Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Announces Winning Books of Top Ten Titles Campaign

The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation will donate more than 220 sets of the Top Ten Titles to schools across Canada, plus one nominated school will receive a $10,000 donation.

TORONTO, March 9, 2015 /CNW/ - The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation is delighted to announce the results of its Top Ten Titles campaign, an initiative that called upon Canadians during the month of February to select the children's books that most inspired their love of reading. Over the course of the campaign, Canadians cast more than 50,000 votes for their favourite titles. The results are now in and classics such as Anne of Green Gables and Charlotte's Web, plus new favourites such as the Percy Jackson Collection all made the Top 10. The Foundation is thrilled to donate a set with multiple copies of the Top 10 winning titles to each of the 220 schools across Canada.  

In addition to the vote, the Foundation asked Canadians to nominate high-needs schools in their communities for a chance to receive a $10,000 donation to support their school library. The Foundation is proud to announce that among the 6,000 schools that were nominated for the donation, Brookhouse Elementary School in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia is the lucky recipient. The funds will be used to help the school provide the necessary resources to further their literacy projects and purchase books and educational materials for teachers and students.

"We all remember that first book that inspired our love of reading," says Jennifer Jones, Vice President of the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation, "Books have a way of connecting people, inspiring creativity and sparking imaginations. Through this campaign, we heard directly from Canadians what books made a difference to them, and we're thrilled to in turn support our local school libraries and students by providing these essential titles."

This campaign encouraged Canadians to remember what books fostered their love of reading in order to shed light on the literacy crisis that is abundant in the country. More than 42% of working Canadians are functionally illiterate, and nine million Canadians struggle each day with reading tasks. Canadian school libraries are severely underfunded; in some libraries, shelves are half-stocked with fifteen year-old books, many of which are held together with tape and staples.

Here are the selected titles the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation will donate to schools across Canada:

English Top 10 Titles:

1. The Harry Potter Collection – J. K. Rowling
2. Percy Jackson Collection – R. Riordan
3. Howl's Moving Castle – D.W. Jones
4. It's a Book – L. Smith
5. The Chronicles of Narnia – C. S. Lewis
6. Silverwing – K. Oppel
7. Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery
8. Sarah, Plain and Tall – P. MacLachlan
9. Charlotte's Web – E.B. White
10. The Munschworks Grand Treasury – R. Munsch

French Top 10 Titles:

1. L'ours qui aimait les arbres – N. Oldland
2. Frisson l'écureuil – M. Watt
3. Je t'aimerai toujours – R. Munsch
4. Le Petit Prince – A. de Saint-Exupéry
5. Chester – M. Watt
6. Soeurs – R. Telgemeier
7. Le monde de Munsch – R. Munsch
8. Jessie Elliot a peur de son ombre – E. Gravel
9. Nicolas roi du filet – G. Tibo
10. Moi, je m'aime – K. Beaumont

About the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation

Indigo founded the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation in 2004 to address the underfunding of public elementary school libraries. Every year the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation grants $1.5 million to 20 high-needs elementary schools so they can transform their libraries with the purchase of new books and education resources. To date, the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation's Literacy Fund has committed over $15 million to 170 Canadian schools. The Foundation's annual grassroots Adopt a School program unites employees, customers, schools and their communities to raise funds to put even more books into the hands of children, raising over $2.8 million in the past 5 years so 463,000 children have a book to call their own.

SOURCE Indigo Books & Music Inc.

For media requests, more information or images please contact: Katie Gregory, [email protected], Manager, Public Relations, Indigo Books & Music, 416.528.8932