Canadian Children’s Book Centre executive director Charlotte Teeple, Kids Can Press president Lisa Lyons Johnston, Ashley Spires, TD Bank Group community relations director Alan Convery.

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has announced that B.C. children’s author-illustrator Ashley Spires’s 2011 picture book, Small Saul (Kids Can Press), about a little pirate who lets his individuality shine, is the choice title for this year’s TD Grade One Book Giveaway.

The initiative provides copies of a select book to every Grade 1 student in Canada each year in an effort to promote literacy. As the chosen author, Spires will participate in a national tour during the 2016-2017 school year to visit Grade 1 audiences in schools and libraries as 550,000 copies of her book are distributed.

Spires said, in a press release: “I’m thrilled that Small Saul has been chosen for this year’s TD Grade One Book Giveaway. It’s a wonderful way for so many children across the country to be introduced to Canadian books, and it’s a great opportunity for Canadian authors and illustrators, too.”