing: Poets and Activists Pay Homage to Treesand its youth companion volume. She is also the author of four poetry collections. She served as Tofino's Poet Laureate during the COVID years and was shortlisted for the2023 CBC NonfictionPrize.

Nutshimit: In the Woods by Melissa Mollen Dupuis, illustrated by Elise Gravel

In the non-fiction bookNutshimit: In the Woods,Innu writerMelissa Mollen Dupuistakes children on a guided walk through the forest to learn about Innu culture.Illustrator Elise Gravel brings the words to life with hercomic style illustrations.

Nutshimit: In the Woodsis for ages 6 to 8.

• The best Canadian books for kids & teens in 2023

Melissa Mollen Dupuisis a writer, director and radio show host and a member of the Innu community of Ekuanitshit on Quebec's Cte-Nord. Dupuis isthe co-founder of the Quebec branch of the Idle No More movement. She lives in Granby, Que.Nutshimit: In the Woodsis her firstchildren's book.

Elise Gravel is a Quebec author and illustrator who has written and illustrated over 50 books for children. Her books includeThe Bat,The Worst Book Ever,The Mushroom Fan Club,I Want a Monster!andWhat Is a Refugee. Gravel won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People in 2022 for her body of work. She lives in Montreal.

I Am aRock by Ashley Qilavaq-Savard, illustrated by Pelin Turgut

At bedtime, Pauloosie asks his Anaana, or mother, what rocks would say to us if they could. InI Am A Rock, Pauloosie's pet rock, Miki Rock describes all that it can see, feel and hear as part of the land in the Arctic from the winds to the animals, the Northern lights and more.

I Am A Rockis for ages 3 to 5.

• 32 Canadian books for children to check out in spring 2024

Ashley Qilavaq-Savard is an Inuk writer and artist from Iqaluit. She is the author ofWhere the Sea Kuniks the LandandI Am A Rockis her first picture book. Qilavaq-Savard also makes sealskin and beaded jewellery and studies Inuktitut.

Pelin Turgut is a children's book illustrator from Turkey.

River Mumma by Zalika Reid-Benta

River Mummais a magical realist storyinspired by Jamaican folklore. The main character is a young Black woman having a quarter-life crisis whileadventuring through the streets of Toronto. The story follows Alicia, a young womanwho still lives at home with her mom and has no career prospects. One evening, River Mumma, the Jamaican water deity, appears to inform Aliciathat she has 24hours to find her missing comb in the city.

Why River Mumma chose her is a mystery. Alicia barelyremembers the legends she was told about the deity as a child. Still, Alicia embarks on her quest through the city which turns into a journey through time to find herself, but also what the river carries.

• Zalika Reid-Benta's new novelRiver Mummais a magical realism take on the quarter-life crisis

Zalika Reid-Benta is a Toronto-based author who explores race, identity and culture through the lens of second-generation Caribbean Canadians in her work.The Columbia MFA graduate's debut novelFrying Plantainwas on the2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist.CBC Booksnamed Reid-Bentaa writer to watch in 2019and she served asjury chair for the2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

LISTEN | Zalika Reid-BentaonQ:

Q18:59How staying true to herself helped Zalika Reid-Benta become an award-winning author

The author Zalika Reid-Benta was only 28 when she took the book industry by storm. Her debut book, Frying Plantain, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. But heres the thing: Zalika almost didnt finish that book after some initial feedback deemed the manuscript too Jamaican and too Canadian. Now, shes back with her second book and debut novel, River Mumma a fantasy that unequivocally pays homage to her roots. She talks to Tom about her new novel and how her unwavering commitment to her roots paid off.

Fire Weather by John Vaillant

Fire Weather: The Making of a Beastdelves into the events surroundingthe 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, the multi-billion-dollar disaster that melted vehicles, turned entire neighbourhoods into firebombs and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon.

Fire Weatherwas shortlisted for the2023 Writers' Trust Hilary Weston nonfiction awardandwon the Baillie Gifford Prize for nonfiction.

• Canadian John Vaillant wins $85K U.K. nonfiction prize for book about Fort McMurray wildfires

John Vaillant is a Vancouver-based freelance writer, novelist and nonfiction author. His first book,The Golden Spruce,which told the story of a rare tree and the man who cut it down, won the 2005 Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction. Vaillant's second titleThe Tigerwas a contender onCanada Reads2012.

LISTEN | John Vaillant on wildfires:

The Current10:10Intense wildfires here for the rest of our lives: author

This summers record-breaking fire season is just the beginning of a massive reckoning tied to climate change, says John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather. He argues that wildfires have entered a new age of intensity, which we will wrestle with for the rest of our lives.

All That Grows by Jack Wong

All That Growsfollows a young boy and his older sister as they take notice of all the plants they come across on their walks in the neighbourhood. His sister shares all the fun facts she knows about plants, from what could be edible, to why some might smell and how to care for them. As he learns more he is amazed at all that there is out there to learn and lets his love for learning flourish alongside nature.

All That Growsis for ages 3 to 6.

• Halifax-based author Jack Wong publishes a new children's book

Jack Wong is a Halifax-based author and illustrator who was born in Hong Kong but grew up in Vancouver. His debut picture book isWhen You Can Swim. CBC Books namedJack Wong a writer towatch in 2023.

Bompa's Insect Expeditionby David Suzuki, with Tanya Lloyd Kyi, illustrated by Qin Leng

Bompa's Insect Expeditionfollows a pair of twins as they go on an insect expedition with their grandfather. Inspired by David Suzuki's adventures with his grandchildren, the picture book showcases a part of nature that can sometimes be overlooked the world of bugs.

Bompa's Insect Expeditionis for ages 4 to 8.

• David Suzuki has a new picture book inspired by adventures with his grandkids

David Suzuki is an environmentalist, scientist and science broadcaster. He was the host of CBC'sThe Nature of Thingsfrom 1979, untilretiring from the show in spring 2023. The Vancouver-based environmentalist is a father of five and grandfather of 10, including twins Nakina and Kaoru. He is also an author of over 50 books, includingLetters to my GrandchildrenandThe Sacred Balance.

Tanya Lloyd Kyi has written more than 30 books for children and teenagers, includingThe Best Way to Get Your Way,This Is Your Brain on Stereotypes,Under PressureandMya's Strategy to Save the World. Kyi lives in Vancouver.

Qin Leng is a Toronto illustrator, writer and visual development artist. Her recent books includeI Am Small,which Leng wrote and illustrated, and she has illustrated numerous books includingA Kid is a Kid is a KidandA Family is a Family is a Familyby Sara O'Leary.