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Hackmatack 2025-26 Winners!

2026 Hackmatack winner photos with book covers.

Here are the winners of the 2026 Hackmatack Awards!  

ENGLISH FICTION (a tie)
Songs in the Sea, written and illustrated by Pheilm Martin (Breakwater Books)
AND
Teddy vs. the Fuzzy Doom, written and illustrated by Braden Hallett (Annick Press)

FRENCH FICTION (a tie)
Fou du hockey – le camp d’entraînement by Alain M. Bergeron, illustrated by Caroline Soucy (Auzou Quebec)
AND
L’horrible cabane dans l’arbre by Mika, illustrated by Sabrina Gendron (Boomerang Éditeur Jeunesse)

ENGLISH NONFICTION
She is Hope for Wildlife: The Story of Wildlife Rescuer Hope Swinimer by Wanda Baxter, illustrated by Leah Boudreau (Nimbus Publishing)

FRENCH NONFICTION
Le fan club des microbes written and illustrated by Elise Gravel (Éditions les 400 coups)

We want to say thank you to the following organizations who support our program year-round: New Brunswick Public Library Service, Halifax Public Libraries, Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, Atlantic Provinces Library Association, Prince Edward Island Public Library Service, Nova Scotia Public Libraries, and the Centre for Equitable Library Access.

And many thanks to Halifax Central Library for all their help with the 2026 ceremony!

The 2026-27 shortlisted books will be announced June 1, 2026

Watch the 2026 award ceremony video

CELACentre for Equitable Library Access

You don’t have to be in a Hackmatack reading group to enjoy the books. And you don’t have to be a conventional reader. 

The Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) is an accessible library service, providing books and other materials to Canadians of all ages with print disabilities.

We’re happy to tell you that many of the Hackmatack titles are available for free in accessible formats for kids with print disabilities. 

You can get these titles from your public library, or through the CELA website.

We’d like to thank CELA for the wonderful work they do. Their collection has more than 700,000 professionally produced titles, with an emphasis on Canadian authors and stories, and favourites for kids and teens.

See all the Hackmatack accessible titles on our CELA page.

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