Still My Tessa, a picture book by Sylv Chiang, illustrated by Mathias Ball, has won CBC Kids Reads 2024!

Six childrens' books went head to head in the 2024 edition of CBC Kids Reads, which showcases great Canadian picture books for a whole week.

WATCH | CBC Kids Reads 2024 special:

Embed | YouTube

Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage.

On March 7, the winner, Still My Tessa, championed by Gary the Unicorn, was announced. The 2024 Canada Reads debates also wrapped up on the same day, with The Future by Catherine Leroux, translated by Susan Ouriou, championed by Heather O'Neill taking first place.

Still My Tessa is a book about practicing with pronouns and accepting people for who they are. Evelyn is worried about Tessa — they don't want to play the same games they used to play together anymore. Determined to find new ways to connect with her older sibling, she learns to see Tessa as a non-binary person by practicing using new pronouns for them.

Gary the Unicorn picked this title because "it feels like a warm hug for the heart!"

Sylv Chiang is a teacher and a children's book author. She wrote the middle-grade series, Cross Ups, which includes the books Rising Star, Anyone's Game and Tournament Trouble. Still My Tessa is Chiang's first picture book. She grew up in Toronto and now lives in Pickering, Ont.

Mathias Ball is a trans-identified illustrator from Goderich, Ont. Other picture books they've illustrated include Every Body Is a Rainbow by Caroline Carter and What If Bedtime Didn't Exist? by Francine Cunningham.

The winner announcement will re-air on CBC TV ton March 9 at 8:10 a.m. local time.

The 2024 CBC Kids Reads contenders were: