Reading clubs – registration for Hackmatack 2025-26 is open!
Registrations are accepted from schools, libraries, homeschools, community groups, and individual readers.
- Register: $25 for one club, and $10 for each additional club in the same school or library.
- Get your books from an independent bookseller, online, or borrow them from your public library.
- Read at least five of our 40 shortlisted books to qualify to vote.
- Voting deadline: April 30.
Clubs get exclusive access to program materials:
- Author and illustrator bios
- Reading and activity guides
- Reading logs
- Ballots for voting
- And more!
Plus a chance to meet your favourite authors and illustrators. We hope to offer both virtual and in-person visits in the spring, with an awards ceremony at the end of May.
You can register online or download our registration brochure and mail us a cheque.
2025-26 Nominated Books
Here are our 2025-26 Hackmatack books! Our exciting reading program for children in grades 4, 5, and 6 introduces thousands of young readers to great Canadian books, authors, and illustrators.
Hackmatack is a terrific way to get children reading. It empowers them by giving them a say in choosing their favourite books and voting to select the annual award winners.
Centre 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.
Hackmatack 2024-25 Winners!
The winners of the 2025 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award were announced on Friday, May 30 at a lively awards ceremony at the Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library. They are:
English Fiction
Pluto Rocket: New in Town, written and illustrated by Paul Gilligan (Penguin Random House, 2023)
English Nonfiction
Operation Cupcake: How Simple Machines Work, written and illustrated by Bambi Edlund (Kids Can Press, 2023)
French Fiction
Les étranges, written and illustrated by Alex A. (Presses Aventure, 2023)
French Nonfiction
Alerte : culottes meurtrières : Fausses nouvelles, désinformation et théories du complot, by Elise Gravel (Éditions Scholastic, 2023)
Congratulations to the winners and all the nominees!
Watch the video
Watch here or on YouTube.