The theme of the 2017 TD Summer Reading Club is Canada Salut! Organized by the Toronto Public Library in partnership with libraries around the country, this free annual program engages with children through interactive, hands-on literacy activities. I'm crazy happy about having been asked to illustrate the children's materials which include a notebook, stickers, coloring pages and an interactive website.

I'm learning about the beautiful animal, bird and plant emblems representing the various provinces and territories. These tiny sketches for stickers and reading prompts feature Canadian wildlife icons like the gray jay (a.k.a. whiskey jack, camp robber, moose bird) and the puffin.

Bird-symbols include the snowy owl for Quebec, the common loon for Ontario and the raven for the Yukon. BC is represented by the spirit bear & the red cedar, and Nova Scotia is home to the mayflower.

I wanted to show children at play in a nurturing environment, like a giant book of nature they are learning to decipher and love.