Select language, opens an overlay
  • General Recommendations
  • Staff-Created List

2025 Silver Birch Express Award® Nominees

Grades 3-4, fiction, non-fiction

10 items

  • For kids with big questions comes a mesmerizing celebration of the universe and our place in it, perfect for STEM learning. The story of the universe is enough to send our minds spinning with wonder! This awe-inspiring picture book…
    BookGreystone Books Ltd. 2024
  • The sequel to the award-winning Book Uncle and Me features bird lover Reeni and her quest to save her city’s bird count event when the mayor tries to shut it down. Reeni is wild about birds! So when she and her best friend, Yasmin, have…
    BookGroundwood Books 2024
  • When eleven-year-old Hailey and her friend Kyle make a wish on a Chinese lion statue, they accidentally bring a dragon to life. Scared at first, the kids soon realize that Zhu the dragon means them no harm, and they show the dragon around…
    BookOrca Book Publishers 2024
  • Ten-year-old Sly is spending the weekend with their fortune-telling grandmother at the mysterious Madsen Mansion. It’s Samhain, a time when the spirits can cross over into the living world, and the old mansion has secrets whispering in…
    BookOrca Book Publishers 2023
  • Lost & Found

    Based on a True Story

    Yu, Mei
    “This bright and bubbly early reader graphic novel, based on debut creator Yu’s own immigration story, validates the sometimes overwhelming nature of learning an unfamiliar language as a child in a new country.” —Publishers Weekly Being…
    Graphic NovelNew York : Union Square Kids, 2024. — JG YU
  • A fun and engaging guessing game that demonstrates how even the most unusual animal pairs can be two of a kind. Hummingbirds and giraffes, sharks and snails, meerkats and bees … at first glance, these pairings may seem as different as can…
    BookOwlkids Books Inc. 2023
  • Operation Cupcake

    How Simple Machines Work

    Edlund, Bambi
    In this hilarious story about a couple of clever mice on a quest for a tasty treat, readers get a “paws-on” introduction to six simple machines. Ginger and Mac are pros at snatching up delicious tidbits and bringing them back to their…
    BookToronto : Kids Can Press, 2023. — J 621.8 EDL
  • Salma

    Salma Joins the Team

    Ramadan, Ahmad Danny
    Salma dreams of becoming a champion swimmer like her hero, Olympian Yusra Mardini. So when she signs up for her school’s swim club, it feels like her dreams could come true . . . until mean comments from older girls at the pool and women…
    BookToronto, ON : Annick Press, 2024. — JF RAM
  • Sarah Ponakey has moved to the city from her home community with her mom and it’s the pits! She misses her Kôhkom, her best friend Eden, and the forests around her community. She’s had a hard time making new friends at school but at least…
    BookAnnick Press, Limited 2024
  • In the course of history, humans have had a negative impact on the lives of whales. There are many stories and legends about whales. Humans have long been fascinated by these majestic creatures. Maybe it’s their immense size or their…
    BookOrca Book Publishers 2024